Top 3 concerns for Uber and Lyft drivers as companies rake in profits

Sergio Avedian, an Uber driver and the lead author of the rideshare advocacy blog and YouTube channel The Rideshare Guy, regularly speaks with rideshare drivers who share their concerns.

He told BI that the complaints came from people who drive for both Uber and Lyft, but that Uber’s scale has given the company disproportionate influence over ride-hailing drivers. In the second quarter of this year, Uber drivers took 2.2 billion trips on the company’s ride-hailing and delivery platforms; Lyft drivers took about 200 million trips.

Big ride-hailing platforms appear to be thriving. Uber beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, reporting revenue of $10.7 billion — up 16% from a year earlier. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said Uber achieved “record profitability” in the latest quarter, noting that drivers and couriers earned $17.9 billion.

Lyft reported revenue of $1.4 billion in its latest quarter on Wednesday, up 41% year over year, though the company did not turn a profit. Lyft reported a record 205 million rides last quarter, with the most new drivers in a quarter since 2019.

Avedian said he’s skeptical of some of the complaints drivers have. For example, he said, there’s not enough evidence to support accusations that ride-hailing companies don’t give drivers 100% of passengers’ tips — something the companies have promised to do — but he believes many other frustrations are valid and common.

Avedian shared what he believes are the biggest concerns for Uber and Lyft drivers: falling wages, driver safety and wrongful deactivations.

Low wages and decreasing share of wages

Avedian said drivers have seen their pay decline over the past few years. Drivers reported being offered rides at lower rates, sometimes less than $3, more often than in previous years, and receiving fewer promotions and bonuses.

“This trend is not good for drivers,” Avedian said.

Avedian said Uber and Lyft have also recently taken on a larger share of the fare. While drivers used to take home about 80% of the fare, he said drivers would be “lucky” to get 50%.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson said that “Uber’s fare collection rate has remained largely flat over the past few years,” adding that “the amount of your fare that goes to local government taxes and fees, as well as commercial auto insurance, has increased significantly.”

Lyft says its drivers are guaranteed to earn at least 70% of the amount paid to passengers each week, after outside fees like local taxes and government-required insurance.

“We’ve heard a lot of feedback on consistent themes — earnings, deactivation, and safety — and we’re taking action to address them,” Lyft CEO David Risher said in a statement to BI.

While companies disagree with some of the findings, a May study by the University of California, Berkeley, found that many gig drivers earn less than the minimum wage in their area, after expenses.

An Uber spokesperson told BI that drivers earn more than $30 an hour on average when they’re active on the app. In February, Lyft said the typical U.S. driver who used a personal vehicle made about $31 an hour of work — and $23 an hour after expenses like gas and maintenance. But many drivers BI spoke with said they made less.

George, a full-time Uber driver in Cleveland who has been driving since 2017, said he wants to leave but has few other options. He made $109,000 as a driver last year, but after Uber commission, gas and maintenance fees, he took home only $17,000. He said he had to work almost twice as many hours to earn the same amount in a week as he did last year.

Drivers also reported lower or more inconsistent tips over the past year, and UC Berkeley found that customers were three times more likely to tip delivery drivers than rideshare drivers. Uber previously told BI that the frequency of tips and the average amount of tips have roughly doubled over the past four years.

Some drivers are concerned about their safety

Avedian added that many drivers also have concerns about their safety.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t hear about Uber and Lyft drivers having their cars stolen, and unfortunately, physical assaults,” he said.

Julie, a part-time Uber driver in Cleveland, hasn’t always felt safe during her five years in the gig economy, she previously told BI. Some passengers have threatened her, damaged her vehicle or encouraged her to speed. Because of safety concerns, Julie said she only drives during the day.

One of her worst experiences came when a customer who appeared to be sick rolled down his windows and screamed that he had been kidnapped.

“He kept telling me he’d killed a lot of people,” said Julie, who asked not to be identified out of fear of professional repercussions. “I reported it to Uber and nothing was done.”

An Uber spokesperson said the company has safety features in its app that demonstrate its commitment to safety, including an emergency button, an audio recording function, the ability to chat with a live safety agent and the RideCheck system, which can detect if something unexpected happens during a trip, such as an accident. They said the company has piloted a new passenger verification program that will help confirm that passengers are who they say they are, and a Record My Ride feature that turns a driver’s phone into a dash cam.

A Lyft spokesperson told BI that the company has a 24/7 safety incident response team that can be reached by phone or chat, a trauma-informed care team with specialized training, and a location-sharing option that drivers can use to make sure loved ones know where they are.

Drivers fear wrongful deactivation and do not receive sufficient support

Avedian believes many drivers have been wrongly deactivated on the Uber platform. When drivers try to contact Uber to discuss deactivations or other issues, he said the company’s driver support system and agents are often unhelpful.

Drivers can be deactivated for a variety of reasons, including low platform ratings, failed background checks, expired licenses and customer accusations of safety issues. However, Avedian said drivers are sometimes deactivated due to “fraudulent passenger claims.”

Aaron Lavender, an Uber and Lyft driver in Colorado, previously told BI that he was deactivated from the Uber app for three days after a customer complained that his appearance and odor made them suspect he was intoxicated. Lavender said he was ultimately cleared by Uber after a brief investigation, and his account was reactivated.

“The stories of permanent deactivation scare me and discourage me from relying solely on this work,” he said.

Some drivers are having trouble reversing deactivation. An Uber Eats driver in Oregon was making a delivery when a customer changed the pickup location, BI previously told BI. The new destination turned the 10-minute trip into an hour, so he contacted Uber Eats support to try to cancel the order.

He added that the support agent approved the cancellation, but a few days later his account was deactivated.

“All of a sudden, it says my account is being investigated for fraud,” he said. “It just says ‘fraud.’ It doesn’t give any details.”

After two months of exchanging messages with agents, he reported that his account had finally been reactivated.

An Uber spokesperson told BI that the company announced major changes to its deactivation process last year to make it fairer for drivers. This includes giving them a “clear process for appealing deactivation and protecting them from false accusations and unfair ratings.”

A spokesperson said drivers have a dedicated support team. A 24/7 Safety Incident Reporting hotline is available for safety concerns. The company also offers 24/7 customer service through the Uber app to “get answers to common questions and resolve issues as quickly as possible.”

A Lyft spokesperson told BI that the company introduced a button in the app this year that lets drivers appeal deactivation decisions. They said drivers are receiving information about their deactivation decisions sooner than they were a year ago — about 10 hours sooner, on average.

Additionally, Lyft offers 24/7 driver support, offers Spanish-language phone and chat options, and has invested in translation services for drivers who speak Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Are you a driver struggling to make ends meet? Contact these reporters at [email protected] Or [email protected].