There is a really simple way to get regular pickups with the same rider which can give you consistent daily work and guaranteed money, and I am not talking about becoming a favourite driver.
If your not aware, Uber recently unveiled a new feature that allowed riders who rated you 5 stars to be able to request you personally as a favourite driver. This means that you will get a direct request from the passenger which in theory will allow you to build your own network of clients through the Uber app. Uber unveiled this new feature with great fanfare as an opportunity for drivers to make more money but in reality it has been a complete non starter.
I am not aware of any drivers that have seen any benefit from this scheme and even if it did prove to be a hit, it goes against all the reasons we became private hire drivers in the first place. Allowing riders to request you as their personal chauffeur to pick them up and take them to their destination when they so wish takes away the freedom we came into this gig for in the first place.
Us drivers want to start when we want and go wherever we want without having to be at a certain place at a certain time. This one ride can potentially take hours out of your working day for potentially very little return. In theory, If these trips where long distance airport runs early morning or late at night, it could work but it hasn’t seem to pan out that way.
What is My Strategy For Consistent Rides?
What I’m talking about is a guaranteed daily trip where you know the destination which you can take if you feel like it and if it’s convenient and fits in with how you have planned your day… with no commitment.
I have been using this strategy for the last couple of months and has proven to be a nice little earner and a great way to start my day.
Monday to Friday, I have 2 options, both within 5 minutes from where I live that I can choose from, both taking me into the city and both paying £16 and £19 respectively.
You too, can stumble upon similar opportunities by asking the right questions.
How Does This Strategy Work?
If at 5am you pick someone up from their home, suited and booted going to the city for example you will make the usual small talk ie:
“Good morning”
“Early start”
“So you work in the city”
“Do you get an Uber every day?”
“Do you start the same time every day?”
From this quick friendly chat, you’ve not only broken the ice and made them feel comfortable but you have also qualified them as a potential regular customer.
By asking these questions, I established that this particular rider requests an uber just after 5 am every morning, monday to friday to go to work in the city.
On average, the trips takes 30 minutes and pays £16. If I took this ride every day, it would pay me £80 week which would more or less cover my fuel costs for the whole week.
Being so early in the morning, the roads are completely empty so it’s a nice easy drive which lands me in the heart of the city by 5:30 am. This gives me 1 ½ hours to continue to roam the city before the congestion charge kicks in and the roads start to get busy.
Below you can see the screenshots from this monday and tuesday. Unfortunately I overslept on wednesday which means I just missed out on the ride. Today has proven to be very quiet, so I could have done with being on £16 by 5:30 am.
How Can You Guarantee You Get The Ride?
How the Uber algorithm allocates riders to drivers is a complete mystery. It used to be the case that the closest driver would receive the request but a leaked document recently revealed that it goes as far as marrying the two based on their likes and dislikes from information found on their social media. I am not sure how true this is but I have had several occasions, where I have had passengers sitting inside my vehicle and the trip was allocated to another driver.
Fortunately at 5 o’clock in the morning, It’s unlikely that there will be another driver close enough for you not to receive the request. From Ubers point of view, it would not make for a great customer experience for a rider to wait 5-10 minutes when you will be there in seconds.
Now I’m not saying to camp out their house like a stalker with a red carpet rolled out from their front door to the car ready for their entrance.
Sitting at the end of the road for 5 minutes will do the trick and will be enough for you to get the request.
After a few rides you’ll get to know the customer and they will appreciate being picked up by the same person they are familiar with.
Being a successful private hire driver in part requires you to think outside the box and to make things happen and this is just one of those opportunities to look out for that can contribute to your long term success driving for Uber, Bolt and any other rideshare app you may be using.
