Page 1 of 2
Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:11 am
by Ernie
I started driving for Uber this week. I don't have long term plans to do this but am investigating it as an opportunity for our pastor to earn some additional income. Last night in State College, drivers were taking in $60-100 an hour due to a surge.
Any other drivers out there?
The older gentlemen that I would like to get started with this will need a large print, easy to read screen.
Does anyone know of an economical tablet / phone service that would be of similar size to say an an onboard navigation system?
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:51 am
by MaxPC
God bless you, Ernie.
There are super sized phones and tablets like iPad, that let you adjust the size of the print by going into the settings preferences. Perhaps one of those will do?
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:19 am
by Josh
iPhone 7 Plus or Samsung Note are pretty big. If that's not big enough an iPad with a data plan should work.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 1:43 pm
by ohio jones
Ernie wrote:economical tablet
iPad
Try an Android tablet for about half the price.
Also be sure to confirm that your auto insurance policy does not suspend coverage for this type of driving; some do.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:00 pm
by Josh
ohio jones wrote:Ernie wrote:economical tablet
iPad
Try an Android tablet for about half the price.
Also be sure to confirm that your auto insurance policy does not suspend coverage for this type of driving; some do.
Uber has its own insurance which covers liability.
If you total your car whilst driving for Uber you'll either need commercial auto that covers taxi type operation or else pay to replace your car. Personally, my car isn't worth enough to carry comprehensive / collision, and I'm conscientiously opposed to benefiting from that type of insurance anyway.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:01 pm
by Josh
ohio jones wrote:Ernie wrote:economical tablet
iPad
Try an Android tablet for about half the price.
Reliability is a concern with Uber since if your tablet or phone crashes whilst driving you get dinged for that. I would not drive for Uber and rely on a cheap $100 Android tablet.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:04 pm
by Josh
Forgot to mention this but I occasionally drive for Uber and know a few other people who do.
The best money I found was to go to a bigger city since Uber Black had better rates than UberX. (You need a black car and 2007 or newer and it needs to be on a list of approved cars, but most nicer newer cars are on the list.) The app watches your location so hang around places where you think people will want rides.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:24 pm
by ohio jones
Josh wrote:I would not drive for Uber and rely on a cheap $100 Android tablet.
Half the price of an iPad is more than $100. A Samsung Galaxy tablet would not be sufficiently reliable?
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:48 pm
by PeterG
Definitely stay away from the super-cheap new Android devices, but I've had pretty good success with high-end electronics that are a few years old. (My phone is an iPhone 4S, for example.) I'd look for something like a second-generation Nexus 7.
Re: Uber, Lyft, etc.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:49 pm
by Josh
ohio jones wrote:Josh wrote:I would not drive for Uber and rely on a cheap $100 Android tablet.
Half the price of an iPad is more than $100. A Samsung Galaxy tablet would not be sufficiently reliable?
I don't have any experience with them, but my opinion of Android OS is I wouldn't rely on it for something mission critical.
explains fairly well how to do a tablet setup. (You still need a phone as well to operate Uber.)