So, for the past couple of years I had been thinking of getting myself to be an Uber driver (or perhaps should have been Grab, but still stuck with Uber anyway) thinking how life would be like if I were to have a car to chauffeur people around. Well, for the first time I decided to take the plunge - 2 weeks off, no holidays, no rests, just... Uber.
To start off, getting yourself and your car registered is no simple process. Document after document, have to make sure everything is correct before you set off. Took me quite a number of trips to the car rental company and the Uber office (even at the expense of my off days, my work hours) just to get it sorted out. Sigh. Oh and not to mention the amount of money forked out just to start (car rental, deposit, season parking, cashcard).
Finally, 1st April I started driving (not April Fools, mind you). Still remembered the 1st customer was from Kaki Bukit to Junction 8. My leg cramped from too much pedaling (accel & brake). And the passenger paid by cash; he whipped out a $50 note expecting change. Gosh lucky I had JUST NICE for change... And I am out of small notes and coins. Die. Wonder what would happen when the next customer decided to pay cash as well.. worse still, with large notes.
Had driven a lot of passengers around for the 1st week. People from all walks of life. People taking Uber for different purposes. Some good, some neutral, some blur cock, some bad, some ugly. Well that's life isn't it, take it in stride, I thought. Burned long hours just to clock that required number of trips, spending thousands of km on the road, getting horned by cutting lanes, stopping in the middle of nowhere just to get to the passenger who flagged me down at the opposite end of the road..
Here's a few types of customers that I faced worth mentioning on the list:
- Those that placed their pickup location at point 1, and ask you to go to point 2.
- Those that dont even know where they placed their pickup / dropoff location
- Those that use my car to run errand (Pick-up someone along the way, drop off along the way, use my car to go across the street pick up a child then drive back)
- Those that "had a party" in my car
- Those that think I am a taxi driver and expect me to know all roads in SG
- Those that asked me about Uber
- Drunkards (lucky for me I picked up good drunks)
- Shoppers (with handful of bags)
- Travellers (with truckloads of luggage)
- Families (with crying kids)
- Those trying to squeeze in the 5th person in the car
- SMELLY (from sweat) passengers
- Ah bengs who try to chaokeng from NS by going to A&E
- Ah bengs boasting about their knowledge & experience in the pub
- People of all ages calling me "Uncle" =.=
I also happily listened to their stories, had a little chat with some of them just to keep me awake. It's heartening to see myself interacting with people from different walks of life.
But all that for money? Nah. My conclusion: not meant to be driven as a FT. You gonna suffer with all that stress and poor business. Pings come like at the most awkward timings, at very scarce frequency. Be happy that you earn about $10-$20 an hour on trips. Only drive Uber when you had a car of your own; the fare is just nice enough to cover your petrol costs.
2 weeks down. 2 more weekends to go. And the car is gone. There's only 1 take back I have; this would be the 1st and the last time I'm driving Uber..