
How Uber Makes Its Drivers Pay - aerophilic
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-uber-makes-its-drivers-pay-11565737028?mod=rsswn
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floatingatoll
For those wondering why this is WSJ news —

Uber wouldn’t be profitable, or even viable, if it had to reimburse for
mileage like any other business does. In the business world, offsetting a
billion dollar expense off of your books altogether is newsworthy.

The federal government left a loophole in the mileage coverage rules,
specifying that only employees of a business need to be reimbursed for
mileage. Uber exploits this loophole by treating each driver as a business,
but also prohibits them from operating as a business of 2+ people, which
forces drivers into a scenario where they are not reimbursed for their costs
by any business - yet are somehow considered a ‘business’ even though they are
no such thing.

That’s financially newsworthy for those considering whether to invest in Uber
or replicate its abuse of law, as the chances remain high that the government
will find their contractor arrangement in violation of labor law.

Uber’s practices, and therefore Uber’s risks, apply theoretically to any
business that uses “individual independent contractors” (Uber, Lyft) to offset
these costs. It is unresolved what will come of this attempt to sidestep
employee reimbursement rules.

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ilaksh
Most Uber drivers know they are putting wear on the car that is going to cost
a lot in the long term.

But also, most Uber drivers are like most people: when they needed a job, they
needed one sooner than later, and they cannot easily just quit and find
another better one.

People are not driving for Uber because they think its the ultimate investment
strategy or something or because they are too dumb to realize car maintenance
adds up.

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mitchbob
The Uber Game. See if you can win! [https://ig.ft.com/uber-
game/](https://ig.ft.com/uber-game/)

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Arete314159
I've asked a lot of Lyft drivers about this. Only one said, "Yes, exactly,
I've tried to explain to other people that after my expenses I'm not really
earning any money." The others blew me off.

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Arete314159
So she, basically, is using it as an emergency fund.

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labrador
The author of this article, who possibly already lost a bunch of money on Uber
or is a short seller of Uber stock, does not think much of the intelligence of
Uber drivers. They can't do math apparently. It's possible to make a profit
driving for Uber taking into consideration all expenses. The drivers who don't
know how to do this don't last.

