The transport business as anyone would expect has peak times. In most cases, peak hours happen in the morning hours when people leave their residences for work and in the evening when they return from work. At this time, the demand for shared ride goes up, though not for a long time. Therefore, during the regular hours, the demand for shared taxi services goes down, thereby requiring the driver to become more strategic in their approach to nap some customers. Driving is fun as you get to help and meet exciting people in the process. But apparently, it will be more fun if it gets you some good money. To a new driver in the market, getting customers and staying afloat may prove to be too hard to achieve. Here are a few tips on how you can maximize on shared rides and boosting your earnings.
Drive in boost zones
Taxi applications such as Uber have a feature that can multiply your trip’s fare depending on where and when you drive. As a taxi operator, these are the areas you would want to operate to increase your profits. Therefore, once you drop your customers to their destinations, don’t be afraid to turn off your taxi app and return to the boost zones then turn it back on. This action with will multiply your earnings on a larger scale than when driving around aimlessly. Boost zones also tend to have many ride request than the other locations, thereby keeping you on the road almost fulltime.
Avoid waiting for too long in airport queues
If you are to make good money from shared rides, waiting for somebody for hours is not the way to go. Remember, time is money, and you may wait for hours for somebody at the airport only for that client to a few blocks from where you are, thus paying a relatively low amount of money. Plus you could achieve up to three or more rides and make more money using the same amount of time you spend waiting for somebody at the airport. The best advice in this business is if you don’t want to operate in an area, just switch off the app and move to where you want to bring it then back online. Avoiding airport queues will help you avoid areas that are prone to traffic jams thereby saving your time and maximizing profits.
Avoid driving around looking for rides
Chasing on rides might just increase your fuel expenses without guaranteeing returns. As a result, frustrations will set in even complicating matters further. Just stay where you are and turn the app on and let it find the riders for you. Instead of going to the city early in the morning, you can wait for a while just where you are. You might be lucky and get a rider that is going the same route as you, and it’ll be to your advantage. This situation is like getting paid for driving yourself somewhere.
Have a target
To keep you focused on your job, you need a financial-based goal that works best for you. For example, you can choose to set your target at achieving a minimum of 75 rides a week. With such a goal, it becomes easier to calculate your daily target, thereby developing the need for you to work much harder, especially in getting rides that pay better. As a result, you’ll end up developing a strategy that works in achieving your targets, and even surpassing them. One such approach would be to ensure your car accommodates some little package your clients may have. You don’t have to only focus on people, just think of adding value to them or even offering parcel delivery services during rides. Sleep In short, a target helps you to get extra earnings on top as your weekly earnings are likely to exceed your target earnings.
Monitor your competitors with the app
You can use apps like Uber to monitor the competitors near you. These apps are programmed to work in a way that it sends requests to the closest driver around. A taxi driver in front of you in a particular destination will happen most likely get a driver request first if there is. You can use the app to see the location of the other cars and use the information to reposition yourself strategically. Changing your position will enable you to get the request first and therefore maximizing your earnings. This strategy is applicable especially when the rider requests are few.
Don’t run after surges
A surge, in this case, is a situation whereby there is high demand for taxi services. Chasing surges might just add you extra miles and expenses, thereby causing you frustrations. It may even result in you getting a rider after some time maybe, 14 minutes with no bonus. In some cases, surges end up lasting for a short time, thus affecting your earnings negatively. It’s therefore, preferable that you drive in boost zones at the peak hours and the surges will come right to you. As a consequence, you will get a lot of rider requests at these areas without having to look for them. Besides, the fact that your movements are minimal reduces your fuel consumptions and expenses. It also saves you time since you can make a large number of rides in a short time. Avoiding surges will increase your earnings and reduce your fuel costs.
Drive during peak hours
Operating at peak hours will significantly increase your earnings to more than 50% compared to the other hours. All you have to do is drive in the morning when the requests are many, and then you can turn off the application for a while. When the evening commute picks up, you can turn it on and get back to work. This decision will save your time, meaning you can even pursue other projects at the time when the riders are few. You can go to sleep and have a rest before you get back on track in the evening. The time freedom you have with this mode of operation will make you enjoy your time as a driver. During peak hours, the payment rates are also higher, implying that you’ll earn more money per trip compared to what you would otherwise make in regular hours.
Save on gas money
One of the best ways to increase your earnings from shared rides as a taxi driver is to reduce the expenses associated with your work (operational costs). One way to do this is saving money, by downloading the “gas buddy app” on your device. The app enables you to locate gas stations near you. It also reveals the prices for the economy gas, mid-grade, and premium gas. By using this information, you’ll have the power to choose the nearest and cheapest gas station around, thereby saving money; which you can treat as income at the end of the day.
