72-year-old Uber driver reveals how he earned $80,000 in a year
A 72-year-old Uber driver has revealed how he made a whopping $80,000 in one single year.
Spending most of your days sat in traffic, chauffeuring people around who sometimes start nattering your ear off after a night out when you just want to drive in peace - being an Uber driver is no easy feat.
However, for one 72-year-old, the long days are made much more worth it when he ends up taking a staggering $80,000 home in a single year.
If you're currently sat at your desk, swivelling on your chair on minimum wage questioning if this is really what adult life is all it cracks up to be, then maybe it's time to quit your day job and get behind the wheel.
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An Uber driver named Rich - who used a pseudonym to protect his identity - has been working as a full-time driver for the taxi service for over three years.
The 72-year-old, from Arizona, told Insider he tends to start work at around the crack of dawn - yes, we did warn you it's not for the faint-hearted - at the brisk time of 4:30am. However, that's not before he watches the news and has a coffee, obviously.
The question is, would you be motivated enough to make the big bucks to crawl out of your nice warm duvet at 4:30am? Well, Rich explains it's not quite as easy as that.
In a tax document shown to Insider, Rich revealed he made over $80,000 in just one year in 2022.
Although, before you get your hopes up thinking this is a norm, Rich's pay cheque was the result of a year of seriously hard graft.
To make the impressive amount of money, Rich covered a mighty 77,000 miles in his car last year and tends to put in about 40 to 55 hours a week driving for Uber.
As anyone who drives will know, driving consistently for hours on end is like doing a marathon for your mind and Rich explains in his experience, in order to prevent 'burn out early' on, drivers have to 'like to meet people and to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation'.
Sadly, an $80,000-a-year pay slip isn't the norm for Rich, who adds he now makes 'less, per hour' than he's made in 'the previous three years'.
He says the coronavirus pandemic helped with reducing the competition, with some drivers stopping their jobs over health concerns.
And so now, the estimated amount he earns per hour - before accounting for vehicles expenses, including gas and maintenance - comes to around $22.
Rich notes he's also not found there aren't 'near[ly] as many promotions or surges as there were in previous years'.
The Uber driver explained: "There were a number of times when I'd make over $2,000 a week - as high as $2,700 one week - however, those days are long gone."
Instead, driving five or more days for four weeks across September and October saw Rich earn between $1,000 and $1,500, but heading into retirement with savings and Social Security income to rely on, he resolves he's doing 'not great, but ok'.
So, Uber driving or your day job, which ones for you?
UNILAD has contacted Uber for comment.
Poppy Bilderbeck