Adjustable Rate Rider: Fill & Download for Free

Data. Connectivity and sensing systems are going to provide riders, manufacturers and insurance companies with unparalleled access to information. Real time data and statistics on bike & biker performance, along with road data and weather conditions. Some of it will allow bikers to tune their bikes on the fly, manufacturers to understand how people ride their bikes and insurance agencies to adjust rates. Whole new world.

When their rates are adjusted to the market value and cost to provide the service.Uber’s current CEO says he does not see the US market making a profit in the near future… That is because they have not crushed the competition by charging less than market rates for their rides. Their investors are paying for your riders to go get more beer and cigs… Once they crush local taxi companies, they will adjust rates higher since it isn’t good business to keep losing money.Unlike Mr. Stiffler’s response below, Drivers are not the biggest expense and Autonomous cars won’t fix that problem. When he says payments to drivers, he means payments to drivers who own, insure maintain, and operate their private car at break even rates.Uber’s rates have dropped by about 40% since I started driving for Uber. At the same time, there are new “fees” that Uber charges the rider that are not shared with the driver.What would happen if Uber decided to slowly raise the rates? That might leave enough profit for another company to survive and compete with Uber. Uber HAS to stamp out all those upstarts who might compete with their service and is willing to burn megabucks to do it. Why they didn’t buy Lyft while they had the chance was pure hubris. Now it’s too late and Lyft is competing with Uber for every ride around the US.

When Uber says that UberX is for up to 4 people and UberXL is for up to 6, that is no joke.This is is a HUGE problem, especially with younger riders (college towns are particularly notorious for this issue).There are so many layers to the problem. A common excuse heard from the riders that try this is “but the last driver didn’t have a problem with it”. And that’s probably true. There is a huge turnover rate among Uber drivers, so the vast majority of drivers on the road are more or less brand new to it, and so they don’t know any better/are willing to do anything for a buck (to any such drivers reading: so often these trips are super short anyway, so just wait at the pickup spot until the clock runs out and you’ll make more from the cancel fee).Once that one driver looks the other way, know the riders think this is no big deal and the next guy who follows the rules is the a**hole.Here’s what both the riders and the drivers probably don’t realize. The commercial insurance policy that covers Uber drivers is only good for the number of seatbelts in the car. An UberX vehicle is one that seats 5- the driver plus 4 riders. As soon as that driver allows that group of 5 or 6 to squeeze, he now has no valid insurance. Do you really want to ride with someone that has no insurance? Drivers- if even the slightest of accident should happen, you are f*cked- there’s no other way to say it. Your personal insurance will say “you were using your vehicle commercially, that’s not covered” and they’ll drop you. The Uber insurance will say “You were operating outside the limits of your vehicle as insured” and deny coverage. And now all of those riders get to come after you personally and say “you shouldn’t have allowed us to do that” and you can kiss your house, car, etc goodbye.Drivers- I get why you may want to look the other way. You’re out to make money, these trips might often be under big surge prices such that you’ll lose a good bit if you cancel. You might think, let’s just get this quick trip done and on to the next, what are the chances something happens. But it only takes one little incident and you truly are done. If you drive an X only vehicle, don’t take more than 4. Just don’t do it. It’s best to wait out whatever time remains on the pickup clock, collect your cancel fee and move on (or make the riders cancel to save a couple minutes). If you want, you can take up to 4 of the group and the others request another car… but expect a 1* rating. If you drive an XL vehicle, again don’t take more than 6 (even if you’re particular car could fit more safely- with seatbelts- insurance is only for 6). If you’re driving an XL vehicle and get an X request for 5 or 6, you can go ahead and take them and report the trip to uber after and they’ll increase the fare to XL rates.Riders- Look, I get it. You’re out with friends or family, you’re having a good time, you want to ride together. Nothing wrong that. If there’s 6 or fewer of you, just order the XL if you need to. Yes it is more expensive but barely. Split among 6 friends, the difference is basically nothing. If there’s more than 6 if you- sorry, I know you might want to ride together but you just can’t. Just order the 2+ cars you’ll need- odds are you’ll all be picked up and dropped off within minutes of each other and will reunite quickly.The simple fact is, riding like this isn’t safe. Nobody ever expects to be in a crash, they just happen. Seatbelts are designed for a single person- double buckling can be worse than no belt at all. That’s of course if the extra people (or any of you) even bother to buckle in. And let’s not forget- a driver who lets you do this is driving without insurance. Makes you wonder what else he’s neglecting… is his vehicle inspection up to date?A few “special cases”.some riders think they’re being clever by requesting UberX, cancelling and trying again until they get an SUV or minivan (UberXL vehicles can also receive requests for UberX trips). As mentioned above, the driver can just take you and then later submit a report to have the fare adjusted to XL rates. When they do that, not only will you get charged the (tiny) extra cost you were trying to avoid but this report also serves as a notation of violation of the TOS and could result in your access to Uber being suspended or terminated.There are some vehicles out with atypical seating configurations. Any vehicle with 6 or fewer seatbelts (driver included) with be designated an X only vehicle and will only receive UberX requests (even though some uncommon models might be able to accommodate 5 riders). If you have such a vehicle and get an X request from a group of 5, it is kind of an awkward situation. You could take them and ask for adjustment to XL rates (no guarantee there since your vehicle doesn’t qualify for XL as XL requires seating for 6 riders). The big thing to consider is that they did knowingly request X for 5 people. It was just blind luck they got you. Personally, I would treat this the same as any other X request for 5 with an X vehicle.Same thing goes for 8 passenger vans or SUVs. You could fit 7 riders, but XL is only for up to 6. Again, a group that does this knowingly requested a ride for too many peoples- just luck that your vehicle has the seating. In this case you definitely won’t be getting any extra money (there’s no larger Uber than XL). Your discretion to take them, report either way.Final takeaway for riders and drivers. Drivers- whenever you do run into this issue REPORT IT. Just go to the cancelled trip in your history, submit a support ticket and just say “This trip was cancelled because the riders requested UberX for a group of more than 4. They were informed of Uber policy and denied service on this basis”. Riders- assume that when you do this, it is being reported. Keep it up and you will eventually lose access to Uber.(Everything in this answer also applies to Lyft/LyftPlus- the Lyft equivalent of UberXL)