Ask LH: How Can I Become An Uber Driver?


Dear Lifehacker, I’m a professional driver and want to work for Uber. How do I go about doing that? Thanks, Uber-Aspirant

Dear UA,

Uber, which lets you book a nearby private driver for a fixed-rate trip direct from your smartphone, has proven fairly popular since its launch in Sydney last October and subsequent expansion to Melbourne. The rates are higher than a taxi (a trip from Sydney’s CBD to the international airport costs $75, and the charges increase for major event days), but the experience is also more luxurious, as Gizmodo’s Luke Hopewell discovered when he tested out the service

Applying to drive an Uber car is easy: just hit the apply to drive link on the site and fill out the form. As well as having a suitably new (and preferably black) vehicle, you’ll also need an ABN and will have to arrange suitable insurance (though if you’re already working as a professional hire car driver, you should have that covered anyway).

Applying doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be accepted, however. “We meet the drivers, and we interview them. We set standards that are higher than for hire car drivers,” Uber Sydney GM David Rohrsheim said.

Getting through the interview isn’t the final step either. “To stay in the system, you have to be rated 4.7 stars or above,” Rohrsheim points out. (Uber users can’t book another vehicle until they’ve rated the previous trip, so almost every trip receives a rating.) But if you’re well-presented and well-mannered, it’s a potential extra way to acquire passengers. Good luck!

Cheers
Lifehacker

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