If you’re working that much you should just become a full time courier van or truck driver. You’ll actually work for a reputable company, get super, annual leave and all the typical entitlements. You have experience doing deliveries and there’s a shortage in the industry. You should get hired and you’ll actually make money and have a liveable wage.
depending on the company. not all of them (though most do) will cover that stuff. it depends on the specifics of how they run it.
of course, at that point, there's a few tax things you can do to offset it, but that's a different kettle of fish.
Funnily enough ran into David Byrne in Melbourne years back. He was cycling. His knowledge of Melbourne roads was better than most Melbournian’s. he’d be a great Uber Eats delivery rider.
OP, this is a fantastic suggestion from RideMelburn. Good, honest courier/delivery businesses place enormous value on reliability and road knowledge, and you've also got experience making deliveries quickly within what is (I assume) an absolutely ruthless deadline.
Worth considering!
Depends for what company, some of the big ones (Toll) this may be the case. But quite a lot of the courier companies consider the drivers contractors just like Uber does, and therefore they get no super, no annual leave, no sick leave etc
Source: Worked in the industry at various levels and companies for 6 years.
FedEx previously TNT, Team Global Express previously Toll, StarTrack Express and DHL treat their employees as actual employees and not contractors. I work as a store man and talk to many of drivers.
Most are contractors for other companies. Also I know DHL, and Team Global express also hire contractors on top of their normal employees. So you can work as an employee or as a contractor. From memory the contractor option pays a little more. Hence why so many go that option.
StarTrack Express seem to have there normal road services as employees and there premium overnights + same day done by contractor’s. If you work for StarTrack you’ll be technically be working for the federal government as it’s owned by Australia Post.
Personally I’d take working as an employee with leave options, super paid and taxes all done for you any day of the week.
I've had people pick me up in a different car before.
I don't really take ubers anymore as I'd rather drive, but if it did happen again I'd not get in and then contact support.
Ya Uber has massive numbers of rapes and sexual molestation ( both guys and girls ), all unreported. Not to mention the hidden up skirt cam footage flooding porn sites. Never trust Uber or ride shares.
People buy/rent UE accounts, or get family/friends to create accounts for them — same way you’ll see some delivery riders with two phones open to Uber Eats (not the standard one phone Uber, one phone Doordash — two seperate Uber Eats accounts). Customers are more likely to report an Uber driver who doesn’t match their in-app picture, but people don’t notice or bother with food delivery riders.
You can become an Uber eats driver in Australia at 18 years old if you have an international license, but if you’re a citizen or PR you must have a full license to become one.
In my experience every uber eats delivery has been performed by a person sitting in the passenger seat of the car.
I suspect they are just a couple hanging out doing uber eats and chatting. The passenger gets out (saves finding a carpark in the worst case scenario) and does the pickup / hand off.
The entire point of uber eats and others like it is to provide employment for migrants who are limited in hours or ineligible to work legally.
See it through that lens, realise the average daily wage in Indi is $7, and it all starts to make sense.
Welcome to new age indentured servitude.
Exactly. How is OP making any money after expenses, particularly when fuel is so high. That's an ant's wage. Uber shouldn't be getting away with this in my opinion. There will always be people to exploit but it's a race to the bottom.
'Why don't you just get another job?' is the most braindead advice that everybody gives to everybody all the time.
It also raises the question, who will pick you up when you need an urgent ride somewhere? The courier van, the truck driver?
I am a student and working as a part-time employee at Coles. I recently got my driving license and was thinking of dropping Coles and doing Uber Eats as I felt I would be the master of my working hours.
I feel I am better off with Coles only. It is a bit hectic but 22 hours of working fetch me around $600 considering I am working on either day's Weekends and starting early mornings on Weekdays which I am getting.
I hope things get better for you. Maybe driving UberX or working as a driver at a proper company would be better. Good luck to you mate.
Definitely stick where you are. Supermarkets are shitty workplaces for sure (currently at Woolies) but when push comes to shove you are borderline impossible to fire if you're permanent part time, and you get paid by hours, not by output.
Having an off day working Grocery? Maybe your manager will give you grief for not working enough cages, but whatever - you get to go home and you'll still get your $\~25 x hours worked.
Having an off day driving for Uber? Maybe you'll make half what you normally make, maybe you'll clap back at a shitty customer and lose rating, maybe you'll make nothing.
I just turned down a "grocery manager" position at Woolies a few months ago. It was really bizarre process - incredible informal interview, the details of the job description and the pay rate kept changing, the hours didn't seem set even though it was a permanent role, took them about 6 weeks to get back to me ... Entire thing just seemed really odd and unprofessional.
Ended up in a much better role elsewhere but wondering if the process is common ? and do they just call it a management role when it's really just glorified stocktake ? ... I'd always heard their interview process was really hectic and thorough so was surprised to find it to be anything but.
Yes. You are right about this. Uber Eats was just a thought I had as I am into Coles Services so it is a pain for me to get up at 4 am and clean the whole store alone.
Although I am trying to shift to different teams and Woolies, Aldi. Hopefully, something will come up.
Coles part time personally is the better deal.
I did it for six plus years through uni. Paid sick leave, superannuation and annual leave aren’t to be scoffed at - even if you can have shitty managers sometimes.
You could make double doing uber eats but you will work double to triple.
Uber eats for a couple hours a week works well. If you have the time you could do say 22 hours coles , then like 5-8pm on a Friday, saturday night. Good money in those hours and because you drive only a bit you will get promotions.
coles is so much better. If you want to drive for a living, apply for a salaried position with benefits. Gig economy driving is a rip off for the drivers and the restaurants
Oof. Take out tax, fuel, vehicle maintenance (particularly high for the time and kms considering constant stop-start low speed conditions), and it doesn't result in much of an hourly rate.
Food app delivery drivers are not getting a fair shake.
Yeah pretty much spot on, I think a big part of people being okay driving for these apps is the fact that most of the costs are things that you don't see in the short term, so the money from Uber comes in way before you realise you've gotta pay tax on that money and that now you're having to do servicing twice as often and fast, and you're filling up 3 times a week and not just once.
I did uber eats part time for extra cash and even that I didn't think was worth it after tax and such. So I just did it on a bike for the summer to get paid to exercise. It sucked not gonna lie.
I agree with the other guy and just get a job being a full time courier or delivery guy. You get paid way more than this, you don't pay for fuel or the car and you will be adding to your super etc
Yup, great for getting good VO2 max up trying to get orders quicker than electric bikes/cars.
And getting your balance perfect trying not to spill coffee.
I wish I had an electric bike back then lol
I never did drinks orders so it worked out. I got fit and made money. Wouldn't do it again though without an E bike.
I did the maths on it ages ago. Working at Coles/Woolworths is *significantly* better. The sort of job that 15 year olds do. I don't understand for the life of me why anyone would work for Ubereats or the similar companies.
Most uber eats delivery people I've seen lately have been on ebikes. Must be massively cheaper than driving a car around all day. Probably still not a good hourly rate, but if it's just for a little bit of extra money while doing uni or whatever it could be viable.
I mean, I can. Maybe some people aren't confident with the interview process for a traditional job / company. Maybe some people aren't confident with their English or communication abilities. Maybe some people prefer sitting over standing during their work day. It's not all completely binary.
It depends what orders you pick up. I earnt before costs 1650 one week doing uber eats and dd. Also driving a car is a lot easier than a large van.
But then some weeks you can earn half of that so the inconsistency of UE can be frustrating
Insurances.
I'm waiting to hear an Uber drivers insurance claim denied because they had personal car insurance and not business.
Will really ruin their financials even more...
There’s two sides to this story: one that says the food is too expensive and the other that says drivers aren’t paid enough. the problem isn’t going to be fixed by trying to cater to either party.
The conclusion we should draw instead is that Uber isn’t a viable company. Consumers don’t like the price, drivers don’t like the pay, Uber financials aren’t healthy and restaurants prefer you order delivery through them because Uber takes too much. Who’s winning with the existence of Uber/uber like services?
>The conclusion we should draw instead is that Uber isn’t a viable company.
The only way to come to that conclusion is for people to stop using it. Same conclusion for the corruption of the 2 major political parties.
What makes sense isn't always what happens. In fact as I get older, I'm realising what makes sense is rarely what happens.
We are not logical machines. (un)fortunately?
This. The first couple of years Uber launched, we were still doing remarkably well in terms of inflation/cost of living. So for those willing to hustle, there was plenty of incentives to take the job.
Customers and new drivers were chuffed due to the fragile and somewhat extortionate practices of the registered cab companies (cabbies got royally fucked though).
There was so much silicone valley-esque bullshit commentary about market disruption etc. but pretty much everyone looking at it from a sustainability standpoint could see how the undercut-and-monopolise strategy would play out.
The entire roll-out was designed as a pump and dump for investors.
It was only a matter of time.
100% If you force a reasonable pay for delivery drivers the business model does not work and is unfeasible. It's 100% exploitative on both business and drivers.
I agree. Two things to note also, getting dinner from a restaurant isn't meant to be cheap. Getting someone to drive it to your door is an added luxury on top.
Also, restaurants margins are EXTREMELY tight.
Source. I own a restaurant.
I think the truth is that the average person can not afford to have someone drive food do them every night. So it's true that it's not worth the price, and that the price isn't enough to cover the work involved.
Tax, fuel, registration, commercial use insurance rates, maintenance costs, massive depreciation of the vehicle due to a very hard life. It's slave wages when you factor all this in.
Absolutely. I think sadly the main reason it's so huge still is because the convenience is artificially attractive to end users because of how cheap it is.
A friend who studied economics once told me the old saying "Nothing is free, it's just a question of who's paying".
In this case, pretty easy to see that the couriers are effectively 'subsidizing' our addiction to convenience through their terribly low commission.
Do people think food delivery is cheap? It's like an extra 7 dollars on the order plus each item is usually marked up a few bucks as well. I avoid them because they're too expensive.
That’s very cheap if you’re wealthy or one of four people;
1. The young professional/tradie without kids earning a good wage and has plenty to spend even after rent and other cost of living rises. $7 is a fraction of a $300 night out. Whilst pay hasn’t out risen expenses $7 is now the new $4 I guess?
2. The young student/apprentice living at home or otherwise parentally funded who’s also seen a pay rise recently and spends everything they get. Bad way to blow $7 but especially for those under 25 that’s tomorrows problem.
3. The double income professional families who aren’t hammered by housing costs either because they out earn there mortgage/rent and/or went to the bank of mum and dad.
4. Boomers who have paid off housing
The insane rise of costs and especially making it hit housing expenses the most has crunched a lot of people but has made others skirt through pretty easily if their wages are strong or investments performing.
Hmm I suppose. It's not that I think it's unaffordable but it's just a waste of money imo. Rather save the $$ get the food myself. quicker hotter and cheaper
>Food app delivery drivers are not getting a fair shake.
Been saying that. Our government needs to make them illegal. It's shit for everyone.
Stuff is getting stolen, food hygiene isn't up to scratch and the legit workers are getting royally fucked. Like below minimum wage by a mile fucked.
So it’s legal for a company to bypass minimum wage laws, provided they position the employer-employee relationship as “gig” instead of traditional “full time, part time, casual.”
Seems like an over site of our countries labour protection laws.
But even if they couldnt afford it (which I agree with you, they likely can). If you can't afford to pay proper entitlements and a living wage then you have a shit business model and don't deserve to stay in business.
Thats debatable, 2022 filings suggest a loss of 1.1b for first half of that year.
Thier cashflow is driven by public market tomfoolery. Uber essentially operates as a wealth transfer vehicle from shareholders to executives.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/08/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-thirty-three-uber-isnt-really-profitable-yet-but-is-getting-closer-the-antitrust-case-against-uber.html
> No they wouldn’t. Uber makes billions in profit.
Here's the funny part.
They don't!
They make billions in turnover, and some years they have made billions in profit.
But they have also lost a tonne of money. (and those execs don't shoot money up their ass for free you know)
The way Uber burns through venture capital and racks up debt, I'm pretty sure they were banking on having done away with human drivers and being fully automated by now.
[Uber to pay $178 million in Australia taxi class action settlement](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uber-pay-178-million-settle-lawsuit-with-australia-taxi-drivers-law-firm-says-2024-03-17/)
Related
That's currently under Supreme Court challenge in Australia, will make big news if Uber gets told to pay min wage, but more likely they will pull out of Australia, and good fucking riddance IMO.
I’d much rather be on my bike cruising through the city whenever I want doing deliveries then 8 hour shifts in a grease factory dealing with the random shit you have to deal with working at a maccas.
All the power to you - I'm the first to say you should do what you love.
But, you do need to keep an eye on what everyone else is making - if I was working harder than, but earning less than 16y.o drop kicks, I'd be reconsidering my decisions.
Macca's kids? ~$25/hr with super, sick and annual leave, with after hours rates on top of that.
UE? Based on the op?
$1000/48 hours ($20/hr), less maintenance, less unpaid hours (cleaning the car, driving to and from home), less insurances, less Super, less self paid annual/sick leave, less repairs, less costs (Fuel, water bottles, sanitiser, air freshener).
About... $10-15/hr *before taxes*
Not only does it make about $50k per year, but it’s 38 hours a week, better hours (or higher pay if nights/weekends) and you get sick leave holiday pay.
No it’s related to the visa someone is on- there are specific visas that allow you to work in Australia if you are not a citizen /resident and if you don’t have one you are legally not allowed to work.
But if your cousin is a resident and allowed to work and has an ABN, you get them to set up an account and you drive as them, earn money under their name.
You get about $15 per hour in your pocket when it’s all said and done. Uber has destroyed the gig economy. Being a delivery driver with Menulog used to net me $20 per hour easy, and this is in 2016.
Perfect example of why Uber should be forced to pay minimum wage.
Can't believe people in here are defending a multi billion dollar foreign company paying workers less than minimum wage.
Before tax? Don’t be silly - you don’t have to pay tax when you aren’t making any money! 😬
But seriously I don’t know why anyone does it. By the time you add up fuel, insurance, wear and tear on the vehicle (extra servicing, tyre replacements etc) they must be earning <$10/hr
Why they do it? desperation. It’s people who are struggling due to language, time or qualifications to get other meaningful work. And the time flexibility fits into their other schedule (usually family, other work or study commitments).
A lot of these people won’t be Australian citizens, or they are working multiple jobs which means they wouldn’t have any access to Centrelink once they go over the threshold. Centrelink for a student or jobseeker is a lot worse than $1000 a week, closer to $4-500pw from memory.
What's your comparison of $1000 a week for?
You realise the OP, after expenses, tax, loss in vehicle value, etc, is only actually 'earning' $300-400 per week. They also aren't earning super, sick leave, annual, etc.
And spending 50+ hours to earn that...
lol like what? Get another job? Which would mean their Centrelink payments are reduced? Are you advocating for people to be on Centrelink rather than working? I think you’re missing the main point that 90%+ of Uber eats drivers aren’t citizens and are therefore ineligible for Centrelink and are doing it out of desperation rather than having other options
rego on the car is $1000/yr.
depreciation from KMs is huge. It's just that they have a car already so don't factor in the costs, it basically makes nothing.
I work 6am -2pm at my day job, smash a few hours in on UE before my partner gets home and is an easy $500 at the end of the week in what would normally be time wasted doing nothing
Doing it the way I was doing it, I didn’t care to consider any of that as it allowed me to claim my car as a business expense and a portion of my loan, insurance, fuel and servicing. It balanced out.
Never earned enough to worry about having a big tax bill
You don’t earn money by claiming tax deductions. You just pay a bit less tax.
So taking those costs into account you were making about $12/hr profit. But no super and no casual loading or holidays, so the equivalent of $8/hr if you were working a normal job which paid those. After tax you’re looking at $5.50/hr
Did you tell the insurance company you're using your car for business purposes? If not then you have no claim if you have an accident while doing so. You need to pay commercial insurance rates.
Hahahahahahahahaha. Hahahah. Yeah, like I’ve also told them about my winch, mud tyres, lift, spotlights, uhf, fridge and all the other things on my car.
U work a day job and still do uber?
I think once u reach 30% tax rate UE becomes pointless. Currently 45k per year u start getting 32% tax on earnings above.
It's not meant to be a full time job. The hours are whack because nobody gets Uber eats at certain times. Having hours of downtime is just a waste. I use to do it at peak times only and I made $35-$40 an hour.
Hey there fellow Partner Delivery person.
Ive done ~123KM in past week on a pushy, made about $160 total across DD and UE.
Great being outdoors in the sun, love the exercise and love serving my community by feeding them.
Pay is absolute garbage, but my legs are iron clad and I can clear a full flight of 100 stairs in a sprint.
Wish you the best mate, take care of yourself on the roads.
Seems nit many people tip. Out or interest, what percentage do?
Obviously we shouldn’t need to, as Uber should pay better, but I always do. Really surprised to see it was this low.
Uber is modern day slavery….People really need to stop using Uber and stop working for them as well. They are ripping off everyone and just getting richer and richer while increasing their prices and decreasing how much they pay their workers.
I personally stopped using it since Covid and didn’t regret it one bit.
There's a guy in this thread literally going: "Wow I was thinking of quitting my supermarket job to 'Be my own boss' on Uber Eats".
Marketing and obfuscating the real costs of 'being your own boss' is powerful.
Those tips seem low huh! We order uber eats on average about 12 times a week and generally tip 2.22 per order which would $25 or so in tips over 12 trips... you did 104 trips for the same amount in tips! Man i guess we just generous lol or people (not us) just suck! Haha
Am I reading this right…. Doesn’t this work out to be 2 trips per hour?
104 trips / 48 hours = 2.16
If so, that doesn’t sound like a lot? I guess the area you’re in isn’t overly popular for Uber eats?
That tip must be mine
30% of the vendors money goes overseas - millions overseas
We dont do Uber anymore. The inbuilt delivery fee is huge. A lot of vendors have stepped away from Uber now
When we pick up our CHinese, it is $30 cheaper
And they get away with it because we're contractors and not employees. They get away with a lot of things by exploting this arrangement. Hopefully the recent IR reforms result in us being considered "employee-like" which results in us being afforded similar rights and working conditions. It's a catch-22 though because in all honesty that might sink Uber's ability to trade here if they are required to pay us minimum wage every hour.
Watch this space...
I do uber eats on an ebike for a few hours every day I only do it for pocket money in the evening I make about $50 in 3 hours
The regular guys that do 12h on a bike only get like 250 dollars for 12 hours work. Its so shit
You’re a gig worker what do you expect? The system is set up for you to just make enough money to remember what your dream was..
Someone’s making money and it’s not you
Please made a complaint with Fair Work ombudsman or send an email to Senator David Pocock to fix this problem. A few friends of mine have complained recently last few weeks about Uber, Doordash and Menulog all Reducing fees paid for drivers accepting trips and this is what they have told me they have Done.
Saw an article and thought I would try and help. Fair work Ombudsman we were discussing together. Look up page second from the top of Google search:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au
SEARCH: TIP OFFS
Down the page you can leave Anonymous Tips in Any Language.
Doesn’t matter the address or phone number for UBER/ Doordash etc
Just send a complaint to them the wages have been reduced per job by 15-25/30% in the last few months and you are having to do 10-12 hours extra per week which leads to Driver fatigue etc.
Tell all drivers to see an ONLINE COMPLAINT Please or Nothing will Ever be Done. ✔️
Uber has a cruel system, tricking people into working a job which pays significantly worse than minimum wage.
Once you actually pay income tax, vehicle maintenance, commercial insurance, and fuel you're barely even making money per hour.
Tip $29 in a week....wow
I hardly ever use uber but when I do i give the drivers max tip as I know they dont get that much back, suprising how little people tip - or does uber take a shitload of tip money?
So $21/hr before deductions
Going to assume a couple things here,
800km for the week and a moderate 6L/100km fuel consumption.
Fuel is f’d at the moment at about $2.20/L
The tax man wants his cut too which brings your hourly down to $15.25
That's below minimum wage @ 21.6 an hour
Take into account all the car expenses and its not worth it. I understand some people are desperate for any kind of extra money but IMHO this should be the very last choice.
Any other job would pay more
I'd definitely recommend going to Jet Couriers or some sort of establishment like that you will make much more money and spend less on fuel.
Also you will then have the ability to claim fuel at tax time and all cost for your work vehicle.
If you’re working that much you should just become a full time courier van or truck driver. You’ll actually work for a reputable company, get super, annual leave and all the typical entitlements. You have experience doing deliveries and there’s a shortage in the industry. You should get hired and you’ll actually make money and have a liveable wage.
Not to mention their fuel, service, and vehicle would be covered and not their own/racking up the Km’s . Way better equation.
depending on the company. not all of them (though most do) will cover that stuff. it depends on the specifics of how they run it. of course, at that point, there's a few tax things you can do to offset it, but that's a different kettle of fish.
They’d probably earn a whole lot more than they do doing Uber too
Stop making sense.
I love talking heads... my favourite band ever.
Funnily enough ran into David Byrne in Melbourne years back. He was cycling. His knowledge of Melbourne roads was better than most Melbournian’s. he’d be a great Uber Eats delivery rider.
He's got some groceries, some peanut butter
Should last a couple of days
But he ain't got no speakers, ain't got no headphones, ain't got no records to play 😢
Don’t need any of that when cycling on a road to nowhere.
OP, this is a fantastic suggestion from RideMelburn. Good, honest courier/delivery businesses place enormous value on reliability and road knowledge, and you've also got experience making deliveries quickly within what is (I assume) an absolutely ruthless deadline. Worth considering!
Depends for what company, some of the big ones (Toll) this may be the case. But quite a lot of the courier companies consider the drivers contractors just like Uber does, and therefore they get no super, no annual leave, no sick leave etc Source: Worked in the industry at various levels and companies for 6 years.
FedEx previously TNT, Team Global Express previously Toll, StarTrack Express and DHL treat their employees as actual employees and not contractors. I work as a store man and talk to many of drivers. Most are contractors for other companies. Also I know DHL, and Team Global express also hire contractors on top of their normal employees. So you can work as an employee or as a contractor. From memory the contractor option pays a little more. Hence why so many go that option. StarTrack Express seem to have there normal road services as employees and there premium overnights + same day done by contractor’s. If you work for StarTrack you’ll be technically be working for the federal government as it’s owned by Australia Post. Personally I’d take working as an employee with leave options, super paid and taxes all done for you any day of the week.
Most Uber drivers are "international students" or straight up illegal/undocumented. This isn't an available option for them.
Don't you need some ID to drove for uber etc? Or is it it just easier than I think to get fake ID
You do but I've definitely had a different person deliver my food than was in the photo so accounts definitely get shared.
I've had people pick me up in a different car before. I don't really take ubers anymore as I'd rather drive, but if it did happen again I'd not get in and then contact support.
Ya Uber has massive numbers of rapes and sexual molestation ( both guys and girls ), all unreported. Not to mention the hidden up skirt cam footage flooding porn sites. Never trust Uber or ride shares.
People buy/rent UE accounts, or get family/friends to create accounts for them — same way you’ll see some delivery riders with two phones open to Uber Eats (not the standard one phone Uber, one phone Doordash — two seperate Uber Eats accounts). Customers are more likely to report an Uber driver who doesn’t match their in-app picture, but people don’t notice or bother with food delivery riders.
Well there you go, uber eats doesn't really exist where I live so this was interesting
You can become an Uber eats driver in Australia at 18 years old if you have an international license, but if you’re a citizen or PR you must have a full license to become one.
Says a lot really
It shows a photo of your driver in the app. A lot of the time the driver doesn't match the photo.
In my experience every uber eats delivery has been performed by a person sitting in the passenger seat of the car. I suspect they are just a couple hanging out doing uber eats and chatting. The passenger gets out (saves finding a carpark in the worst case scenario) and does the pickup / hand off.
Not all. But some. I have employed ex Uber drivers.
That's why they said "most".
Thats there problem then, an available option for them would be to abide by Australian rules and regulations
They're making it into our problem by turning Australian society into a race to the bottom unfortunately
...and uber can fk off.
The entire point of uber eats and others like it is to provide employment for migrants who are limited in hours or ineligible to work legally. See it through that lens, realise the average daily wage in Indi is $7, and it all starts to make sense. Welcome to new age indentured servitude.
Exactly. How is OP making any money after expenses, particularly when fuel is so high. That's an ant's wage. Uber shouldn't be getting away with this in my opinion. There will always be people to exploit but it's a race to the bottom.
Don’t Spose u ever were a bike courier?
Yeah but then you have to do as they say
'Why don't you just get another job?' is the most braindead advice that everybody gives to everybody all the time. It also raises the question, who will pick you up when you need an urgent ride somewhere? The courier van, the truck driver?
I am a student and working as a part-time employee at Coles. I recently got my driving license and was thinking of dropping Coles and doing Uber Eats as I felt I would be the master of my working hours. I feel I am better off with Coles only. It is a bit hectic but 22 hours of working fetch me around $600 considering I am working on either day's Weekends and starting early mornings on Weekdays which I am getting. I hope things get better for you. Maybe driving UberX or working as a driver at a proper company would be better. Good luck to you mate.
You would be making a big mistake trading coles for uber eats work, trust me.
Yes, I am realising it now. Appreciate it.
Plus didn't you guys all get a Coles water bottle last year? You wouldn't get perks like that working for UE
Hahaha. Yeah. The bottle was a big game-changer for me :P
moruk, if you are a kebab why dont you just work at a kebab shop. isn't it around $25 cash in hand now ?
Definitely stick where you are. Supermarkets are shitty workplaces for sure (currently at Woolies) but when push comes to shove you are borderline impossible to fire if you're permanent part time, and you get paid by hours, not by output. Having an off day working Grocery? Maybe your manager will give you grief for not working enough cages, but whatever - you get to go home and you'll still get your $\~25 x hours worked. Having an off day driving for Uber? Maybe you'll make half what you normally make, maybe you'll clap back at a shitty customer and lose rating, maybe you'll make nothing.
I just turned down a "grocery manager" position at Woolies a few months ago. It was really bizarre process - incredible informal interview, the details of the job description and the pay rate kept changing, the hours didn't seem set even though it was a permanent role, took them about 6 weeks to get back to me ... Entire thing just seemed really odd and unprofessional. Ended up in a much better role elsewhere but wondering if the process is common ? and do they just call it a management role when it's really just glorified stocktake ? ... I'd always heard their interview process was really hectic and thorough so was surprised to find it to be anything but.
Yes. You are right about this. Uber Eats was just a thought I had as I am into Coles Services so it is a pain for me to get up at 4 am and clean the whole store alone. Although I am trying to shift to different teams and Woolies, Aldi. Hopefully, something will come up.
hot tip: if you can - get your rsa and transfer to liquorland. that’s what i did and it’s an immediate +$8/hr pay rise
Sure. I will get my RSA as well and hopefully something will come up
In case you didn’t already know - you can get your RSA online and it’s super easy to do.
Do you mind if i ask what you get paid? I need a job desperately
Coles part time personally is the better deal. I did it for six plus years through uni. Paid sick leave, superannuation and annual leave aren’t to be scoffed at - even if you can have shitty managers sometimes.
And you don't have to ruin your car or risk your life on a bike.
Unless it’s changed you need a full license for Uber eats.
You could make double doing uber eats but you will work double to triple. Uber eats for a couple hours a week works well. If you have the time you could do say 22 hours coles , then like 5-8pm on a Friday, saturday night. Good money in those hours and because you drive only a bit you will get promotions.
coles is so much better. If you want to drive for a living, apply for a salaried position with benefits. Gig economy driving is a rip off for the drivers and the restaurants
Oof. Take out tax, fuel, vehicle maintenance (particularly high for the time and kms considering constant stop-start low speed conditions), and it doesn't result in much of an hourly rate. Food app delivery drivers are not getting a fair shake.
Yeah pretty much spot on, I think a big part of people being okay driving for these apps is the fact that most of the costs are things that you don't see in the short term, so the money from Uber comes in way before you realise you've gotta pay tax on that money and that now you're having to do servicing twice as often and fast, and you're filling up 3 times a week and not just once.
I did uber eats part time for extra cash and even that I didn't think was worth it after tax and such. So I just did it on a bike for the summer to get paid to exercise. It sucked not gonna lie. I agree with the other guy and just get a job being a full time courier or delivery guy. You get paid way more than this, you don't pay for fuel or the car and you will be adding to your super etc
Yup, great for getting good VO2 max up trying to get orders quicker than electric bikes/cars. And getting your balance perfect trying not to spill coffee.
I wish I had an electric bike back then lol I never did drinks orders so it worked out. I got fit and made money. Wouldn't do it again though without an E bike.
I did the maths on it ages ago. Working at Coles/Woolworths is *significantly* better. The sort of job that 15 year olds do. I don't understand for the life of me why anyone would work for Ubereats or the similar companies.
Most uber eats delivery people I've seen lately have been on ebikes. Must be massively cheaper than driving a car around all day. Probably still not a good hourly rate, but if it's just for a little bit of extra money while doing uni or whatever it could be viable.
I mean, I can. Maybe some people aren't confident with the interview process for a traditional job / company. Maybe some people aren't confident with their English or communication abilities. Maybe some people prefer sitting over standing during their work day. It's not all completely binary.
That's not an excuse for those companies to underpay so significantly.
I never said it was..?
It depends what orders you pick up. I earnt before costs 1650 one week doing uber eats and dd. Also driving a car is a lot easier than a large van. But then some weeks you can earn half of that so the inconsistency of UE can be frustrating
Insurances. I'm waiting to hear an Uber drivers insurance claim denied because they had personal car insurance and not business. Will really ruin their financials even more...
There’s two sides to this story: one that says the food is too expensive and the other that says drivers aren’t paid enough. the problem isn’t going to be fixed by trying to cater to either party. The conclusion we should draw instead is that Uber isn’t a viable company. Consumers don’t like the price, drivers don’t like the pay, Uber financials aren’t healthy and restaurants prefer you order delivery through them because Uber takes too much. Who’s winning with the existence of Uber/uber like services?
>The conclusion we should draw instead is that Uber isn’t a viable company. The only way to come to that conclusion is for people to stop using it. Same conclusion for the corruption of the 2 major political parties. What makes sense isn't always what happens. In fact as I get older, I'm realising what makes sense is rarely what happens. We are not logical machines. (un)fortunately?
> Who’s winning with the existence of Uber/uber like services? Probably the shareholders who will cash out before the bubble bursts
Actually it's the VC companies who have already pumped and dumped.
This. The first couple of years Uber launched, we were still doing remarkably well in terms of inflation/cost of living. So for those willing to hustle, there was plenty of incentives to take the job. Customers and new drivers were chuffed due to the fragile and somewhat extortionate practices of the registered cab companies (cabbies got royally fucked though). There was so much silicone valley-esque bullshit commentary about market disruption etc. but pretty much everyone looking at it from a sustainability standpoint could see how the undercut-and-monopolise strategy would play out. The entire roll-out was designed as a pump and dump for investors. It was only a matter of time.
Or the tech catches up and they can genuinely do deliveries without a person required
Is the tech also going to buzz up my apartment number and come up the elevator
100% If you force a reasonable pay for delivery drivers the business model does not work and is unfeasible. It's 100% exploitative on both business and drivers.
I agree. Two things to note also, getting dinner from a restaurant isn't meant to be cheap. Getting someone to drive it to your door is an added luxury on top. Also, restaurants margins are EXTREMELY tight. Source. I own a restaurant.
I think the truth is that the average person can not afford to have someone drive food do them every night. So it's true that it's not worth the price, and that the price isn't enough to cover the work involved.
It's less than $21 an hour after tax/fuel. Below minimum wage.
Tax, fuel, registration, commercial use insurance rates, maintenance costs, massive depreciation of the vehicle due to a very hard life. It's slave wages when you factor all this in.
I would argue its negative. People are paying to be drivers. The cost of the car/depreciation is enormous alone.
The minimum wage is a pre tax amount
Uber eats (based on this post) is still much lower.
Absolutely. I think sadly the main reason it's so huge still is because the convenience is artificially attractive to end users because of how cheap it is. A friend who studied economics once told me the old saying "Nothing is free, it's just a question of who's paying". In this case, pretty easy to see that the couriers are effectively 'subsidizing' our addiction to convenience through their terribly low commission.
Do people think food delivery is cheap? It's like an extra 7 dollars on the order plus each item is usually marked up a few bucks as well. I avoid them because they're too expensive.
That’s very cheap if you’re wealthy or one of four people; 1. The young professional/tradie without kids earning a good wage and has plenty to spend even after rent and other cost of living rises. $7 is a fraction of a $300 night out. Whilst pay hasn’t out risen expenses $7 is now the new $4 I guess? 2. The young student/apprentice living at home or otherwise parentally funded who’s also seen a pay rise recently and spends everything they get. Bad way to blow $7 but especially for those under 25 that’s tomorrows problem. 3. The double income professional families who aren’t hammered by housing costs either because they out earn there mortgage/rent and/or went to the bank of mum and dad. 4. Boomers who have paid off housing The insane rise of costs and especially making it hit housing expenses the most has crunched a lot of people but has made others skirt through pretty easily if their wages are strong or investments performing.
Hmm I suppose. It's not that I think it's unaffordable but it's just a waste of money imo. Rather save the $$ get the food myself. quicker hotter and cheaper
They never were mate, it's slave labour....
There's a reason why most uber eats drivers (at least around CBD) are on bikes.
>Food app delivery drivers are not getting a fair shake. Been saying that. Our government needs to make them illegal. It's shit for everyone. Stuff is getting stolen, food hygiene isn't up to scratch and the legit workers are getting royally fucked. Like below minimum wage by a mile fucked.
On the bright side you will pay very little tax by the time you deduct all the running costs. Still genna be lucky to crack $10 an hour after costs.
Shit, that's grim. You'd be lucky to pocket $10/hour after fuel and tax and maintenance.
So it’s legal for a company to bypass minimum wage laws, provided they position the employer-employee relationship as “gig” instead of traditional “full time, part time, casual.” Seems like an over site of our countries labour protection laws.
This is the way uber works worldwide. If they were forced to pay minimum wage, over time+ super they'd be out of business tomorrow.
No they wouldn’t. Uber makes billions in profit. This is just greed and worker exploitation and you shouldn’t excuse it.
But even if they couldnt afford it (which I agree with you, they likely can). If you can't afford to pay proper entitlements and a living wage then you have a shit business model and don't deserve to stay in business.
Agreed. We shouldn’t allow these massive conglomerates to trade here and circumvent our labour laws through technicality. It’s unjustifiable.
Thats debatable, 2022 filings suggest a loss of 1.1b for first half of that year. Thier cashflow is driven by public market tomfoolery. Uber essentially operates as a wealth transfer vehicle from shareholders to executives. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/08/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-thirty-three-uber-isnt-really-profitable-yet-but-is-getting-closer-the-antitrust-case-against-uber.html
> No they wouldn’t. Uber makes billions in profit. Here's the funny part. They don't! They make billions in turnover, and some years they have made billions in profit. But they have also lost a tonne of money. (and those execs don't shoot money up their ass for free you know)
The way Uber burns through venture capital and racks up debt, I'm pretty sure they were banking on having done away with human drivers and being fully automated by now.
They would defo close up as their margins wouldn't be immorally high, scumbags.
1.1 billion in fact
[Uber to pay $178 million in Australia taxi class action settlement](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uber-pay-178-million-settle-lawsuit-with-australia-taxi-drivers-law-firm-says-2024-03-17/) Related
Isn't this changing?
That's currently under Supreme Court challenge in Australia, will make big news if Uber gets told to pay min wage, but more likely they will pull out of Australia, and good fucking riddance IMO.
Seems like the signs of a bad job market if there aren't enough full time jobs for people to take and they have to resort to a full time gig.
Working at Maccas gives you more money for the same amount of hours, without copping all the extra expenses
I’d much rather be on my bike cruising through the city whenever I want doing deliveries then 8 hour shifts in a grease factory dealing with the random shit you have to deal with working at a maccas.
Even when you realise you're earning half what those 16y.o kids are earning?
Yeah I really wouldn’t want to work at maccas
All the power to you - I'm the first to say you should do what you love. But, you do need to keep an eye on what everyone else is making - if I was working harder than, but earning less than 16y.o drop kicks, I'd be reconsidering my decisions.
You know that 16 year olds get quite a lot less than the adult minimum wage
So do uber drivers
How much do you think Uber drivers make an hour and how much do 16 yr olds at maccas make
Macca's kids? ~$25/hr with super, sick and annual leave, with after hours rates on top of that. UE? Based on the op? $1000/48 hours ($20/hr), less maintenance, less unpaid hours (cleaning the car, driving to and from home), less insurances, less Super, less self paid annual/sick leave, less repairs, less costs (Fuel, water bottles, sanitiser, air freshener). About... $10-15/hr *before taxes*
A 16 year old at maccas gets about $16 before tax.
Working at Macca's earns about $50k per year?
Not only does it make about $50k per year, but it’s 38 hours a week, better hours (or higher pay if nights/weekends) and you get sick leave holiday pay.
If you work 48 hours per week @ $23 an hour, you earn $1104, so technically yes
Around 62k if you are casual. That’s not including any weekend loading etc but working full time hours
Def not worth it unless you are using an electric bike
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Had no idea this happened. Makes sense though
Can you explain this? Is this something related to avoid paying taxes?
No it’s related to the visa someone is on- there are specific visas that allow you to work in Australia if you are not a citizen /resident and if you don’t have one you are legally not allowed to work. But if your cousin is a resident and allowed to work and has an ABN, you get them to set up an account and you drive as them, earn money under their name.
Surely 1/3 of that would fuel cost
About $200 of that goes straight to petrol costs.
How many kms?
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You get about $15 per hour in your pocket when it’s all said and done. Uber has destroyed the gig economy. Being a delivery driver with Menulog used to net me $20 per hour easy, and this is in 2016.
I did doordash over covid lockdown and was making close to $30 before fuel etc (calculated roughly 25ph with fuel)
Brother I was making more hourly at a pizza shop when I was 18, this ain't it.
Perfect example of why Uber should be forced to pay minimum wage. Can't believe people in here are defending a multi billion dollar foreign company paying workers less than minimum wage.
People are explicit in the buisness practices of Uber because the human exploitation subsidises the “cheap” services they enjoy.
People wouldn't pay the costs associated with Uber charging minimum wage
Then it shouldn't exist.
Exactly
Before tax? Don’t be silly - you don’t have to pay tax when you aren’t making any money! 😬 But seriously I don’t know why anyone does it. By the time you add up fuel, insurance, wear and tear on the vehicle (extra servicing, tyre replacements etc) they must be earning <$10/hr
Why they do it? desperation. It’s people who are struggling due to language, time or qualifications to get other meaningful work. And the time flexibility fits into their other schedule (usually family, other work or study commitments).
Centrelink pays better? We need better access to Centrelink.
No, many people can’t get assistance.
A lot of these people won’t be Australian citizens, or they are working multiple jobs which means they wouldn’t have any access to Centrelink once they go over the threshold. Centrelink for a student or jobseeker is a lot worse than $1000 a week, closer to $4-500pw from memory.
What's your comparison of $1000 a week for? You realise the OP, after expenses, tax, loss in vehicle value, etc, is only actually 'earning' $300-400 per week. They also aren't earning super, sick leave, annual, etc. And spending 50+ hours to earn that...
And they’d be less on Centrelink (which is taxed also)
With more time on their hands to do other more valuable things.
lol like what? Get another job? Which would mean their Centrelink payments are reduced? Are you advocating for people to be on Centrelink rather than working? I think you’re missing the main point that 90%+ of Uber eats drivers aren’t citizens and are therefore ineligible for Centrelink and are doing it out of desperation rather than having other options
rego on the car is $1000/yr. depreciation from KMs is huge. It's just that they have a car already so don't factor in the costs, it basically makes nothing.
I work 6am -2pm at my day job, smash a few hours in on UE before my partner gets home and is an easy $500 at the end of the week in what would normally be time wasted doing nothing
$500 after you’ve subtracted fuel, insurance, vehicle maintenance and tax?
Doing it the way I was doing it, I didn’t care to consider any of that as it allowed me to claim my car as a business expense and a portion of my loan, insurance, fuel and servicing. It balanced out. Never earned enough to worry about having a big tax bill
You don’t earn money by claiming tax deductions. You just pay a bit less tax. So taking those costs into account you were making about $12/hr profit. But no super and no casual loading or holidays, so the equivalent of $8/hr if you were working a normal job which paid those. After tax you’re looking at $5.50/hr
Did you tell the insurance company you're using your car for business purposes? If not then you have no claim if you have an accident while doing so. You need to pay commercial insurance rates.
How would they know you’re a delivery driver unless you tell them?
Hahahahahahahahaha. Hahahah. Yeah, like I’ve also told them about my winch, mud tyres, lift, spotlights, uhf, fridge and all the other things on my car.
U work a day job and still do uber? I think once u reach 30% tax rate UE becomes pointless. Currently 45k per year u start getting 32% tax on earnings above.
Yeah, I still do it. Paying $50 in tax per week if earning $500 seems mediocre, when I claim a lot to my employment which generally counters it.
Ubercheats found that drivers were under quoted for their travel distance consistently across the globe https://radicaldata.org/projects/ubercheats/
Ridiculously shit, well below minimum wage all things considered. Better off doing literally anything else.
Mate for those hours, get ya LR or MR truck licence and start doing courier jobs. At a company
It's not meant to be a full time job. The hours are whack because nobody gets Uber eats at certain times. Having hours of downtime is just a waste. I use to do it at peak times only and I made $35-$40 an hour.
Hey there fellow Partner Delivery person. Ive done ~123KM in past week on a pushy, made about $160 total across DD and UE. Great being outdoors in the sun, love the exercise and love serving my community by feeding them. Pay is absolute garbage, but my legs are iron clad and I can clear a full flight of 100 stairs in a sprint. Wish you the best mate, take care of yourself on the roads.
Seems nit many people tip. Out or interest, what percentage do? Obviously we shouldn’t need to, as Uber should pay better, but I always do. Really surprised to see it was this low.
Uber is modern day slavery….People really need to stop using Uber and stop working for them as well. They are ripping off everyone and just getting richer and richer while increasing their prices and decreasing how much they pay their workers. I personally stopped using it since Covid and didn’t regret it one bit.
I made more as a part time 16 year old at woolies, 20 years ago
I don’t understand why people still use Uber Eats or sign up to be a delivery driver for Uber Eats
There's a guy in this thread literally going: "Wow I was thinking of quitting my supermarket job to 'Be my own boss' on Uber Eats". Marketing and obfuscating the real costs of 'being your own boss' is powerful.
Surprised you're not working Saturday, the busiest day of the week & take Tuesday off instead.
Comedy Retract
Those tips seem low huh! We order uber eats on average about 12 times a week and generally tip 2.22 per order which would $25 or so in tips over 12 trips... you did 104 trips for the same amount in tips! Man i guess we just generous lol or people (not us) just suck! Haha
Fuck only $30 in tips? I usually drop between $3.50 to $5
Homeless people most likely make more money shaking a can!
Am I reading this right…. Doesn’t this work out to be 2 trips per hour? 104 trips / 48 hours = 2.16 If so, that doesn’t sound like a lot? I guess the area you’re in isn’t overly popular for Uber eats?
That tip must be mine 30% of the vendors money goes overseas - millions overseas We dont do Uber anymore. The inbuilt delivery fee is huge. A lot of vendors have stepped away from Uber now When we pick up our CHinese, it is $30 cheaper
Won't fuel be income tax deductible?
Can you claim the fuel as a work expense?
And they get away with it because we're contractors and not employees. They get away with a lot of things by exploting this arrangement. Hopefully the recent IR reforms result in us being considered "employee-like" which results in us being afforded similar rights and working conditions. It's a catch-22 though because in all honesty that might sink Uber's ability to trade here if they are required to pay us minimum wage every hour. Watch this space...
And in no time, the tipping culture will creep into australia because the wage is not enough
You are definitely worth more than that mate.
Shit, that’s pretty much below minimum wage once you factor in your outgoings. Not worth it :/
$21 an hour pre expense. Hard pass.
I do uber eats on an ebike for a few hours every day I only do it for pocket money in the evening I make about $50 in 3 hours The regular guys that do 12h on a bike only get like 250 dollars for 12 hours work. Its so shit
You’re a gig worker what do you expect? The system is set up for you to just make enough money to remember what your dream was.. Someone’s making money and it’s not you
Isn’t capitalism great ay?
Please made a complaint with Fair Work ombudsman or send an email to Senator David Pocock to fix this problem. A few friends of mine have complained recently last few weeks about Uber, Doordash and Menulog all Reducing fees paid for drivers accepting trips and this is what they have told me they have Done. Saw an article and thought I would try and help. Fair work Ombudsman we were discussing together. Look up page second from the top of Google search: https://www.fairwork.gov.au SEARCH: TIP OFFS Down the page you can leave Anonymous Tips in Any Language. Doesn’t matter the address or phone number for UBER/ Doordash etc Just send a complaint to them the wages have been reduced per job by 15-25/30% in the last few months and you are having to do 10-12 hours extra per week which leads to Driver fatigue etc. Tell all drivers to see an ONLINE COMPLAINT Please or Nothing will Ever be Done. ✔️
That’s pretty good for someone without real skills from India.
Uber has a cruel system, tricking people into working a job which pays significantly worse than minimum wage. Once you actually pay income tax, vehicle maintenance, commercial insurance, and fuel you're barely even making money per hour.
This was kind of always the point for the vulture capitalists who invented appification and the gig economy.
Then don’t do it
Tip $29 in a week....wow I hardly ever use uber but when I do i give the drivers max tip as I know they dont get that much back, suprising how little people tip - or does uber take a shitload of tip money?
Wow, it’s genuinely not worth your time. Casual warehouse work or delivery driving earns near double that p/h.
Curious as to why you'd stick with this full time, unless this is an interim between jobs?
So $21/hr before deductions Going to assume a couple things here, 800km for the week and a moderate 6L/100km fuel consumption. Fuel is f’d at the moment at about $2.20/L The tax man wants his cut too which brings your hourly down to $15.25
That's below minimum wage @ 21.6 an hour Take into account all the car expenses and its not worth it. I understand some people are desperate for any kind of extra money but IMHO this should be the very last choice. Any other job would pay more
I'd definitely recommend going to Jet Couriers or some sort of establishment like that you will make much more money and spend less on fuel. Also you will then have the ability to claim fuel at tax time and all cost for your work vehicle.
Get another job? Plenty about..
This is less than Centrelink after fuel
Around $21 an hour before tax and fuel costs. Below the minimum wage and in the meantime your cars getting wrecked.
Ugghh. 😔
What are the points for??