It’s tough for Raul Rivera to take a day off as a driver for Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft, Inc. and still make a living. After 10 to 12 hours on the road in New York City and New Jersey, he can draw about $200 to $300 per shift, but those margins are closing with soaring gas prices, on top of the other expenses drivers shoulder.
Along with rentals, toll fees, commissions pulled from the companies, and gas—about $4.35 a gallon in New York City as of Monday afternoon, or roughly $280 a week for Rivera—he said he saves only $600 by the end of the week. He recently had to stop working briefly after he couldn’t keep up with the $400 weekly payments on a car he was renting.
“I liked the idea of being flexible and being your own boss,” Rivera said of his decision to quit an office job six years ago and start driving for the rideshare giants as an independent contractor. “It doesn’t feel like that anymore. These companies squeeze the driver to get every cent. Now this surge in gas is really hurting people.”
Rivera and other drivers in New York City plan to caravan on Tuesday from Brooklyn to Uber’s headquarters in Manhattan to demand better pay and other benefits, including bolstering health and safety and transparency in driver deactivation. Surging gas prices are just the tip of the iceberg for app-based drivers, many of whom say in...
The HYDRA Commissioner has clarified that HYDRA will not interfere with houses built in old layouts on ULC (Urban Land Ceiling) lands , nor with unregularised vacant plots in such layouts. He urge...