Often I am asked the question, “Do drivers do better with UBER or
LYFT than they do just driving a taxi?” Not such an easy question to answer and it seems as if both have their ups and downs. UBER and LYFT are much easier to get into because you do not need a chauffer’s license, you do not need to own or lease a medallion, and you can drive your own car. Also, you can drive whenever you want and make your own schedule instead of possibly being tied to a 12 hour lease. On the other side, if you lease a cab, and you are involved in an accident, you do not have to deal with repairing your cab as the vehicle owner is responsible for taking care of that. If you are a taxi driver in the City of Chicago, you also receive the benefit of having workers compensation coverage in the event that you are injured on the job, which you do not have driving for UBER and LYFT. And, not that I am encouraging this, but, when you drive a taxi, a good percentage of your business is cash, and we all know, cash is king!! Everything with UBER and LYFT is done through credit cards.
The issues that I have discussed above are just a few of the differences between being an UBER or LYFT driver versus being a taxicab driver. If we dig a little deeper, and go into the insurance issue, there are a few more differences. For taxicab drivers, there is always a commercial insurance policy that insures the taxis with very good policy limits. That coupled with the workers compensation coverage gives the drivers an additional level of protection that UBER and LYFT drivers do not have. UBER and LYFT require their drivers to have their own insurance policies, which in Illinois, $25,000/$50,000 is the minimum amount of coverage. Most UBER and LYFT drivers that I have represented only carry the minimum limits which can put them at risk if they get involved in a big accident with severe injuries to other parties involved. UBER and LYFT also carry their own insurance policies for the drivers, with the caveat that those policies are only primary if the UBER or LYFT driver is logged into the system and coverage varies depending whether or not that driver has a passenger in the car. Also, the deductibles for the property damage on the UBER and LYFT policies are very high as compared to the deductibles for the commercial policies that taxicab drivers have on their policies. If we take it a step farther, many taxicabs have a shield between the front and backseat of the car which can give the drivers some added protection against hostile passengers. I have yet to see an UBER or LYFT car with a shield. At the end of the day, from what I can tell, UBER, LYFT and taxicab drivers can do quite well and earn a decent living. If you hustle as a taxicab driver or you hustle as an UBER or LYFT driver, you can probably earn close to the same amount of money in any given calendar year. UBER and LYFT are definitely easier to get into, but given everything that I have mentioned, as you can see, it is not such a clear cut decision to make and there is really not a definitive answer for the question, “Which is better for the drivers?”