A minority of ridehail drivers work

A minority of ridehail drivers work full-time, and for drivers who have made significant investments in this job, the precarity of their employment can cause a lot of strain. Another driver I talked to, Fernando, who drives for uberX and uberXL in the Boston area to support his family, reflected on a pattern that is common to drivers: they’re initially optimistic and satisfied with their work, particularly in early stages of the company’s growth in their city, but they become distrustful of it over time. In addition to the flood of new drivers in his market and lower compensation (he noted that his take-home pay from airport trips had fallen, for example), he was also upset about Uber shifting its eligibility requirements for cars—in 2014 he spent $42,000 on an Uber-eligible car (which meant a 2005 or newer model), but in February 2015, Uber began allowing models dating to 2001. “You know how many people went to the dealer and buy new cars?” he asked.