“It’s really hard,” mentioned Durham, who drives for each Lyft and Uber. “I’ve got car insurance. I’ve got a car payment. Electric, phones, all this stuff.”
The job itself is getting costlier. There are prices that include being a driver — most should buy rideshare insurance coverage, as well as to common automobile insurance coverage, to cowl accidents that happen whereas transporting a passenger.
Gasoline costs stay a continuing supply of fear for rideshare drivers.
“Gas is killing us,” mentioned Linda Swanson, a 61-year-old Uber driver who lives in Pinellas Park. “With the higher inflation is going, tips are dropping too.”
For some older adults, driving for Uber or Lyft holds a unique enchantment: It’s assured time with others.
“I needed to get out of the house,” mentioned Joseph Size, 80, a Plant City resident who started driving for Uber after his spouse died two years in the past. “She had a lingering illness, and I was really busy with all of that. There I was at the end of it all, just sitting here, retired and looking for something to do.”
After COVID-19 was first found in Florida, different senior gig drivers sought to keep away from social interplay.
“I switched from having passengers in the car and went to UberEATS,” mentioned Nevin Overmiller, a 78-year-old Seminole resident. “And that was great, cause people didn’t want to leave their homes.”