A Former Uber Driver Reveals The Worst Things About The Job

Claire Callahan Goodman, a San Francisco-based mother who worked part time for Uber to earn some extra cash, just revealed why she decided to quit her job as a driver in a new post on Salon.

Goodman said her background growing up in the city and speaking English as her first language should have made this an easy, stress-free part time job for her.

After all, she already knew her way around the city and could easily communicate with passengers.

But, in her post on Salon, she outlines a few key factors that drove her to leave the company.

• Uber's software makes it difficult to do the job accurately. According to Goodman's account, the software Uber drivers use to estimate how long it will take to get to a rider is inaccurate. "The first thing I found was that Uber's software sometimes wildly underestimates the number of minutes it takes to reach a rider," Goodman wrote. Goodman says the software malfunctioned "at least" 50 percent of the time, which resulted in a lot of cancellations.
• Uber makes its drivers rent a phone from the company for $10 per week. Goodman said she couldn't start driving until she recieved the iPhone 4 Uber had sent her. She writes that she could have used her iPhone 5, but the company never made it clear that she could have used her own personal phone. She eventually sent Uber's iPhone 4 back so that she could use her own phone, but still had to pay a $30 rental fee.
• Uber hits drivers with charges and fees that take away from their hourly rate. Goodman said that after subtracting charges and fees, plus the 20% Uber takes from each ride, the hourly rate during surge pricing periods comes out to about $10 per hour. "At least for me, driving for Uber is not worth it," she wrote, saying her requirements are closer to $15 an hour.

It's important to keep in mind that this is just one Uber driver's account, and not all drivers may feel this way. It does, however, raise a point that Uber drivers have been complaining about for months. In September, drivers gathered outside of Uber's main offices in Long Island City in Queens, New York to protest some of the company's policies.

In particular, Uber drivers seemed to be angry about the no tipping policy and the fact that drivers are expected to pay for maintenance expenses. The company says these are suggestions - not policies -but one driver told Business Insider during the protest that it's not possible to make a living as a driver on Uber's pay alone.