A millennial who quit teaching to be a full-time Uber and Lyft driver made $36,000 in 8 months — but thinks it's better as a part-time gig

• Aaron Lavender gave up teaching in 2022 to work as a full-time Uber and Lyft driver.
• But he said ride-hailing is more profitable and sustainable as a part-time gig.

When the 2022 school year came to a close, Aaron Lavender, then an elementary school teacher in Colorado, decided that he needed a break from a job that was often "unbelievably stressful."

He'd been driving part-time for Uber and Lyft since 2021, but in the summer of 2022, he decided to go full-time — driving at least 40 hours a week.

Lavender said he's enjoyed the break from the classroom and that after working with kids for most of his career, it was fun meeting adult passengers from across the globe. He was even able to attend Burning Man last year, a "long-term dream" he said wasn't possible when he was a teacher.

Lavender is one of many Americans who have experimented with gig work in recent years. The number of US gig workers more than doubled during the pandemic, and last November, Uber announced it had a record 6.5 million active drivers and couriers.

But whether these gigs can be sustainable full-time jobs — or whether they're better kept as side hustles — is up for debate. Gig work can sometimes come with unpredictable pay and frustrating company algorithms.

Last fall, Lavender told BI that he planned to dip his toe back into the school system — through substitute teaching and working with homeschool students — and transition back to being a part-time driver. Inconsistent earnings, fears over job security, and the draining nature of the work are the main reasons for his pivot.

Volatile pay makes full-time driving challenging

Lavender said the pay isn't consistent enough to rely on ride-hailing as his main source of income and that it's more profitable to be a part-time driver.

"Some nights pay will surge to $80 to $100 an hour and it's like winning at a slot machine," he said. "Then the next week in the same exact time and place it will drop to $20 or lower."

Between January and August of last year, Lavender earned $36,000 before expenses driving for Uber and Lyft, according to screenshots BI viewed from his Gridwise app, which he uses to track his earnings. Excluding expenses like charging, maintenance, insurance, and interest payments on his car loan, he estimated that he earns around $26 to $27 per online hour — the time a driver has the ride-hailing app open — and that tips make up 10% to 20% of his income.

"Doing this job part-time, I know my wages would rise because I would not have financial pressure to ride out the ups and downs," he said, referring to the more profitable rides he said he gets when he can be more selective. "I would be energized to work a couple busy nights a week when pay sometimes exceeds $60 to 70 an hour."

Uncertain job security stokes fears

Lavender said he's also worried that he could be temporarily or permanently deactivated, or banned, from driving for ride-hailing apps, which would be particularly costly if this was his main source of income.

Lavender said he was deactivated from the Uber app for three days in August last year after a customer filed a complaint saying that his appearance and smell made them suspect he was intoxicated, an accusation Lavender denied. He said he was eventually cleared by Uber following a brief investigation and allowed to continue driving.

"Stories of permanent deactivation do scare me and make me not want to rely solely on this job," he said.

Drivers can be deactivated for a variety of reasons, including a low platform rating, a failed background check, and an expired license. Customer accusations of safety issues and discrimination can impact a driver as well. A 2022 survey of 810 California Uber and Lyft drivers conducted by a ride-hailing advocacy group found that two-thirds of them had been deactivated at least once.

Being a full-time driver can consume your life

Lavender believes ride-hailing work has some "addictive elements," such as thinking he will finally get some financial breathing room if he works just "one more long late night." He said the long hours have started to take a toll.

"I plan my whole life around airport, concert, sport, and event patterns and rarely am able to do anything fun myself on weekends as that's when I make the majority of my income," he said.

"When I work part-time, I love this job," he added. "However, full time, the hours in the car and pressure to grind take that joy away and slowly have consumed my whole life."

Advice for other drivers

Lavender has a few pieces of advice for drivers looking to maximize their profits. First, he is very selective about what rides he accepts.

"I can only make the money I do by being very selective about where and when I work and declining many ride requests," he said. Of course, this is easier to do as a part-time driver.

Second, he said there are certain advantages to the electric vehicle he drives — like saving money on gas — but it's too soon to tell how much it will boost his earnings in the long run.

That's because his EV didn't come cheap. In June 2022, Lavender said he bought a Tesla Model 3 for $45,000 at the "peak of the Tesla price bubble" to use for his ride-hailing gig.

"I do believe the math works on Tesla ownership in this job even with my bad loan, but it is a very long haul until it pays off," he said.

Are you a gig worker willing to share your story, including pay, schedule, and tipping? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.