The Best Time To Drive for Uber + Tips to Grow Your Business
If you’re driving for Uber or Lyft, whether you do it as a full time gig or a part time side hustle, you know that a key challenge is rising above the noise. Uber services are available 24/7, there are no working hours and flexibility is one of the great advantages of the job. As independent contractors, you must continually refine your tactics in maximizing opportunities to drive and boost your earnings.
Identifying the riders needs and attitudes and adapting yourself to them should be one of your main goals. Indeed, knowing when is the best time to do Uber, is an important way to be one step ahead from other rideshare drivers, avoid competition and make your business more profitable.
Whether you want to use this data to prioritize the peak times to get more rides, or you want to avoid quieter hours on the roads, you are at the right place. You can also adapt these ideas with your own experience and start planning your job with greater goals.
But, what are the best times to drive for Uber?
There is ample data out there and in our study we pulled information based on Uber's customer behaviors and our drivers experience.
Keep reading to discover our findings and best tips on when you should drive for rideshare companies. Below, we’ve highlighted the best time, best day and worst day to drive Uber.
Related Article: Best Times To DoorDash
Before starting our article we should remember that COVID-19 and the lockdown are changing human attitudes and behaviors today.
The reality is that there’s a perfect time for everything. There is a perfect time to post on Instagram, to post on social media like Facebook or tiktok, to buy a car, to visit Hawaii. Not only are there certain times which are more likely to give you more potential job opportunities, but also some days are far better than others.
Of course, it depends on many factors. However, you should know the customers' behaviors. In our case when people take rides with Uber.
From a driver's point of view, the best and most compelling earning opportunities are during surge fares.
The Uber app has dynamic pricing. When there is a very high demand, prices may increase. This practice of tripling, quadrupling and quintupling ride fares is called surge pricing.
While the surge pricing is probably not the best time to ride Uber since rides are most expensive, it is the right moment to go online.
Indeed, during the surge pricing to incentivize drivers to go online Uber offers them incentives and better rates.
So when are Uber surge hours? Unfortunately, there's no perfect answer. The answer varies based on the month, the day, and a range of other factors. The Uber surge times are always the period of the day when it is better to be available that you can see on the Uber Peak hour chart below.
We focused and analyzed updated data for the best times for Uber drivers around busiest cities including but not only:
From this study, we can deduce the following:
Best times: Every Day - In the morning: 7am-9am. In the evening: 5pm-7pm. Friday and Saturday nights: 5pm-5am.
Best day: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Worst day: Monday
Here is a visual representation of the study for better understanding:
If you have the ability to wait, and drive during the best day of the week and during the rush hours, time can be your ally. The experience is key to success with the ever-evolving Uber algorithm, and that means knowing when to reach the most numbers of riders and make the most of your driving job .
As we analyzed the data, we found that for every city: Saturday and Sundays are typically top days for many ride hailing companies. Since Uber never stops running, you don't make as much driving Saturday morning as you do if you drive Saturday night, when you can benefit from the fewer number of drivers on the road. Indeed Uber is more expensive at night.
According to our study, the on-demand activity rises during the weekend and it slows down during the week, especially during lunch time. This means it can be harder to get rides when customers are busy with other activities.
On the other hand, the lowest number of rides that you may want to avoid occurred every day either before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m.
These patterns can give you an indication of how riders are commonly using Uber and Lyft. However, we suggest you consult your driver app every morning for updates throughout the week, and log off a bit more during the lunch time and dinner time.
Remember that if you have time to spend on a side hustle, the most profitable during lunch time and dinner time is the food delivery.
In addition to the top popular times to drive above, Uber riders as a whole showed the most consistent use during bad weather and special events such as a sporting event, so these can be considered other “safe” times to drive.
💡 PRO TIP: Good places to drive at night are safe places. Avoid "bad" neighborhoods
Related Article: Is Driving for Uber Worth it?
Sure, you can try to go online at random times or do your own research to see what other drivers are up to, but do you really have the time for that? Not likely.
So, how do you find out the good times and hours for driving Uber?
If you’re searching for the Uber peak hours and the magic moment to drive to make a significant profit consider these tools and features that can help you nail down best times to drive:
We will never stop to tell you. The Uber driver app is your main working tool and you should know how to use it. The Uber Insights gives you everything you could ask for. With the app you can easily see the hourly trends, set preferences, and view real time promotions.
Looking for a gridwise app review? You are at the right place. The app is available on iOS and Android.
The Gridwise data team is constantly collecting data. The app is able to access every permission on Apple & Android. And this information isn’t just used to put together amazing reports.
The app knows busy times and areas, tracking daily pickups and drops on historical and daily averages.
This is what makes Gridwise app so unique. It allows users to find future times to work, and continually updates and refines to save you time from doing this analysis yourself.
So, if you are an inexperienced driver and you do not have knowledge about your market, it could be an option.
They have a basic free plan and a premium version for just $8.33 per month.
With the premium version you’ll have access to 24-hour airport information, custom airport alerts, and much more coming soon.
Here are some features of the app:
The app is more popular with inexperienced drivers and newbies. At Bestreferraldriver we believe that avoiding any applications/app) showing “busy” areas is important to protect your own interests.
Finally, beware 'permission' requests in your app and keep in mind that using Gridwise your Uber account may be deactivated.
Holidays are also an excellent time of year to drive. Please note that Uber corporate offices will be closed during the Holiday
Both Lyft and Uber are 24/7/365 on demand transportation services which means if there are drivers willing to be available to work, then customers will be able to hail a safe ride.
High demand may occur during Holidays and can offer deep earnings. However keep in mind that offices are closed, so the surge hours and Uber rush hours may be different.
Here are a few holidays throughout the year that are especially great for driving Uber or Lyft.
Related Article: Christmas Food Delivery
Other Holidays tend to be slow for all consumer activity, including transportation. These slow holidays are:
During these days, you should probably do your activity around airports.
💡 PRO TIP: If you have a twitter account, you should follow the FFA to find out flight delays & cancellations due to severe weather.
Finally, don’t forget that while going online during popular times can make a big difference, the most essential ingredient for success is working by following the best rideshare strategies. If you need a hand getting amping up your strategy, check out a few of our guides to be inspired:
Timing is an important factor and by now, you should have a good idea of how to use the Uber partner app to determine the best time to drive Uber. So be patient and try to work only during optimum hours in your market. Waiting for the right time of the day, can help you earn money faster.
We provide the best resources and information for the major ridesharing, bike sharing, kids sharing and delivery companies. Best UberEats Invite Code, Lyft driver Promo code and Postmates Referral code. Sign up at 100% working and they will give you the best sign up bonus at any given time.
Get up to $50 in Lyft Credit with our coupon code
LYFT Rider promotion
Get up to $10 off on your first Uber Eats order
Uber Eats Promo Code
