Majority of Uber and Lyft drivers are newbies and would usually work less than 30 hours on the road every week.
The findings came from a survey conducted by SherpaShare, a company that helps drivers analyze their income potential. According to the company, which surveyed 963 active drivers, almost two-thirds of them (65 percent) had been in the driving business for six months or even less. A smaller percentage of 18 was found to be in the driving business for less than two months.
"People who haven't driven before are curious to try out the services," said Ryder Pearce, co-founder of SherpaShare. "Some will start working, then realize the income isn't what they thought or their situation changes. They use the work to fill gaps."
The survey revealed five key trends that are found among Uber and Lyft drivers as well drivers coming from Postmates, Instacart, Sidecar and DoorDash.
The first trend says that "women drive more part-time, earn less than men." Average monthly income of female drivers is said to be 34 percent less than the gross driving income of men. They are also more likely to drive part time. In other words, "women make less money, on average, for the same work performed."
The second trend says that "one-fifth of on-demand drivers are female, with over-representation among middle-aged women." The survey revealed that female drivers make up 18.9 percent of the ridesharing driver market, with 22 percent of them belonging to the age group of 40 to 55 while 26 percent belongs to the group under 25.
The third trend says that "most current active drivers are relatively new to the industry, with two-thirds working less than six months."
The fourth trend says that "the majority of on-demand drivers change their hours-per-week schedule over time." Drivers who have been in the business for more than three months would end up changing the number of hours they intend to work in a week. It was found that 41 percent of them would decide on driving less while 35 percent would opt to drive more.
The fifth trend says that "seniors make less per month than younger drivers for the same amount of driving." There are a number of reasons given to explain the trend. These include the tendency of seniors to be less active in their driving strategies; the possibility of getting tired in driving for long hours; and the speculation of being more conservative on divulging their gross monthly income.
"Whatever it is, the trend in our survey data is clear — there's a gap in earnings between seniors and the rest of the driving population," said SherpaShare.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 22 and Oct. 5 and was participated in mostly by drivers from Uber and Lyft (more than 90 percent).
