CBS News
How often do Lyft and Uber customers tip their drivers? Maybe less than you think.
When it comes to having food delivered, Americans are accustomed to offering a gratuity. But it’s a different story for people whose job is delivering people to their destination.
Only some 28% of rideshare trips result in tips, according a recently released report by Gridwise Analytics, which operates an app that tracks earnings for 500,000 active rideshare and delivery drivers.
For nearly a decade, Uber didn’t enable users to tip, “and consumers have gotten used to not tipping for that type of service,” Ryan Green, CEO of Gridwise, told CBS MoneyWatch. “We saw some of the high fares, when it’s more than $1,000 but zero tip, and that’s for six hours of driving.”
Uber, the San Francisco-based ridesharing and delivery company, concurred with Green’s observation, noting that it began to facilitate tipping through its app after vocal lobbying by drivers.
By contrast, people who deliver restaurant orders and groceries are tipped roughly 88% and 74%, respectively, of the time, Gridwise found. Tips represent 51% of earnings for those delivering food and groceries, but just 10% for rideshare drivers.
Still, tipping has become more important for Lyft and Uber drivers with the rise in inflation; in 2023, monthly gross earnings for Uber drivers fell 17% from the previous year, according to Gridwise.
“We can see directly how their earnings have been constructed in a way to be compressed, when the prices of all goods — the cost of living — is substantially higher,” said Green of Valentine’s Day protests by drivers in some U.S. cities to protest reductions in pay. Labor groups representing gig drivers say the companies are taking a bigger bite of the fares.
“They are going to have to give up some of that piece they are taking,” Carlos Pelayo, 69, a substitute high school teacher in San Diego who supplements his income by driving for Uber and Lyft, told CBS MoneyWatch.
How much do rideshare drivers earn?
Typically, Lyft and Uber collect an average of roughly 40% of fares, Green said. Lyft earlier this month vowed that its drivers would receive at least 70% of fares.
Gross monthly earnings for an Uber driver averaged $1,409.71 in 2023, down from $1,699.58 the prior year, according to Gridwise data. On average, drivers for the company worker 56 hours month last year, down slightly from 58 hours in 2022. In 2023, the typical Lyft driver worked 44 hours a month, which amounted to earnings of 1,058.32.
Uber drivers earn a median of $33 an hour when driving a fare, including tips and bonuses, according to the company. Lyft drivers using their own vehicles grossed $30.68 (including tips and bonuses) per hour of engaged time, and after expenses earned $23.46, according to Lyft.
Uber Technologies this week said it would repurchase as much as $7 billion in shares after reporting its first full year as a profitable public company. The offering to investors followed a strong earnings report, with Lyft following suit with solid results this week.
CBS News
Winds still driving Mountain Fire that’s destroyed hundreds of homes in Southern California
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Kindness 101: Celebrating individuality with a young green hero
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Royal Caribbean cruise ship rocked by rough weather, images show damage
Bad weather rocked a Royal Caribbean Crusies ship near Spain on Thursday night, causing damage aboard the vessel and requiring the ship to make an unexpected stop to allow a guest to medically disembark.
The Explorer of the Seas was traveling from Barcelona, Spain to Miami, Florida, according to CruiseMapper, a website that shows the position and routes of cruise ships.
The vessel was near Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, when it was hit by an “unexpected wind gust,” Royal Caribbean Cruises said in a statement.
The wind caused the ship to experience “sudden movement,” the cruise line said.
One person aboard the ship described the movement to CBS News as a “listing,” which means the vessel is tilted to one side. Photos show items knocked down, shattered bottles in a bar area, and other mild damage from the incident.
The cruise line said one passenger was injured and “requires additional medical care.” The ship is making a stop in Las Palmas, Spain, for a medical disembarkation. The cruise line did not offer any additional information about the unidentified passenger’s condition.
The Explorer of the Seas is a 1,020-foot vessel that can hold up to 4,290 guests and 1,185 crew members, according to an Royal Caribbiean Cruises fact sheet. It includes an ice skating rink, a mini-golf course and a rock climbing wall on its fifteen passenger decks. It is registered in the Bahamas and has been sailing since 2000.