I'm no longer working on Wednesdays so I thought maybe I'd do some Uber driving for pocket money, as well as to give me some structure and meet other people. I didn't expect it to be a get-rich-quick scheme but they say if you just work the rush hour you can make decent money, and I figured driving about 3 hours a week was reasonable. My car is also pretty banged up so I figured I could use some of the income to replace the bumper and fix the scratches.
I looked at the website for Uber drivers and it said:
The vehicle requirements said "must be a 4-door, 15-years-old or newer model with working air conditioning and 5+ seats." (My car is a 2014 Prius so I'm good until 2029!)
I thought I had all of those except the Passenger endorsement so I looked into that. Hilariously, they refer to a "small p" endorsement for taxi drivers and a "big P" endorsement for bus drivers. A "small p" endorsement costs NZ $224 for one year or $262 for five years* and you need:
It said the background check is handled as part of the application, but the fine print said, "if you’ve lived in any one country (apart from New Zealand) for 12 months since the age of 14 you will need to provide to the NZTA a criminal history check for each country you have lived in." For the US, you submit an online application to the FBI and it costs US $18. For the UK, if you're in the UK it is £21.50 but if you're overseas it's.£70 (US $94)! I actually got a UK background check for my NZ citizenship application, but that was a while ago and I no longer have a copy.
OK, this is already starting to get expensive but I thought, when I apply, they'll know I'm American (from the accent) but not that I lived in the UK, so if I just provide the US background check I'm sure it will be fine. So I started to apply only to find I needed to submit my fingerprints in a very specific way, and basically the only place I could get that done was in the US.
But it just so happens I'm going to the States in a week! The website said I could get it done at a US Post Office but I decided to double-check: I'm staying in Vacaville but that post office doesn't do fingerprints. The closest post office that does it is in Fairfield, but only between 9am-2pm weekdays and 10am-11am on Saturday. (1 hour, I am not making that up.) Oh, and they charge US $50.
OK, so now I'm looking at $262 for the P endorsement and NZ $117 for the US background check. But it gets much worse.
Then I learned the Certificate of Fitness (CoF) above is different than the Warrant of Fitness (WoF) I have. The CoF is more stringent*** and can result in penalties! (ie. If you bring your car in for a WoF and the tread depth is below minimum, you fail. If you bring your car in for a CoF and the tread depth is below minimum, you fail and you may have to pay a fine!) You also need to file a "change of use" form, but it's unclear if there's a fee for that. I have no idea what the cost is for the CoF because not all inspection stations do this and those that do all say "call us" but AI says it's at least $175. (And it used to be every six months but they just changed it to be annually.)
So now we're at least $550 in the hole here. Then I checked with my car insurance and they replied: “Your policy does not cover any loss, damage, or liability arising from...carrying fare-paying passengers." I checked another insurer and they wanted $202 per month for commercial insurance. AI said the minimum I could expect is about $140 per month. It doesn't matter if you use it for 3 hours a week or 60 hours a week, the price is the same.
Then the final kicker: In the Uber fine print it says the vehicle "Must be in excellent working condition, with no cosmetic damage." So now I have to pay for the damage upfront! I don't have a quote but I can't imagine it being under $1,000. So now I'm in this for at least $4,000 before I've earned $1!
I then asked AI how much I might earn driving for uber for 3 hours per week and it said "approximately $60 to $100 before expenses." Let's assume I earn $100, spend $20 in gas and paid $15 in tax. After insurance ($140/month) and CoF ($175/year) I'd net $1,525/year, enough to pay off the $1,379 in fees and repairs and still pocket $146. That works out to less than $1 per hour.
And lastly, although I don't think there are any fees, it also says you have to complete driver safety education, purchase a child lock safety sticker, display a Small Passenger Service Licence Label in the windscreen a display a Transport Service Licence in the car. (You have to send a passport-style photo to Uber who then send you the latter.)
It’s easy to sign up to drive using the Uber app. Here’s what you need:
- Be at least 20 years of age
- Have held a valid full NZ driver licence for at least 1 year
- Have access to a vehicle that meets Uber's vehicle requirements
- Be listed as an insured driver for the vehicle you will drive
- Have a Passenger Endorsement card
- Valid vehicle registration
- Certificate of Fitness
I thought I had all of those except the Passenger endorsement so I looked into that. Hilariously, they refer to a "small p" endorsement for taxi drivers and a "big P" endorsement for bus drivers. A "small p" endorsement costs NZ $224 for one year or $262 for five years* and you need:
- A full NZ car licence for at least 2 years**
- A medical certificate
- Pass a background check
It said the background check is handled as part of the application, but the fine print said, "if you’ve lived in any one country (apart from New Zealand) for 12 months since the age of 14 you will need to provide to the NZTA a criminal history check for each country you have lived in." For the US, you submit an online application to the FBI and it costs US $18. For the UK, if you're in the UK it is £21.50 but if you're overseas it's.£70 (US $94)! I actually got a UK background check for my NZ citizenship application, but that was a while ago and I no longer have a copy.
OK, this is already starting to get expensive but I thought, when I apply, they'll know I'm American (from the accent) but not that I lived in the UK, so if I just provide the US background check I'm sure it will be fine. So I started to apply only to find I needed to submit my fingerprints in a very specific way, and basically the only place I could get that done was in the US.
But it just so happens I'm going to the States in a week! The website said I could get it done at a US Post Office but I decided to double-check: I'm staying in Vacaville but that post office doesn't do fingerprints. The closest post office that does it is in Fairfield, but only between 9am-2pm weekdays and 10am-11am on Saturday. (1 hour, I am not making that up.) Oh, and they charge US $50.
OK, so now I'm looking at $262 for the P endorsement and NZ $117 for the US background check. But it gets much worse.
Then I learned the Certificate of Fitness (CoF) above is different than the Warrant of Fitness (WoF) I have. The CoF is more stringent*** and can result in penalties! (ie. If you bring your car in for a WoF and the tread depth is below minimum, you fail. If you bring your car in for a CoF and the tread depth is below minimum, you fail and you may have to pay a fine!) You also need to file a "change of use" form, but it's unclear if there's a fee for that. I have no idea what the cost is for the CoF because not all inspection stations do this and those that do all say "call us" but AI says it's at least $175. (And it used to be every six months but they just changed it to be annually.)
So now we're at least $550 in the hole here. Then I checked with my car insurance and they replied: “Your policy does not cover any loss, damage, or liability arising from...carrying fare-paying passengers." I checked another insurer and they wanted $202 per month for commercial insurance. AI said the minimum I could expect is about $140 per month. It doesn't matter if you use it for 3 hours a week or 60 hours a week, the price is the same.
Then the final kicker: In the Uber fine print it says the vehicle "Must be in excellent working condition, with no cosmetic damage." So now I have to pay for the damage upfront! I don't have a quote but I can't imagine it being under $1,000. So now I'm in this for at least $4,000 before I've earned $1!
I then asked AI how much I might earn driving for uber for 3 hours per week and it said "approximately $60 to $100 before expenses." Let's assume I earn $100, spend $20 in gas and paid $15 in tax. After insurance ($140/month) and CoF ($175/year) I'd net $1,525/year, enough to pay off the $1,379 in fees and repairs and still pocket $146. That works out to less than $1 per hour.
And lastly, although I don't think there are any fees, it also says you have to complete driver safety education, purchase a child lock safety sticker, display a Small Passenger Service Licence Label in the windscreen a display a Transport Service Licence in the car. (You have to send a passport-style photo to Uber who then send you the latter.)
So I think this particular dream is dead. I know someone who does woodworking in his spare time and sells cutting boards at local markets on the weekend, so maybe I'll look into that...
* Hard to imagine who would select the one year option to save $38, but the "big P" endorsement -- for large vehicles -- is the same price whether you want it for one year or five years! (And it's actually cheaper than the "small P" endorsement!)
** Yes, Uber says you only need a NZ license for one year and then says you must have an endorsement that requires you to have a license for two years...
*** As an example, if you have a hatchback vehicle then you may need to have a means to secure cargo so it doesn't hit passengers in an accident.
* Hard to imagine who would select the one year option to save $38, but the "big P" endorsement -- for large vehicles -- is the same price whether you want it for one year or five years! (And it's actually cheaper than the "small P" endorsement!)
** Yes, Uber says you only need a NZ license for one year and then says you must have an endorsement that requires you to have a license for two years...
*** As an example, if you have a hatchback vehicle then you may need to have a means to secure cargo so it doesn't hit passengers in an accident.
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