Ride-hailing app Uber does not only offer budget-friendly options and worry-free rides, but drivers like Lance Hutchinson from Tallahassee, Florida are friendly too.
For Hutchinson, driving full-time is generally fun, such as meeting pleasant people, and doesn't consider it a job — “that’s the fun part about it.”
“If I get tired or I'm not in the mood, I don't have to, I don't have to go if I don't want to," he said. “I get up in the morning and … I’ve got something to look forward to,” said Hutchinson, a retired entrepreneur who drives for Uber. “That hour of the morning, the hours I drive, I see a lot of the same people over and over and over again. So it's almost like I'm going to pick up a friend to take them to work, and we catch up on how the kids are doing and that kind of thing.”
Uber ensures that drivers are required to undergo a complete background check before being allowed to receive Uber's app-based work opportunities. Current drivers continue to be vetted annually. Through the app, customers can also double-check the driver’s information including their photo, the vehicle's plate number, and car make and model. Safety features for both the driver and customers are also available in the Uber app. These are useful to those who drive and ride in the not-so-usual hours of the day.
"I'm a morning person and I wake up very early, you know, 5-5:30 and it's something I can do," Hutchison said. "And those wee hours of the morning that's productive and I'm performing a service that's needed that hour of the morning. There are a lot of people getting off the night shift, going home or going to work, especially medical workers in Tallahassee. A lot of medical staff and that kind of thing."
According to Hutchinson, most of his driving experiences are safe, and seldom feels danger or bad encounters.
"Well, I would say every Uber driver says it does, but 99.9% of the rides that you have are the people are pleasant," he said. "Every once in a great while, you're glad somebody got out of the car. But it's rare."
The flexibility and the earning opportunity are what he said he enjoys. Having extra money to be able to do things with his family and take his wife out to dinner without worrying about cutting into the budget, makes him satisfied.
“It was more just a lifestyle thing, you know, allowed me to do things that I wouldn't have been able to do a little travel or just the luxuries that you get to splurge on people," he said.