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Lyft CEO David Risher regularly speaks about his positive experiences as a driver for the ride-sharing service.
Take Risher’s latest LinkedIn post, which details driving Lyft passengers around Napa Valley on an early summer Sunday: He says he made about $28 an hour, including tips, for three trips in 90 minutes, not including gas and other expenses.
“Obviously, I drive to learn, not to earn, and gas mileage may vary from person to person,” he wrote, “but I have a much deeper appreciation for the driving experience.”
But one Lyft driver in Pennsylvania told Business Insider that the reality is very different from Risher’s description. The driver asked not to be named in this story for fear of Lyft deactivating his account. BI confirmed that the driver worked for Lyft, among other details.
During a recent week driving in Pennsylvania, the driver told BI he drove 85 miles over eight trips that took about three hours each, and after expenses, he estimated his pre-tax profit from the job totaled $35.
“We’re not even being paid minimum wage after expenses,” the driver said, “but they’re reporting that we’re making $20 or $30 an hour, and that’s not true.”
“This is a misrepresentation,” the driver said of Richer’s latest post.
Lyft drivers, and many other gig workers who deliver for services like DoorDash and Instacart, in most places don’t get paid for the time they spend driving to pick up someone, or waiting for an app to offer them a ride.
Unless Risher was lucky enough to get nearly continuous rides in Napa, the unpaid hours can take a big bite out of the money drivers make on the job, the Lyft driver told BI.
For example, in some small cities in Pennsylvania, “traffic is so bad that it can take 20 minutes to give someone a $3 ride to their destination.”
“If you subtract the mileage, you’re in the red,” he added.
“We know driving in rural parts of the country is not the same as driving in the most congested cities like New York or San Francisco. Each has its own unique characteristics,” a Lyft spokesperson told BI.
The spokesperson also said: May AnnouncementIn it, Lyft said drivers would get to keep more than 70% of passengers’ weekly fares.
Wages for gig workers in general have fallen in recent years as contractors compete for jobs.
Uber and Lyft employees say they are regularly offered rides that pay less than $3 a ride.
This month, a Pennsylvania driver said a new hardship hit his earning potential when a Lyft support representative told him in a chat that he was suddenly unable to accept rides in a county adjacent to the one where he normally works. The driver shared a screenshot of the chat with BI. Lyft did not respond to BI’s questions about the policy.
So far, the result has been fewer ride requests and less income, drivers say, after previously working across county lines in Pennsylvania to get the most lucrative trips.
“What I used to earn in eight hours, now I have to work 12 hours,” he told BI.
Do you work for Lyft, Uber, DoorDash or another gig rideshare or delivery service and have a story idea you’d like to share? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com.