Night vs. Daytime Driving - Which is Better? Part 1

Many new rideshare drivers struggle to answer the question of whether it’s better to drive during the day or at night. This question has different answers depending on what people are looking to get out of their drives. For some drivers, this question is answered for them if they already have a 9 to 5 day job. But if your hours are more flexible, here’s an outline of some of the pros and cons of day and night driving. Sit tight: we’ll cover everything from tipping to ratings in this three-part series.

Part 1: When can I make more money?

Night Driving

One of the biggest differences between day and night driving is traffic. Generally, daytime driving brings more of it. As a rideshare driver, you are paid more for driving one mile than driving for one minute. So, it’s in a driver’s best interest to avoid traffic and rack up more miles. Additionally, night driving comes along with high surge pricings—especially on weekends.

On the downside, this means that you’ll most likely be picking up some rowdy passengers.Every so often, this leads to a customer that becomes sick and leaves a mess in the car. While cleaning it gets covered by the passenger - it's still a huge hassle!

Daytime Driving

This isn’t to say that day driving will make you no money: drivers tend to find plenty of rides from 7-9am and 4-6pm. These hours normally come with bonuses attached to them too. The key difference here is that there will also be traffic, and your compensation won’t increase to match the longer time needed to complete your rides.

At the same time, if you're trying to rack up volume bonuses, the daytime can be the best time. UberPool and Lyft Line, though generally less lucrative, can get you a huge number of rides. These are the best way to reach a certain ride number and snag a bonus. More people take Pool and Line during the day, so if your goal is to get the bonus, think about investing some daytime hours.

Conclusion

Night driving takes the edge on earnings. 1 point for night-time

Next week

We’ll discuss something everyone wants more of: tips. Stay tuned to find out how daytime and nighttime driving affects your tips, as well as tried and tested hacks to increase them!