This is the 21st century, and we have internet, smartphones and a car. It’s time to make money, but how? Well, we decided to review the top 8 apps that allow us to enjoy making a good income in this emerging and evolving gig economy. Before we start, just to be understood, a gig economy is an app-based system that uses a smartphone to connect (in our case) drivers to a customer base owned by the app developers. The driver gets paid for performing a service for the app developer and their customers.
So here goes, our current list of the top 8 apps for car, bicycle, or motorcycle owners to make money:
1. Uber/UberEats
Obviously, our number 1, even with its bad reputation which is changing ever since the company changed leadership. Uber provides a stable and large customer base of passengers to private car owners that want to earn around $25 an hour. This is a gross income figure but is reachable, and most long term and experienced drivers make more. UberEats is the food delivery service that provides a link between a customer and their meal. Uber drivers can automatically provide an UberEats delivery upon signup and ad more income from food deliveries while working between passenger pickups, or instead of a passenger driving shift. Uber is larger in services than Lyft; they offer Freight services as well.
2. Lyft
This is Uber’s little brother; the ratio is 70:30. Lyft performs the same operations as Uber; in fact, they copy from each other constantly. Lyft is found in every city Uber is, and its numbers are increasing.
3. Amazon Flex
This is Amazon’s courier delivery service for private car owners. They also got into the gig and realized that it was cheaper to pay private car owners to deliver packages than to maintain a fleet of cars or to outsource to courier services. They do outsource to large delivery companies, but the main brunt of their groundwork is done by private car owners that schedule “blocks” of 3-4 hours deliveries. The driver/courier earns around $18-$25 an hour. The downside is that there is no tipping.
4. Caviar/DoorDash/GrubHub
Caviar, DoorDash and GrubHub are all food delivery gigs, and they are competing for food delivery services. Drivers, couriers, owning a bicycle, bike, car, and van can work for these companies. They deliver and/or order prepared meals from restaurants to their customer base. You can earn up to $25 an hour and not have the hassle of dealing with passengers. GrubHub is a public company and has many subsidiaries such as Seamless, Menupages and All Menus.
5. Dolly/Bellhops
Dolly and Bellhops are hauling gigs, where a truck owner can provide a physical service of hauling goods for people. Dolly car owners earn $30 an hour and helpers, which are haulers that don’t have a car can join in and earn $15 an hour. Bellhops only pay car owners and don’t have the helper feature, but the income is the same.
Author’s Bio
Aman Bhangoo is the co-founder of Ridesharing Forum who helps rideshare drivers and riders to find answers to their most pressing questions. With over 3.5 years of experience, Aman brings a vast amount of knowledge, style, and skills to help fellow drivers. He has given over 18,000 rides with Uber and more than 6,800 rides with Lyft.
