I have been an Uber driver for a few years now, and while I don’t do it as much as I used to, I still get out at least once a week.  Over the years, I have learned about which times are usually the best.

What you’re going to find out is that if you go out at these times, you can stay busy most of the time.  Now, I emphasize most because your market is going to greatly vary, and they won’t all be the same.  So, if you live in a rural area, you may find that you make two to three times less than someone who lives in a massive metropolitan area.  Again, I can’t stress it enough that your results will vary.

In today’s post, I wanted to talk about the best times you can go out and Uber.  This is mainly focused on the UberEats portion because this is what I know best.  Again, this is market dependent, but from the markets I have worked in, I have found these times to be the best.

UberEats Best Times to Drive

• NOTE:  This is very market dependent, but no matter where you live, you should find these times to be pretty good.

#1 Dinner 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Hands down, I make the most money during the dinner shift, and I can’t remember the last time I made less than $20 per hour gross.  As long as you play your cards right and accept the right orders, it’s very easy to dominate during this time.

The nice thing about the dinner rush is that the orders tend to be bigger, which means more tips, and as it gets later, the traffic starts to die down.  The only downfall is that it can get dark early, depending on the time of the year.  I have found a lot of people don’t like driving in the dark, but since it doesn’t bother me, I can take advantage of it.

If you’re going to work any time during the week, this is, by far, the best time to do so.  Again, market dependent.

#2 Lunch 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

I have found that lunch has been fairly decent, no matter which day of the week you go out; however, weekends tend to be the best, followed by Friday and Thursday.  In my market, I can always gross more than $22+ per hour, sometimes more, depending on the year.  It’s almost like clockwork when the clock strikes 2.  Once it does, the orders start to drop quite a bit, but they may trickle in.

Remember, as an independent contractor, you can choose the orders that come in, so if it doesn’t make sense, don’t take it.  Try to stick close to the $1.50+ per mile and only go to a restaurant that’s fast.  It also makes sense to ensure that your drop-off location is near a popular restaurant or else you will have to travel back to a hot spot, wasting some of your time.  It’s a learning curve, but if you know what to look out for, you can maximize your potential.

#3 Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

During the weekend, you can’t go wrong working all day if you want to.  Whenever I go out, I can always gross $20+ per hour, sometimes much, much more.  If I work the entire day, I can earn $250 for the day easily.

On the weekends, I like that the traffic tends to be lighter; however, some restaurants can be much busier, which means you may have to wait longer.  This is where learning your market comes into the picture.  As long as you avoid the slower restaurants, you can use this to your advantage.

Saturday and Sundays can be great well into the night, especially the college towns, but if you plan on sticking to the suburbs, you may find that it’s going to be slower than you want it to be.  If you work the later nights, I highly recommend you work in a younger demographic town to take advantage.  As for mornings, they can be okay, but you will want to hang around the popular breakfast/brunch spots, but this can be limited.  I usually don’t like working breakfast because there’s usually a long wait and the selection is quite slim in my area.

Holidays to Consider

Aside from the times mentioned above, I have found the following holidays/days to be very busy:

• New Year’s Eve
• New Year Day
• Valentine’s
• Super Bowl
• Labor Day
• Memorial Day

On these days, it’s usually fairly busy, and you can work throughout the entire day and do good, at least from my experience.  Just keep in mind that the restaurants can be extremely busy on these days, so, again, you may have to wait some time.  The next time a holiday/special day comes up, test driving that day to see how much you can make.

Final Thoughts

From my personal experience, these tend to be the best times. Of course, you can try different times and may find luck, but don’t be surprised if you go out during the non-peak times and barely make $5+ per hour.  Uber isn’t designed as a 9-5 job.  Instead, you will have to look at it as a way to work when the 9-5 crowd is at home.  As long as you don’t mind those hours, you can do quite well.

Remember, I will stress it a ton of times; your market will vary.  Yes, some markets are hot all of the time throughout the day, whereas some markets stink during dinner.  It’s up to you to go out and test the market yourself.  After some time, you will learn the hot spots, the hot zones as well as which restaurants are the best to work with.  If your local market isn’t the greatest, then consider moving a few miles to another zone as this can make a difference as well.

That’s going to do it for now.

As always, if you want to add some tips or comment on what I have written, then, by all means, feel free to do so!  Thanks for stopping by.