Strategically Schedule Your Driving Hours For Maximum Earning Potential

RSG Contributor Jay Cradeur shares his insights from 32,000+ rides on how to strategically schedule your driving hours to maximize earnings. Learn to identify peak times, plan effectively, and analyze your results to make more while driving less.

Introduction

This work has a rhythm, a cadence of the city’s breath. If you learn to match it and rise and rest when the streets are alive, you will find your reward.

Optimizing your driving schedule to coincide with periods of highest demand can significantly increase your income as a rideshare driver.

I have given 32,000 rides and counting. The road has taught me that knowing when and where to drive makes the difference between grinding for scraps and working with precision.

This is not about luck. It is about planning, patience, and showing up when the streets call.

Background

Passenger demand is not a constant. It rises and falls with the sun, the clock, the weather, and the whims of human nature. Some days are feast, others famine. But there are patterns, and your path to profit is in those patterns.

By identifying and targeting peak periods—early mornings, rush hours, weekend nights, and special events—you can increase your ride frequency and take advantage of unique price opportunities. Your vehicle is your ship. The street is your ocean. You must navigate wisely.

1. Identify Peak Demand Times

You must drive when demand is highest to make the most money with the least wasted time.

Mornings between 3 AM and 9 AM are full of airport runs, early workers, and travelers.

Evening rush hour from 5 PM to 8 PM is full of people desperate to get home.

Friday and Saturday nights from 9 PM to 3 AM?

That’s your goldmine if you can stomach some drunk hooligans. The city gets loud—the drinks flow. People move, and you are their vessel.

When the music plays, you must be ready to dance. That means your phone is charged, your tank is full, and your head is clear.

“Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work,” said Thomas Edison.

Rideshare is no different. Show up at 3 AM with a cup of cold brew and you’ll find less competition and more rides. It’s not glamorous, but it pays.

Driving during these peak hours also exposes you to dynamic pricing. Surge. It is the invisible wind that lifts your earnings.  It is not what is used to be.  But you must be there to catch what little of it is left.

You must anticipate demand, like a fisherman who knows when the tide brings the fish. There is no substitute for experience here. Over time, you’ll begin to feel the city’s pulse. That’s when you truly become a professional.

2. Break Out a Calendar and Lay Out Your Week

A plan is not a cage. It is a guide. Without it, you drift. With it, you move with intent. Set aside time each Sunday to plan your week. Use a calendar, digital or paper, and mark your driving windows. Focus on high-yield hours. Include your breaks. Include your meals. Include the fuel stops, the coffee refuels, and the breathers by the bay (if you work in San Francisco).

Ask yourself how the plan feels. Are you excited? Or do you feel dread? If it overwhelms you, adjust it. This schedule must support you, not crush you. Make it realistic. “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable,” Eisenhower once said. The act of planning is what clarifies your priorities.

Evaluate the plan weekly. Did it serve you? Were you profitable? Were you burnt out? The beautiful thing about this work is the freedom. You are the boss. But freedom without discipline is just chaos. Use your plan as a rudder, not a prison.

3. Monitor Local Events

The city speaks through its events. Concerts, sporting events, conventions, parades—these are the times when demand explodes. If you learn the calendar of your city, you will never starve.

Check local venues. Sign up for alerts. Track the Warriors' games. Watch for festivals and the Blue Angels in San Francisco. Take note of the massive After Shock Festival in Sacramento.  These are signals. They are your sirens calling.

Every morning, I head toward the Thunder Valley Casino. Why? Because I know people leave the casino in waves. Tired. Broke. Buzzed. They need a ride. That’s not luck. That’s reconnaissance. The more you know your city, the more it rewards you.

Hemingway once wrote, “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”

If you have driven through a slow Monday or a dead Tuesday afternoon, you know what it is to be broken. But then the city comes alive on Friday night, and suddenly you are whole again. Be there for those moments. They make it worth it.

4. Balance Work and Rest

You are not a machine. If you treat yourself like one, you will burn out. I’ve done it. Driving sixteen hours straight because the money was flowing. Then nodding off at a red light. Never again. Safety is not optional. You are responsible for yourself, your passengers, and the people you share the road with.

Get your sleep. Real sleep. I use cold brew, mushroom tinctures, and sometimes just a moment of stillness to recharge. But nothing replaces rest. Build it into your schedule. Do not overdrive. The road is always there. It does not need you 24 hours a day.

Think long term. A burned-out driver is a danger to themselves and everyone around them. When exhaustion sets in, mistakes follow. You miss turns, forget names, and your patience wears thin. That’s not how you build a sustainable career on the road. Take care of your mind and body, or the road will take its toll.

Author Anne Lamott once said, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Rest is not a luxury—it is a reset. Build time into your schedule to unplug. A rested driver is a sharper, calmer, and more profitable driver.

5. Post Analysis

After the driving is done, the real work begins. Look at your data. What were your earnings per hour? Which days were best? What hours brought in the highest fares? Journal it. Track it. Know it. This is where amateurs fall short. They drive blind. You must drive with insight.

Rideshare driving is like day trading. Each day is a series of trades—some good, some bad. But you cannot improve if you do not review. Look at your numbers weekly. Adjust your schedule based on what you learn. Eliminate low-yield hours. Double down on the profitable ones.

Your goal is not to chase rides. Your goal is to create a predictable, profitable rhythm. For most of us, thirty dollars per hour is the benchmark. Some weeks will soar above that. Others will fall below. But with regular analysis, the average trends upward. That is the path to mastery.

Key Takeaways

Drive smart, not just hard. The city will not reward you for your effort. It rewards you for your timing and your presence. 

Know when to drive. Plan your week. Learn the events. Rest with intention. Analyze your results. 

This job has given me freedom. It has also taught me discipline. You must have both.

You must be as steady as a metronome and as flexible as a jazz musician.

There is an art to it. There is a grind to it. If you do it right, there is also a reward. 

The road is out there. It waits for no one. Get up early. Drive into the light. Then drive into the night. Make it count.

Be safe out there.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe now for free so you never miss an update…

Never miss a Rideshare Guy update…

Twitter/X │ YouTube │ Instagram │Facebook │ LinkedIn │ TikTok