After 10 Years and 32,000 Rides, I’m Finally Quitting Rideshare

— By Jay Cradeur —

Rideshare is not lesser work. It is an honorable profession. It is not just “gig” work. It serves a valuable purpose. 

It makes people happy. 

It usually made me very happy, proud, and content. But even more important than all of that is that rideshare driving is flexible work. And when flexibility is used intentionally, it can change a life. It has changed my life.

This is my final article. 

There will be no more pieces where I reflect on the past ten years behind the wheel. I have said what I needed to say. Done. Finished. 

Wow. After ten years and 32,000 rides, I am finally quitting all things rideshare. From this day forward, I transition from a driver to a passenger.

My Advice After 32,000 Rides

I am not quitting because I don’t love it. Look at that smile on my face back in 2018, with my trusty, fuel-efficient Toyota Prius. I am not quitting because rideshare failed me. I am quitting because it did exactly what I needed it to do.

For a full decade, rideshare provided income, flexibility, independence, and an education I could not have gotten anywhere else. It paid my bills. It gave me control of my time. It introduced me to thousands of people I would never have met otherwise.

In this article, I want to pull back the curtain and explain what actually goes into a decision like this. Not the dramatic version. The real one. The slow one. The one that unfolds quietly over the years.

1. Rideshare Is A Tool, Not An identity.

I never viewed rideshare as a permanent career, and that perspective mattered. It is one reason The Rideshare Guy has been so valuable over the years. New drivers enter the space every day, needing guidance. Longtime drivers find themselves either burning out, struggling, or, like me, consciously uncoupling.

Rideshare works best when it is treated as a tool. A powerful one, but still a tool. At some point, you have to put the tool down, even when it still feels good in your hand. 

For five years, I drove weekends in Sacramento. I was my mother’s caregiver, and that was the time I had available. Rideshare fits around my life instead of controlling it. That flexibility allowed me to earn money while also planning and taking action toward something new.

That is the gift. Use the tool. Do not get locked into the identity.

2. Flexibility Becomes Income Security

Uber and Lyft are among the best modern launchpads for reinvention. The work is flexible. The pay can be solid relative to the time invested. 

You can still enjoy your life while earning a living. 

And while you are driving, you are learning. Behind the wheel is where many of life’s future chapters get planned. Through conversations with passengers. Through audiobooks and podcasts, and through quiet thinking between rides.

In my experience as both a driver and a passenger, most drivers talk too much. They miss the opportunity. By talking less, asking questions, and listening, you collect wisdom. Each passenger carries a story. Sometimes those stories change how you see your own life. Knowledge becomes security. 

The more you understand the world, people, and yourself, the better your decisions become. That kind of security outlasts any surge or bonus.

3. Discipline Is the Real Differentiator

Get up early, even when you don’t want to. Every job requires discipline. Gig work exposes whether you actually have it. 

With a traditional job, if you do not show up, you get fired. With rideshare, you show up because you decide to. Every single day. That choice sharpens something important. Honoring your own rules when nobody is watching rubs off on everything else. 

Build that habit as a driver, and you become dangerous in other pursuits.

Today, my life runs on a precise schedule that grew directly out of my years as a driver.

I wake up at 5:00 and have coffee.

5:15 am, my mind is sharpest, and I work on my computer
At 6:30, I am at the fitness center for cardio and strength training.
At 7:45, I move to the sauna and cold pool, then shower.
At 9:00, I meditate for thirty minutes.
From 9:30 to noon, I work. I study. I review. I refine.
At noon, I eat my first meal.

The day continues like this. Structured. Intentional. Supportive of both my work and my personal life. 

Monday through Thursday are very focused on my work. Friday through Sunday are more leisurely, socially active, and a time of renewal. 

This discipline started in the driver’s seat. It is why I have the confidence to walk away now. I am ready to go dark and focus 100% of my efforts on what matters most to me at this time in my life. 

4. Use Rideshare To Empower Your Future You

The pandemic profoundly reshaped my life. As I said, my mother developed Alzheimer’s, and I became her caregiver. Full-time driving in San Francisco was no longer possible. 

I adapted. 

I drove part-time in Sacramento and searched for something I could do from home. Something I could do alone. Something with the potential to scale. That is when I chose day trading.

What followed were years of part-time learning, failing, recommitting, simplifying, and starting again. Five years of caring for my mother. Five years of personal struggle and growth. She is now in a memory care facility, and I can finally give my full attention to this pursuit. 

That single focus is the primary reason I am stepping away from driving and no longer contributing to The Rideshare Guy.

5. Why Success Looks Different for Every Driver

That is my story. What is yours? 

You can build a self-driving fleet. 

Maybe you want to start a car wash franchise. 

You may want to launch a business you cannot name yet. 

There is a reason so many people want to build their lives in America. The ceiling is high. Rideshare gives you time, flexibility, and a launchpad. What you create next is up to you.

Driving can be the bridge. It need not be the destination.

Key Takeaways

Rideshare works best when it supports the life you want, not when it replaces it. 

Being an Uber and Lyft driver for 10 years and an RSG contributor for eight years has been an incredible experience. I loved driving. I loved writing. I loved making videos. 

But my body says stop. My desire for more revenue says stop. My life in Bangkok says stop. And my passion for day trading says, "Stop!" 

It has been getting louder and louder. Now is the time I listen and take action.

I have told this story before, but it is worth repeating. I was in Bali on vacation when I first reached out to Harry, also known as The Rideshare Guy. I had been driving for about a year and felt I could contribute to Harry’s blog. 

This was before RSG was doing videos. He wanted me to write more articles per month than I could commit to, so I declined.

A year later, when I could do both articles and videos, we started working together. Since then, I have hosted a rideshare podcast, worked as the RSG Sales Manager, written hundreds of articles, made hundreds of videos, became the primary voice to assist drivers with unemployment benefits during the pandemic, and, with Harry, created an educational course for new drivers.

And now, as I type these final words, that profound chapter in my life is complete.

So I am stopping.

Thank you, Harry.

And to every driver out there, be safe, reach for the stars, and Good Luck.

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