Perfect 100 Uber Driving Score

CMT is not a term everyone knows to be associated with Uber driving. CMT stands for Cambridge Telematics, and they joined forces with Uber to create a score for each driver. This score through CMT is not available in all markets, but if it is in yours, you can find your score in the Uber driver app. A perfect score is 100. And we found a driver who has a perfect score. RSG’s Sergio interviewed this driver on a recent episode of “Behind the Wheel”.

Driver’s Background

Yuri is from Fairfield, Connecticut and has been a driver with Uber for about 7 years with a 4-year break during Covid when he was mostly doing deliveries instead of rideshare. He has given over 5,000 trips and says that about 3,000 have been just in the last year alone.

Yuri does drive for both Uber and Lyft, but Uber has been his main focus because they’ve been keeping him busy enough without needing to tap into other platforms. He estimates that about 95% of his rides are on Uber specifically.

He started off with rideshare driving when he was in college. Uber isn’t his only gig, though he does put in about 30 hours a week on the platform. He has a day-time job as a personal assistant in finance, and then after he’s done with that, he’ll spend the remainder of his day, until late-night, on Uber. Despite so much time doing rideshare, Yuri admits he actually prefers to do deliveries.

When asked, he responded with, “I got to say deliveries because, of course, as an Uber driver, I’ve been through many incidents with my passengers…No one has ever puked, thank God, in this car just yet, but my previous car I had to sell literally after one of those incidents and lately it’s been very good but before it was just…”

Doing deliveries, you don’t have to worry about a passenger leaving behind a mess to clean up or any other behaviors you don’t want to participate in. His current vehicle is a Hoona Accord hybrid.

Getting a Perfect Score

The CMT score takes into account speeding, cornering, accelerating, braking, etc. It’s hard to pass up the opportunity to ask someone how they got a perfect score when other experienced drivers are not quite hitting the mark.

Yuri told his story with an unexpected starting point. He was drifting on the beach in Florida where he was caught by police and ticketed. In order for it not to count against his record, he had to take a bunch of Florida driving school courses online to clear his record.

Those lessons “just happened to stick to me,” Yuri explained. “I just started to follow every single thing that they taught me in there, such as counting seconds to the car ahead of me. So, essentially, there is a car, I always give it a lot of space.”

He also stopped speeding, at least he never goes over 5 over the limit, which is slower than most drivers on the road seem to be doing anyway. Yuri’s sweet spot is to drive no more than 3 over the speed limit.

Yuri also pays close attention to landscape details, such as hills. Going up a hill, it takes less time to stop than going down. So, he adjusts his speed and the distance between himself and other vehicles accordingly. Braking slowly also helps charge his hybrid vehicle, so it’s advantageous for Yuri to brake slowly to get that extra bit of charge to his car’s battery.

Another big piece of advice that Yuri has is to let the other driver go. If you can see someone is trying to change lanes or merge or anything of that nature, just slow down and let them do their thing. Even if the other person is in the wrong or doing something insane, you’ll benefit from giving them their space and allowing them through.

It was pointed out that this is Yuri’s standard driving style. He doesn’t just do these more cautious things because he has a passenger in his car. This is how he drives on a regular basis. It’s a fully engrained habit.

Does a Perfect Score Matter?

Most people don’t put stock in something if they can’t get anything out of it themselves. For instance, if having a perfect score doesn’t give you an advantage over other drivers or higher pay, what’s the point? Right?

Yuri’s passengers might say differently. His passengers feel safe, which is something I fear many Uber passengers cannot say of their drivers. Of course, most Uber drivers are trying to be safe overall because they don’t want to get into an accident, but the extra care that Yuri takes is an added level that is noticeable by passengers.

If a passenger feels safe, they might also be more likely to leave a tip. So, there can be monetary value, in a roundabout way.
If every driver had a perfect CMT score and drove as safely as Yuri drives, the roadways would be a much safer space overall, and isn’t that the goal we should all be aiming for anyway?

Final Thoughts

Be a patient and generous driver. Slow down, be aware, and be safe. These are the main takeaways from Yuri’s driving tips and his experience as an Uber driver.

Do you think safe drivers, like Yuri, should earn more than other drivers with lower CMT scores?

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