Trip Acceptance Floor Calculator
Stop accepting trips that lose money. This calculator generates your personal "never accept below" rule based on your actual vehicle costs and target earnings.
Why You Need a Floor
Building Your Acceptance Strategy
The Math Behind the Floor: Your floor is calculated by working backwards from your target net hourly. If you want $20/hr net, and your costs are $0.40/mile, and you average 15 paid miles per hour with 25% dead miles, you need roughly $1.75/paid-mile to hit that goal.
Dead Miles Are Hidden Killers: A $12 trip for 6 miles looks like $2/mile. But if you drove 3 miles unpaid to get there, you actually traveled 9 miles for $12 = $1.33/mile. This is why dead miles dramatically raise your required acceptance floor.
Flexibility is OK: Your floor is a guideline, not a law. During surge pricing or when you're near a good destination anyway, trips below your floor might still make sense. The key is making conscious decisions, not emotional ones.
Common Questions
What is a trip acceptance floor?
It's your personal minimum threshold—the lowest $/mile or $/minute you should accept. Below this floor, the trip costs you money or doesn't meet your hourly goal. Having a clear floor prevents emotional acceptance of bad trips.
Why is the "$2/mile rule" not good enough?
Generic rules ignore YOUR vehicle costs, YOUR market, and YOUR dead miles. A driver with a paid-off Prius has different economics than someone financing a newer SUV. Your floor should be calculated from your actual costs and target net hourly.
How do dead miles affect my acceptance floor?
Dead miles (driving to pickup without pay) mean your effective $/mile is lower than the trip shows. If a trip pays $1.50/mile but you drove 2 miles unpaid to get there, your effective rate is $1.00/mile. Higher dead miles = higher floor needed.
Should I have different floors for different times?
Yes. During busy times (dinner rush, weekends), you can be pickier because another trip is coming. During slow periods, a trip slightly below your goal floor might beat waiting 20 minutes. This tool helps you set both "survival" and "goal" floors.
Related Tools
This calculator provides estimates based on your inputs. Actual trip profitability depends on real-time conditions, traffic, and individual circumstances. Use as a guideline, not an absolute rule.