this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Renting doesn't mean no insurance. If you're operating a vehicle, you need to be an insured driver. Where you get the insurance is up to you.
Depreciation, maintenance, those are lumped into the cost of the rental. Whomever you are renting from isn't giving you the car and taking a loss on it.
Insurance comes with the rentals or your credit card in most cases.
And duh. Thats my point. You pay, and that's it. No more hidden costs.
Any given day is profitable or not, and you immediately know.
edit: we even have a car share service here that includes gas in the rental.
Please don't duh.
Renting a car for use as a ride share is not covered under any rental agreement, nor under whatever your credit card may provide, which as far as I know covers damage to the vehicle at most. Liability insurance is a whole separate animal and the one that's most necessary.
Not only that, but basic liability usually doesn't cover gig work either, you need a special and more expensive policy for that.
There are limited exceptions where you can self insure, I think New Hampshire is the only place you can do that in the US. However if you can self insure then you probably aren't doing gig work.
You can add gap to your regular insurance to cover your job as a rideshare. You just need to tell your carrier.
The thing is, if you're renting, you've added someone in between you and the insurance carrier. Uber does not self insure. I see them often using Progressive. So you rent a car from Uber, pay for the insurance from Uber, but there's also Avis and Progressive now taking their cut.
It's just scammy, and the fact that they're getting people to rent cars to do so is just crazy to me.
If you're allowed to rent the car for gig work, they'll almost assuredly offer the insurance for it, and not all gig work is ride share.
And the duh was about that, I handled the insurance comment separately.
edit: e.g
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=delivery_rentals.jsp
They offer the rental and insurance. They don't let you carry another person though, so not all gig work, at least on this specific plan.
So Avis, for example, offers an insurance from Uber for rideshare via Rasier and Portier, and so you're basically renting and insuring cars from the company you're being paid by. Yes, Avis is an intermediary there, but the whole idea is crazy to me, that you'd pay your employer to work.
So are they having profitable days? I guess I'm as curious as you are, but I just can't imagine a scenario where you're making decent money in exchange for the time you put in. I suppose reliance on tips makes the difference, but Uber is over here cleaning up, charging you and the customer.
Ya, I have no idea how they are pulling it off and making more than minimum wage... but the whole thing is possible in theory, and you'd know what you are spending each day with no hidden costs.
If they aren't doing this as their main job, maybe you can sneak a few days in here and there where they offer highly discounted promotions? Or do it on days where volume is expected to be high?
edit: maybe they aren't even making minimum wage, but they like the idea they can make $40 on a random night without having to be responsible to anyone but themselves?