Customers Love Uber, But It Can Be Great For Drivers as Well. Here is an Example.
I see a lot of folks wanting to poo-poo the notion that Uber's flexibility in terms of hours driven and such is good for drivers. Folks on the Left have in their head that any job that does not punch in and punch out at fixed hours with a defined lunch break and actually rewards working more than the minimum is somehow exploitive.
This got be thinking about a Kickstarter update I received a while back (for a computer game project). The entrepreneur wrote:
Looking back, most of the year was spent trying to recover from the 2013 Robotoki saga which delayed development by almost an entire year, left me financially devastated, and almost sunk this project beyond recovery. We’ve had our ups and downs and I’ve always found a way through, but man, these were not fun times. I was actually living out of my car when I signed the private investment contract a few months ago, so it’s been a little bit of a rough year.
This project and I are currently surviving on that private loan, my personal credit cards, and whatever I can make driving for Uber, but at least we’re getting close to launch now. I hope this doesn’t come off as a “whoa is me” kinda thing. I only mention all of this because I want to put the project into perspective and give some deserved answers about what has been going on. I know it sucks that the game is severely late and I hope you know that I’ve done everything in my power to not give up.
This entrepreneur is trying to fund his game development effort in part by working during the day on the game and driving for Uber in his spare hours. There is no way he could work really anywhere else because he would have to be an official employee and keep a regular schedule -- you can't imagine someone just showing up at McDonald's to cook whenever they feel like it. But that is what he can do for Uber. And now California is trying to kill that flexibility.
Dustin Barnard:
Classifying Uber drivers as 'employees' would mean that Uber would have to ensure that drivers took their required meal breaks, would it not? They'd more or less have to program the app to lock you out for half an hour every four hours (or whatever the requirement is). But that probably wouldn't be good enough since you might pick up a fair before the scheduled break, but then still be driving when 'break time' comes.
June 29, 2015, 12:27 pmpaul:
i live in sf. take uber all the time. lots of u.ber drivers used to be taxi drivers. they love two things,. workwhen you want. plus if hou wait 10 miks for ride it is infuriIating versus as a taxi drrier the equivLent time to get annoyed was 2 hours
June 29, 2015, 2:18 pmpaul:
oh. another thing. everyone works for uber and lyft and maybe sidecar how does that work. uber nad lyft are paying you to be on standby while you do a sidecar trip. and who pays your medical? and if you pass 8 hours in a day with all of them govether who pays overtime?
June 29, 2015, 2:22 pmMercury:
Video Game Guy is still probably not doing as well by Uber as he thinks he is - on the other hand, given his particular circumstance, he is probably more than happy to get less money now (and on his terms) than more money later or doing something else less flexible.
Anyway, The less Uber is regulated the sooner Uber drivers will realize that the platform probably doesn't need 20-25% of revenue to provide the infrastructure needed to run Uber. Uber is simply an efficiency-through-technology story. I don't see why a 'Craigslist of Uber' wouldn't work just as well.
June 29, 2015, 7:27 pmobloodyhell:
}}} “whoa is me”
LOL...
June 29, 2015, 7:35 pm