Tag: rideshare

There are two kinds of ride-share drivers …

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Those of us who use the platforms for what they ARE …. and those who bought tickets to a football game and, upon attending, are upset that they aren’t playing badminton.

Had a very nice passenger this week who told me of a “work stoppage” in Florida recently over the PRO Act. Drivers would take rides, start to the pickup, then cancel. Hotel and airport employees confirmed that this was happening. Those are the drivers that want Uber, Lyft et al to be something it isn’t. And they’re not ingratiating themselves to those of us who use the platforms more or less as designed. Wanna make more money? Design your own damned platform or get another gig. But stop pissing in MY cornflakes.

THEY DO BETTER WHEN AVERAGE AMERICANS DO WORSE: it’s kind of a Donk trademark.

WE JUST GOT PROOF THAT UBER HAS SAVED THOUSANDS OF LIVES: Surprising NO ONE. And we can’t let THAT keep going, now CAN we?

and a couple unrelated posts that y’all aughta read regardless, with Ohio schools cranking back up in the coming weeks:

How All My Politically Correct Bones Were Broken (my old syllabus advised students that I was a walking trigger warning.)

I intend to remain ever vigilant and will NOT be returning to schools shoveling this horse-hockey: I’m A Middle School Teacher And See How Critical Race Curriculum Is Creating Racial Hostility In School.

And this surprises whom, exactly?

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Study: Rideshare services reduce drunk-driving convictions, injuries from crashes.

There is no IQ test to operate a ride-share app. Driving rain. Got a ping to the Nationwide/Convention Center part of downtown. Address didn’t match pin, didn’t match icon. So about a half-mile away I texted Px and asked where they were.

“In the pull-around.”

There are not less than four “pull-arounds” on that block.

“Which one?”

“The hotel.”

ALL of the “pull-arounds” are for hotels. Again: driving rain and I’m trying to facilitate the pick up to avoid drenching the Px. But no. They couldn’t even muster the requisite mental faculties to assist.

and the PROS Act just keeps getting closer.

Summer driving n stuff

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Lot’s more no-shows. Especially scheduled pick-up no-shows. Weird?

Tips running about where they were. Not many promos from Uber but the fact that they pay for long pick-ups is nice and makes it less likely that I’ll cancel a ride. Lyft has been running a lot of streak bonus’s but every other week. And occasionally there’s the “surge bonus” – got one of this morning in my living room! And then there’s this weird (?) earnings guarantee. For example this week I had a deal wherein if I gave 27 rides from 5am Monday to 5am Friday they’d guarantee that they’d be $7.60 each. That put an extra $30 in my pocket. Been doing about $20-$30 per hour so days haven’t been grinds. All in all I’ve been happy with the flow. Probably six weeks of driving left this summer.

On the legal front: The Bipartisan War on Work

The PRO Act Empowers Union Bosses, Not Workers

and then just for fun:

New trolley problem: Is it ethical to hire a baboon to work the trolley and pay them in booze? Image

Because I start my 10+ weeks of driving next week

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Biden’s Labor Secretary Just Threatened Independent Contractors.

Biden repeals Trump-era rule on gig workers.

Report: Unions, Dems to Rake in Billions From PRO Act: Unions could spend $3 billion on politics every election cycle.

HANNAH COX: Unions are bullying Democrats into giving them more power.

and lest you think it’s ALL bad news … Teenager Who Murdered An Uber Driver Will Be Out By 21, If Not Earlier … it is.

ok, ok. Here’s some good news of the “grasping at straws” variety … Could This Obscure Legal Case Change Control of the Senate?

Rideshare after POTUS address

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BIDEN’S WAR ON YOUR RIGHT TO CONTRACT: Uber, Lyft stocks plunge after Biden official says drivers are employees.

If Biden Truly Wanted To Create Jobs, He Wouldn’t Support the PRO Act

When Joe Biden Talks About Worker Choice, He Means Only 1 Choice

related tangentially: ABOUT THAT ALABAMA AMAZON VOTE: And speaking of CRC, the mainstream media hasn’t given it much coverage, but the anti-unionization vote last week by workers at an Alabama Amazon facility is hugely important. This is especially so, according to CRC’s Michael Watson, given the Democrats’ PRO Act proposal now before the Senate.

TO BE FAIR, IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BENEFIT WORKERS: Hannah Cox: The PRO Act Is Anti-Workers.

and in closing: TWO TEEN GIRLS ACCUSED OF CAR-JACKING AND KILLING AN UBER EATS DRIVER IN D.C. ‘REACH PLEA DEAL WITH PROSECUTOR ENSURING THEY WILL NOT BE HELD PAST THE AGE OF 21 NOR BE PLACED IN A PRISON FACILITY.’

So thanks to those of you who no longer have to read mean tweets. A few thousand of you may well cost me my job.

Circling the Drain

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A significant portion of my livelihood is hurtling toward cancellation. It’s one of those bills that have been given a cutesy acronym name. As I was arguing to friends DECADE’S ago – just because you name a bill “The Orphans and Puppies Aid Act” does NOT mean that the bill has ANYTHING to do with, let alone aid, either orphans OR puppies. (If you’re one of those despicable cat people please substitute “kitties” for “puppies” in the above so I don’t lose your support.) It’s called the PRO Act – Protecting the Right to Organize Act. And it has virtually nothing to do with the right to organize. It will more than likely kill the ride share industry as currently constituted.

Y’see most of us ALREADY have the right to organize and have chosen NOT to. We don’t WANT to. But the Great White Fathers (and Mothers …. ESPECIALLY Mothers) in far away Washington DC know better. They KNOW what we need and they’re going to see that we get it, good and hard. For those of you not aware of this bill or its predecessors, it’s a more-or-less mirror image of California’s AB5 which west coasters overwhelmingly defeated at the ballot box last fall. Essentially it does away with the freedom to work as an independent contractor and requires those who WERE IC’s to become employees. Do you know why most of us AREN’T employees? Because we don’t WANT to be. Just sayin’.

So the silliness of this bill STARTS with the fact that it purports to “protect the right to organize” but it DOES so by PROHIBITING the right NOT to organize (or to NOT organize … one of my editor friends wanna weigh in here?) The second silliness is the long-standing leftist belief that if they just pass a statute everyone will change their behavior in the direction the left wants them to and the world will be a better place. They seem not to realize that we are NOT pieces on a chess board who will move in specified ways and follow a strict set of rules. One woulda thought PPACA woulda taught them that lesson but these aren’t flatworms we’re dealing with here.

This thing passes the Senate and a LOT of people are going to be worse off and virtually NO ONE will be better off. The platforms will either shut down or face a severe restructuring that will make them not affordable to a majority of my passengers and an unattractive side gig option for most drivers.

Congress Should Not Follow California’s Example With PRO Act

The federal labor legislation that would kill my livelihood.

Livelihoods And The Congressional Thieves Who Want To Steal Them

And my final (?) quibble: in Cali they bill came larded with a TON of exemptions for special interests. Writers especially. With no exemptions this thing will hit ANYBODY who free-lances including substitute teachers, ride share drivers, food delivery drivers, most OTR truckers, and many others. Find hope and take action: Understanding AB5 carve-outs. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know what I WILL do …. but I’m scared. Really.

But hey, no more mean tweets, AmIRight?

<edit to add> and THIS popped into my news feed within seconds of hitting “publish” Why Democrats Need the PRO Act: Union Density, Mandatory Dues and Straight-Up Graft.

A little mid-winter ride sharing

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First, an observation: most of the ride share movies (usually horror) are just not good. Just sayin’.

Second: Lyft has been missing the mark. Two weeks ago they had a slew of streak bonuses, often in the afternoon or early evening (read: ideal for me to take advantage of.) And I hit a bunch of them. LAST week we had bad weather virtually every day. No bonuses. So I didn’t drive. But when I DID I was only spoty-busy. A dozen $3 rides, some under half a mile. This week the bonuses are back but not until 5pm. And Uber is just Uber. It’s all been nice to have during snow days to keep my income steady.

Third: There’s a new sheriff in town. Or , rather, several. And it does NOT bode well for ride share divers OR passengers. Here’s the deal: when I turn 70 I’ll have sufficient funds to get by by subbing 1-2 days per week. If there’s no ride-share option in the summer I’ll do 3-4 days per week. And I’m good with that. I’ll be fine. But it’ll suck. What am I talking about? The PRO Act. Gig Economy Regulation Under Biden. It didn’t work in Cali. Is was soundly rejected when put to a vote in Cali. But Chuck, Nancy and FICUS are pushing for the other 49 nonetheless. The Democrats Just Reintroduced a Labor Law that Would Destroy Uber—And It Could Actually Pass This Time.

Fourth: with all of the deplatforming, canceling and denial of service going around I wonder what would happen if those of us who drive started asking potential passengers (on the way to pickup) who they voted for? Passengers of course could lie OR tell the truth. Could respond Trump, Biden or I didn’t vote. And if they respond Biden – I cancel the ride and tell them they’d better get used to not having Uber/Lyft around in the future due to their actions.

Don’t think it’ll impact you? The Personal Impact Of The PRO Act.

Holiday ride-sharing

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A few updates. Was “away” from mid-September to mid-December. And in mid-December when I picked it up again (holiday breaks at school) it was SLOW. Oh, there were moments. Christmas eve ROCKED! But otherwise it seemed we had a LOT more drivers on the road.

DON’T STAND IN THE FREAKING DRIVEWAY!

Who coulda seen THIS coming?: DoorDash is now charging Denver customers an extra $2 fee to make up for their lost commissions.

He’s not wrong: VIA TONI AIRAKSINEN ON FACEBOOOK: So, Uber yesterday implored the CDC to consider their drivers a…

Many schools here in Central Ohio are staying full-virtual post-break, at least for a couple of weeks, so I’ll still be driving. Uber isn’t doing much (although most of their bonus structure is dynamic and demand driven) but Lyft is trying. They’re offering “streak bonuses” and many are pretty good but I do NOT understand the logic. I simply try to hit ’em when I can. We’ll see what it’s like the next couple of weeks.

Makes my head hurt

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Hate to keep flagellating the deceased equine but DAMMIT this one’s important to me.

Voters Will Have a Chance To Save Ride-Sharing and Delivery Services From California’s Regulators

On a positive note, but not positive ENOUGH: Department of Labor Proposes New Rule Protecting the Right To Be a Gig Worker

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Denver City Council approves delivery fee cap. Unintended consequences anyone? This is why those who leave blue state messes need to be told not to vote to create more blue state messes.

Andromeda Ride sharing, part N

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realize I just touched on this a couple weeks ago but the events in California have forced my hand. I had a DOZEN links to stories regarding the coming implosion. We hoping U/L would just go black with a home page that said, simply, “Call Gavin” with a link to the Governor’s office.

Then this happened, at the last minute.

There are still some decent takes out there. This “unrelated” one: Students demand university offer ‘safe’ rides home at night after defunding police.

The next step COULD be: Anti-Tech Warriors Are Coming for Your Food Delivery Apps. All I can hear is my sister telling me, three years ago, “but they’ll never tear down statues of Washington or Lincoln.”

America’s newspaper of record nailed it: California Ends Exploitation Of Workers For Good By Banning All Jobs

And my personalized rant for this week: IF we take you a route different than what you’re used to most of us don’t mind going “your” way. It’ll mean either more time or more miles or both which puts more of your money into our pockets. But when you SEE that we’re sitting in the right turn lane with the right turn signal on please don’t wait until we’ve actually MADE the turn to erupt like a nine year old with Autism. If you have a preferred route, tell us. “I’d rather you take High than 4th.” THAT we can do.

Secondly, for about 43 seconds, think like a driver. Don’t give us a pick up point, or wait for us, in the middle of a construction are which we cannot access. Yes … it happens more often than you might think. We can’t just “turn around” in the middle of downtown during rush hour. That retaining well you can just step over between parking lots? We have to drive around it, sometimes in traffic. Don’t. Just don’t. And finally, you can SEE our approach on the app. You KNOW the direction from which we’re coming. Why on EARTH do you insist on standing on the WRONG side of the road, looking in the WRONG direction?

Heading into my sixth month. Substitute teaching license renewed. Schools can’t start soon enough under ANY plan to suit me.