Just last month a former Bird charger in Phoenix was arrested for stealing 11 Bird scooters. Sounds like his scheme was to report the scooters as missing and then repurpose them for personal use.
Smart drivers know they need to track their mileage from start to finish. Stride Drive is a free app you can use to track your mileage, which will help you save money at tax time. Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
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2018 was the year of the scooter. Here at RSG, one of our top posts was about how to be a Charger, and three of our top five videos on the YouTube channel were about scooters. Today, we’re going to get an update from someone who knows a ton about the industry, from charging scooters to writing about them.
If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.
E-scooters seemed to pop up out of nowhere and have been spreading around the US like wildfire – but what does it take to build a scooter company? Today we have a guest post from Asher Meyers on what it would take to build a successful and potentially profitable scooter company.
The scooter startups Lime and Bird have sunk hundreds of millions on building and deploying scooter fleets all over the world. Uber, Lyft, Skip and Spin have joined their ranks. How could the average Joe possibly run with the bulls, without tens of millions in funding?
These firms, particularly Bird and Lime, have had to spend on big fixed, upfront costs — things like:
All of these have classic ‘economies of scale’ — build it for one scooter or 10,000, and it costs a lot either way. They’re barriers to entry — hurdles that make it hard for new firms to form and compete.
Have you ever wondered who fixes the Bird scooters you see out in your city? Turns out, there’s a whole group of people Bird hires called Bird Mechanics. You can read more about what Bird Mechanics do here, but today, reader Chris T. is going to share his top tips for being a better Bird Mechanic.
As scooters continue to grow in popularity nationwide, it’s inevitable that a few scooters will take some tumbles or otherwise need to be repaired. So who is fixing these scooters? As we’ve covered before, Bird uses independent contractors to keep their scooters charged – and maintained. As with Chargers, Bird uses the same system to ensure they’re maintaining the scooters with their teams of Bird Mechanics.
You can read an overview of what it’s like to be a Bird Mechanic here, but assuming you’re interested in or are already a Bird Mechanic, there are some valuable tips you need to know to be a truly successful Bird Mechanic. Being a Mechanic is a little more complicated than being a Charger, and the tips below will help you be more efficient at maintaining/repairing these scooters – which will help you earn more!
Quick Links:
+ If you’re interested in working for Bird, then you might also be interested in driving for Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Postmates (sign up bonuses available).
Even though Uber and Lyft make up a majority of the on-demand economy, there is no shortage of other apps and services that you can work for. And when I heard about a new electric scooter company called Bird, I decided to sign up and give it a try.
Now if you’re wondering what electric scooters have to do with rideshare driving, you’re right! On the surface, they may seem like pretty different companies, but scooters and rideshare are both part of the shared mobility space, and they actually have a lot more in common than you may think.
Both businesses are mobility marketplaces: Uber connects drivers and riders while Bird connects scooters and customers. And as it turns out, those scooters need able-bodied workers to charge them every night, so that’s where workers in the on-demand economy come in handy.
After covering the rideshare industry for four years, I’m already seeing a ton of parallels between the two business models and, like we saw with rideshare driving when it first hit the scene, there’s a lot of opportunity for ‘Chargers’ right now since Bird is growing quickly and able-bodied workers are in high demand.
Based on my own experience and from talking with other chargers, you can easily make $20-30 per hour working for Bird. If you’d like to download a copy of our free Bird Charger Quick Start Guide PDF, please opt in to our e-mail list below:
Bird Charger
