RSG 201: Delivery from the Front Lines

Listen to this episode on your phone here.

I’m excited to bring you this episode – it’s a recording from the conference I organized, Curbivore. Titled ‘Delivery from the Front Lines’, this panel interview I hosted features Uber’s Vice President of Product, Sachin Kansal, and Uber Eats courier Barbra Watkins. This is a unique discussion because rarely do conferences, even ones about the gig economy, feature voices from the gig worker community. Barbra had a lot of great one-liners and was an excellent panelist, as was Sachin. Can’t wait for you to take a listen!

Panel Interview

  • Sachin Kansal, VP of Product for Uber
  • Barbra Watkins, Uber Eats courier
  • Sachin worked with taxi drivers at the beginning of his career, moved to Uber
  • Barbra started driving on the recommendation of a friend, almost quit her first day!
  • Switched to Uber Eats during the pandemic

Why Deliver Food?

  • Enjoys being able to get out of the car!
  • Can be difficult to find apartment complexes, not always enjoyable to climb multiple flights of stairs
  • Benefit to deliver food during the pandemic, too
  • Customers: please come out for your food! Especially if you live in an apartment complex

Feedback from Couriers

  • Important to have a dialogue with drivers and couriers
  • There are focus groups, Slack groups and other ways to get feedback
  • Sachin has been driving for the last four years and still goes out to drive
  • Need to see what is happening on the ground!

Delivery is Moving to the Curb

  • This is difficult for drivers! They can get tickets if they double park downtown
  • This is something Uber is aware of – it’s tricky
  • On Uber’s side, they’re trying to balance the algorithm so there aren’t too many couriers arriving at one place at the same time
  • Don’t necessarily need to be replaced by robots

Show Notes

Curbivore YouTube Channel

Delivery from the Front Lines from Curbivore – YouTube

Curbivore Recap & Highlights – YouTube