Uber Passing Out Safety Cards to Drivers at Hubs

Are Uber Hubs open? That was the question we received from one reader who recently visited his Uber Hub not only to find it open, but also providing safety placards and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Senior RSG contributor Paula Gibbins covers whether or not Uber Hubs are open, which ones may be providing PPE and what you should know about the safety placards.

Drivers have been heading to their local Uber Greenlight Hubs  to pick up personal protective equipment (PPE) and get on the road. Recently, we’ve heard of drivers receiving a safety placard as well. Some drivers have even said they received the placard in the mail.

Quick summary:

  • Uber has been offering safety placards and PPE to some drivers at Hubs or through the mail
  • If you haven’t received any notifications, you can request PPE through your driver app
  • Drivers feel like they have to be ‘the bad guy’ enforcing mask usage from passengers
  • Stay up to date on all the latest at our Facebook page – follow The Rideshare Guy here

Uber Safety Card

The placard encourages passengers to follow basic health safety rules and even encourages passengers to tip their drivers.

The placard reads:

“Help keep each other safe. We’ve worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to share these tips to help protect you and your driver from COVID-19.”

It goes on to show that passengers should cover their mouth and nose if sneezing or coughing, sit in the back of the car, open the windows for better ventilation, wash your hands before and after a ride and to tip their drivers.

Some drivers have pointed out that it doesn’t mention masks, but since the app does a pretty thorough job of letting passengers know they are required to wear masks, that might be why they didn’t include it.

Before booking a ride, passengers are shown the image above that states:

“To help keep each other safe, please follow all government orders about COVID-19, and take these actions:

  • Wear a face cover or mask as required by Uber’s policy

  • Don’t ride if you may have COVID-19, or have related symptoms

  • Wash or sanitize your hands before and after your ride

  • Rides have one less seat available now, sit in the back”

It’s basically a restatement of what passengers will be seeing from the backseat if a driver has received the placard, minus the mask or face cover statement. Unlike drivers, passengers do not need to take a photograph of themselves proving they are wearing a mask.

However, several people on Facebook mentioned they might not be including masks in order not to offend people who actively and vocally refuse to wear masks.

Uber Providing More PPE, Safety Information for Drivers and Passengers

On Uber’s coronavirus page, it states, “We are working to provide drivers with disinfectants to help you keep your car clean. Supplies are very limited, but we’re partnering with manufacturers and distributors to source as much as possible. We’ll be prioritizing distribution to drivers in cities with the greatest need.”

Most Greenlight Hubs are still fully closed due to coronavirus. However, some are allowing a drive-thru type of service specifically for picking up supplies. The reader who reached out to us mentioned his Austin, TX Uber Hub was currently open, although it’s only open for two hours per week for drive-thru only.

Uber’s help section of the website did not provide any information about which Greenlight Hubs are currently allowing a drive-thru versus which ones remain closed. According to drivers in our Facebook group, most are receiving these safety placards and PPE through the mail.

How to Get PPE and Other Supplies from Uber

To request supplies, you can check out the COVID-19 Resource section in the Driver app, or click here and, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “CLICK THIS LINK ON YOUR PHONE” to order directly.

Follow these steps within your Uber Driver app to order available supplies or find out where your greenlight hub is located and if they have supplies in stock:

  1. Open your Uber Driver app
  2. Click on the three bars in the upper left to open your settings menu
  3. Click on COVID-19 at the top

4. Choose “Free health and safety supplies”

5. Click on the link showing what can be mailed to you or what is available for pickup

6. From there you can either enter your address to have items shipped to you or it’ll show you your nearest Greenlight hub; however, it will not say what hours the hub is open.

We reached out to Uber for more information, and an Uber spokesperson replied with the following:

“So far, we have distributed more than 7 million masks, wipes, and hand sanitizer to drivers across the US and Canada free of charge. Active drivers and delivery people received notification that these supplies were available and can opt-in receiving the supplies via home delivery or by picking up supplies at their local greenlight hubs.”

From what drivers have said on our Facebook page, many have received the safety placards as part of their safety kits they ordered for free through the app.

Some drivers also indicated they will not be using these placards because either they are not driving, or they have put other measures into place for safety, such as installing a partition and don’t feel the need for this.

To learn more about what Uber has done to help ensure health safety during the coronavirus pandemic, check out the video and articles “Your Second First Trip” and “The New Normal Starts with Your Safety”.

What about you? Have you received one? Will you use it?

-Paula @ RSG

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