Due to high insurance costs, Uber has decided to raise the minimum driver age to 25 for drivers on their platform in California.
Delivery platforms also had a major outage this past week, causing panic across the U.S.
DoorDash, Uber Eats, And Grubhub All Go Down, Causing Takeout Panic Across The US
Topic Originally Appeared On Independent
Summary
The popular food delivery apps Uber Eats, GrubHub, and DoorDash were all reportedly down for a period of time on Tuesday afternoon, frustrating workers and customers alike.
Service on the companies’ websites appeared to be restored after a brief outage, but some customers may have been charged for orders that did not go through.
Uber Eats, GrubHub, and DoorDash all do plenty of business daily: the average American reportedly spends in excess of $37 on food delivery each week….
My Take
It’s never great when delivery platforms are down. We’ve all come to rely on them pretty heavily. A lot of restaurants rely on delivery platforms as well instead of having their own delivery drivers/service set up. This not only affected customers but restaurants as well.
Personally, if I’m ordering food, I’m not going to go into the restaurant instead, if the delivery service is down. I would just eat random stuff in my house instead. The point of getting delivery is not having to get dressed and go out. I’d rather stay in my PJs and veg out at home. Or like the X user posted above, they are sick and didn’t want to go out.
If I was a customer who had already placed an order, I would have been very frustrated not receiving my food.
Uber Raises The Minimum Age For Most California Drivers To 25, Saying Insurance Costs Are Too High
Topic Originally Appeared On AP
Summary
Uber raised the minimum age requirement for most of its new drivers in California to 25 on Thursday under rules the company said are necessary because of the rising costs of commercial auto insurance in the state.
The new rule applies only to drivers signing up to transport passengers with Uber’s ride-hailing platform and not for those delivering food with Uber Eats. Previously, people as young as 21 could sign up to drive customers, and the age limit for deliveries was 19.
Those under 25 who activated their accounts prior to Wednesday can continue to drive for Uber, the company said….
My Take
It’s quite a jump to go from 21 to 25. Granted, it’s nice of them to grandfather in people who are already on their platform and under 25. Overall, this might be a good thing for drivers already on the platform, though. It limits the number of new drivers on the platform.
It was interesting to learn though that the minimum age for drivers on Lyft’s platform has already been 25.
Brush up on how much Uber drivers make and more with our latest article How Much Do Uber Drivers Make? Pay & Salary for 2023.
Minneapolis Mayor Vetoes Minimum Wage Bill For Lyft, Uber Drivers: ‘An Inexcusable Betrayal Of Minneapolis Workers’
Topic Originally Appeared On Fortune
Summary
The mayor of Minneapolis on Tuesday vetoed minimum wages for Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing drivers, a move one city council member described as “an inexcusable betrayal of Minneapolis workers.”
Mayor Jacob Frey instead negotiated with Uber, securing an agreement for higher pay for only those drivers.
In his veto message, Frey wrote he “secured a commitment from Uber” that drivers picking up passengers in Minneapolis or driving within the city will make the city’s minimum wage of $15 an hour. The company also committed to paying Uber drivers at least $5 for any trip in the metro area….
My Take
Another update from Minneapolis and drivers are almost right back where they started from. Supposedly the mayor of Minneapolis got a “commitment from Uber” saying that the drivers will make the minimum wage of $15 an hour. But I don’t see how this is enforceable without the ordinance actually being in place.
Plus, it’s a slap in the face that only Uber will be doing this, forgoing all other platforms. That was the point of the ordinance was to get this deal from all platforms, not just one of them.
I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this, but it’s a blow to drivers on all other platforms.
Uber CEO’s Most Nightmarish Experience As A Driver Came When He Was Delivering Food And Couldn’t Figure Out The ‘maze Of Apartment Complexes’
Topic Originally Appeared On Business Insider
Summary
Now that he’s tried it out for himself, Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, may have a better understanding of what it’s really like to be delivery driver for his company.
When asked the most nightmarish rider experience he had as an Uber driver, Khosrowshahi said that it wasn’t the riders that gave him issues — it was delivering food.
“I was trying to deliver food and I couldn’t find where to drop it off,” Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal. “Trying to figure out the maze of apartment complexes was a challenge.”
Navigating large apartment complexes has been a pain point for the company, an Uber spokesperson told Insider, adding that the company has tried to address this by providing users with more accurate drop-off pins….
My Take
Maybe there will actually be some kind of improvement coming out of this? It’s a long shot, but now that the CEO realizes how difficult apartment deliveries can be, maybe that will give Uber a push to improve this part of the platform.
I wonder if he also had trouble with customers not providing gate codes, which is another apartment complex issue that many delivery drivers face.
Here are some other pain points that delivery and rideshare drivers have across the board: Top Things Rideshare & Delivery Drivers Agree On.
RSG in the News This Week
Read more trending topics in the news this week:
