Driverless goes EV, a Lyft plan flops and Amazon debuts Sparrow. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
MONDAY 11/7/22
One driver is putting in the hours to eventually become a day trader. Fast Company interviewed the driver who said:
If you're willing to do eight hours or 12 hour days, that's really what pays off. If you do less than eight hours a day, I always feel like my dollars per hour is significantly less, unless there's a fringe case where I'm finishing up a promotion or something like that.
Something I would absolutely recommend for every driver is a sleep tracking app. If you're going to work eight hours, you better be sleeping eight hours. If you're trying to ever do a 12-hour, like a full day before you're forced offline, you'll definitely want to sleep eight hours. Because nothing is worse than, “Oh, I slept five hours and they're sending me to the other side of the state and now I've got to sleep in my car.”
TUESDAY 11/8/22
Credit: Uber Eats/Nuro
Uber Eats deliveries are going totally driverless and EV. Intelligent Living added:
Uber Eats is taking automated food deliveries further by eliminating the driver.
Uber Eats driverless deliveries are set to begin this fall in Mountain View, California, and Houston, Texas. Uber and Nuro say they have plans for expansion in the Bay Area. We should expect to see deliveries in Arizona someday, as it is the third state that permits Nuro's autonomous EVs to operate. However, both companies still need to confirm that.
WEDNESDAY 11/9/22
Uber gets the upper hand in a U.S. appeals court. Reuters explains:
Two of the three judges on a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Philadelphia seemed skeptical of claims by a group of Uber drivers that crossing state lines was a central part of their job.
The question of whether the exemption applies to Uber and other gig drivers is crucial, because it determines whether they can bring large-scale class action lawsuits or must individually arbitrate legal claims, which is often impractical because of the small sums at stake in individual cases.
The drivers are seeking to revive a lawsuit claiming they were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees and are owed overtime pay and reimbursements for work-related expenses.
THURSDAY 11/10/22
Lyft's plan to fund electric cars gets sacked. TechCrunch reported:
California voters shot down a plan to make electric vehicles more affordable for some residents, dealing a blow to Lyft and the EV industry alike.
Proposition 30 would have taxed residents making more than $2 million a year to subsidize electric cars and public charging stations as well as funded wildfire prevention programs. Even with just 41% of the votes tallied so far, the defeat was clear. As of Wednesday afternoon, some 59% of voters rejected the proposition.
It would have raised tens of billions of dollars to push down the price of electric cars for individuals, including drivers for ride apps like Lyft and Uber. Both companies have committed to going electric by 2030, and this measure could have helped them hit their targets.
FRIDAY 11/11/22
Amazon debuts Sparrow, while reassuring workers they're not being replaced. TechCrunch added:
Working with our employees, Sparrow will take on repetitive tasks, enabling our employees to focus their time and energy on other things, while also advancing safety.
The company is, of course, quick to point out that Sparrow (along with its other robots) is designed to replace repetitive tasks — and, perhaps, save a few human backs in the process. It has understandably become common practice to get out ahead of the standard criticism of companies automating away jobs, but pointing out that these systems:
1. Have the ability to actually create more jobs in the long run and
2. Those are “better” jobs than the standard warehouse fare.
LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, gig workers, delivery and e-scooter accidents and injuries. Consultations are always free.
