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How Uber Profits Even When Its Drivers Aren't Earning Money (vice.com)

Posted by timothy on from the na-und? dept.

tedlistens writes: Jay Cassano spoke to Uber drivers about "dead miles" and what work means when your boss is an algorithm, and considers a new frontier of labor concerns and big data. "Uber is the closest thing to an employer we've ever seen in this industry," Bhairavi Desai, founder of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told him. "They not only direct every aspect of a driver's workday, they also profit off the entire day through data collection, not just the 'sale of a product.'"

11 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's see. An organization with a vested interest in perpetuating the Taxi industry's grip and pricing doesn't like something about Uber and it's ilk. I think there's a picture of Captain Picard captioned "I've just shat myself with surprise!".

    Fuck cabbies. Fuck cab owners. Let 'em all starve like buggy whip manufacturers. Price gouging, monopoly having, tourist and local abusing, talking to their overseas family on the phone motherfuckers.

    I don't give a single shit about your labor concerns. You screwed yourself out of that with your attitude, your work ethic, and your lies. Fuck off and die already.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    1. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I 100% agree. Uber is optional for drivers and passengers. Taxi service is terrible. Taxis are dirty and old and frequently rip you off if you don't know where you are going. Uber doesn't have this problem. Ever seen a dirty Uber car? I don't even use Uber, but I have no love for the taxi "alliances".

    2. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > Ever seen a dirty Uber car? I don't even use Uber,

      Solid reasoning.

    3. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Complain to your municipal government. Taxis here are clean, the drivers have to conform to a dress code and a service code, and there are dedicated inspectors to make sure that standards have to be maintained. When a taxi enters service, it cannot be more than 5 years old, and has to be retired when it it 10 years old, no matter if it's still in great condition. Rusty cars aren't allowed. Heck, there's even one cab driver driving a tesla because the extra initial cost is offset by the lower running costs.

      If taxi drivers are expected to live up to professional standards, they'll actually behave like professionals, which is good for everybody. When you get a company that just reinforces the race to the bottom, all you're going to get is bottom-feeders.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    4. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just a hunch but I suspect government employees are just not as efficient or even very useful overseers. The customer is far more reliable.

      Then you don't have a democratic government. Sticking another band-aid over this problem won't fix it.

    5. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by mi · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Complain to your municipal government.

      Why?!? Why should I waste time complaining and otherwise raising awareness, when I can just call Uber and pursue happiness?

      Competition is a wonderful thing — no wonder Illiberal Statists hate it.

      If taxi drivers are expected to live up to professional standards, they'll actually behave like professionals

      You mean, like those professional folks at the DMV? Or the toll-collectors? Or the public school teachers? No, dear, what ensures professional behavior is the fear of losing one's job. See also "benevolence of the butcher".

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    6. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Insightful

      He probably got it on credit. It makes financial sense - if you're getting very heavy usage from a car, as a taxi driver would, then a reduction in running costs will eventually offset the initial purchase cost - even when interest. Payback time may be a few years.

    7. Re:New York Taxi Workers' Alliance by fluffernutter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unfortunately, the rating system is never going to work for the person in a wheelchair that needs a ride, or the minority that exists in the rough area of town that Uber drivers never want to go to.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  2. Planning for driverless cars by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They're collecting all this "dead time" behavior (as well as the rest) to help them figure out how to best have the driverless uber cars 10 years down the road. If you drive for uber, you're working to put yourself out of a "job."

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    1. Re:Planning for driverless cars by Livius · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you're working to put yourself out of a "job."

      So... Uber is just like every other employer.

    2. Re:Planning for driverless cars by SeaFox · · Score: 1, Insightful

      They're collecting all this "dead time" behavior (as well as the rest) to help them figure out how to best have the driverless uber cars 10 years down the road.

      If you're an Uber driver and planning to be one 10 years from now you need to reexamine your life.