When Rideshare Goes Wrong

I am constantly amazed at the level of trust that is placed in gig worker food delivery drivers by the public. Back in the day, I delivered pizzas and every once in a while I would take a breadstick, leaving the customer with only 7 instead of the 8 they were supposed to get. Even at the tender age of 18 years old, I never messed with peoples food besides that. Not the people who always stiffed me (which there were plenty), not the dicks that ordered a pizza at 12:55 AM when we were all cleaned up and ready to walk out at 1 am. The reason I didn't do anything is because if they found out I would get FIRED! Plus, I liked the job, I made decent money while going to college, and deep down inside I'm not that kind of person. I can't say that about every other person I worked with, but I rarely saw retaliation against customers. They also paid me an hourly wage, so the tips, while being an important part of my income, were truly extra. But.....that was the mid 1990's, and things are much different nowadays.

A quick search on YouTube will show many examples of gig drivers eating or messing with people's food, right in front of the restaurant or the customer's house. Don't believe me? Check these two videos out

Again, these people are doing this DIRECTLY IN FRONT of the restaurant or the customers house. What could other delivery drivers do in the privacy of their car - out of sight? Let me explain where most gig workers are at mentally in 2024. They are underpaid, working in a hostile working environment, and usually angry at the customers AND the gig company. Don't believe that? Head on over to https://www.uberpeople.net , one of the long-running gig worker forums. Here's a screenshot from one of the forums, does that look like people happy with their jobs?

I'm not a mathematician or a statistician, but I'm going to guess that 1% of the population has a major screw loose. Lets take 1% of 2.16 billion orders.........that is 21.6 million deliveries handled by someone who likely isn't completely stable. Conversely, 1% of the 7 million couriers would be 70,000 unstable delivery people. I could be wrong, maybe it's less than that. Take half of my number, would that make you feel more secure next time you order????

Remember, these gig companies never meet the gig workers at all, everything is done online. I will get more into the scams going on with driver accounts in one of my upcoming posts, which I think will be very eye opening for most people. In the meantime, safe travels and remember - TRUST NO ONE!

Back when Rideshare companies were first starting, a few times a week I would inevitably hear from a rider about how great it was to not have to ride with 'smelly, creepy, rude cab drivers' anymore. I will put aside the fact I would still drive a cab occasionally and only talk about the absurdity of the comment. The RideShare companies have sold how they background check and how secure everything is. First off they never meet any drivers face to face, not a video chat, Skype, Zoom, etc. Even the most remote workers are usually required to make a small appearance to their new employer, at least as far as I understand.

It is true RideShare companies do background checks, and I will say that they take forever. I wouldn't say they are thorough, as I have known several felons who drove for both major RideShare companies here in the US. Once you pass the background check (done by Checkr), you take your car to any certified mechanic for an annual inspection (easily faked, as I know several drivers that have faked the annual inspection due to not having the money for brakes or tires). Also, how much can go wrong with a vehicle that is not properly maintained for a year? I think we've all seen the piece of shit rideshare cars with squeaky brakes and bald tires. Once the inspection is done, you turn the paperwork in, get active, log in and start driving people. Nowhere in that process did anyone ever verify that the person who signed up will be the person driving.

As a taxi driver, you must go to the taxi business, talk to someone, get hired, take a piss test, then GO TO THE POLICE STATION to get fingerprinted. That is for a nationwide FBI background check, looking for felonies. This is because cab drivers are trusted to drive minor children alone as they typically have the contract for medic-aid contracts. RideShare has had a long standing rule against people under 18 riding unescorted by an adult. Once you do all of that, you go pick up a car everyday and interact with the taxi company again. They monitor their drivers, and they receive phone calls if a driver is a creep or does some crazy shit, and they maintain the vehicles for safety. Let me put some more of that article up -

So far we have a gang selling fake ID's for over 2 years to "people who are ineligible for the policies of these companies", between the years of 2019 and May of 2021. I would assume that means the person renting the fake ID couldn't pass the already dubious background check. If you didn't catch it, they also used GPS spoofing to jack up the fares for the customers, and apparently took pictures of riders ID's to make more fake accounts. Those lucky riders got to fight an overcharge for the ride, and then got to worry about their identity being stolen later.

Notice how these ID's were 'rented' by the week, so how many people used those 2,000 accounts over 2 years? The article states they were shared rentals, so I would assume at least 4,000. Realistically, it's probably way more, as people come and go in this industry all the time. Hopefully I gave you some food for thought, and I will say you may want to compare the picture of your driver on the app versus the driver in the car. If you'd like to read the rest of the article, it is here. Stay safe and Trust No One!

Back when I drove a cab, I had an experience very much like the one in the opening scene of Gunther. The rider told me how much the fare was going to be, and the way he and his friend were acting, you could tell they had gotten away with it many times before. Unfortunately for them, that was not going to be the case that night. It was in a bad part of Phoenix that most drivers avoided, and if they had a problem they would let it slide, drop off, collect what they could and get back to a safe part of town.

In the end you are on your own driving a cab - you have to make sure people pay you, throw problem people/groups out of the car, and make sure you don't get assaulted/robbed/killed. The company offered no support for any of that. In one case, a driver got shot in the head by a passenger (a dispatched company call) for no reason and the cab company sent a clean-up charge to the murdered SINGLE DAD cab driver's sister (his emergency contact).

Fast forward to the days of RideShare, you are an independent contractor, supposedly running your own business using your own vehicle. As we all know, RideShare implemented a rating system, along with a laundry list of rules that drivers had to follow. The rating system is how they turned drivers into sniveling wimps. Riders can now give 1 star ratings for issues that are outside of the driver's control - weather, traffic, how long it took to find an available rideshare, how expensive the ride is, the driver is unable to drive to the EXACT location desired, etc. They can also give you a 1 star because you wouldn't let them do illegal things, overload the car, not stop at Taco Bell at 2:05 am for any extra money, they don't like the music you had playing, they broke up with their girlfriend, they're drunk and angry, etc. I'm sure you can see how this puts drivers in a position where they allow people to get away with things they shouldn't, as well as taking FAR MORE abuse than any person should have to at work. The problem is, the majority of drivers cow tow, and if you are one who doesn't , you're going to get a 1 star and possibly a fake accusation of some sort. If that happens you get shut down, 'pending an investigation'. Yes, it happened to me several times, which I will discuss in future posts. In the meantime, stay safe and TRUST NO ONE.

New York Uber driver Shahinoor Oji seems to have found himself in some hot water. He made the grievous mistake of picking up two feet from the curb instead of 12" or less, which apparently is a law in New York. Here's the key parts of the article to sum it up -

"Also, New York law requires taxis and cars-for-hire to be within 12 inches of the curb when picking up or discharging passengers."

"Antoinette Porcasi alleges she was injured while attempting to board Oji’s vehicle. She stepped off the curb into the street and tripped on a bulge in the street between the curb and the vehicle."

"Oji attested in his affidavit that he stopped his vehicle approximately two feet from the curb to pick up Porcasi, which would constitute a violation of the law."

I wonder if Uber included that information in the training Mr. Oji received? Oh wait, there is no training. Rideshare drivers are independent contractors and it is up to the driver to learn and obey all laws, regardless of how crazy they may be. The one the Rideshare companies harp on is service animals - barely a day went by the Rideshare company didn't send out a notification reminding me I had to let people's animals ride in my car. I will talk about my feelings on that in a future post.

Back to Mr. Oji and his unfortunate situation. Here we have a guy driving for shit money, most likely an immigrant new to the US trying to work his way into the American dream. I doubt he would have much to sue for, as he's a Rideshare driver and makes terrible money. If he loses the lawsuit, there will be a judgment hanging over him moving forward. WELCOME TO AMERICA MR. OJI !!! It amazes me these companies still have people taking all of these risks for what works out to less than minimum wage after you factor in depreciation on your car. Next post I will do an in depth dive regarding the reality of Rideshare pay - in REAL terms. Until then, stay safe and TRUST NO ONE!

At one point in time, the gross earnings were that much per hour. In 2017 they certainly weren't, with the exception of a few hours on weekend nights and during major events, which usually offer a two hour earning window. In my opinion, after driving in several markets ranging from small to large cities, they are full of shit. If you would like to hear other rideshare drivers opinions about pay, please head over to https://www.uberpeople.net/forums/Complaints and see what others have to say. Let's get to the napkin math with driving Rideshare. Don't worry, there won't be any complicated accounting here, just a few very simple numbers.

That's a great business model, lose money on most transactions. I would also like to point out that this is the pay in Los Angeles, which ain't cheap to live in. Alright Richard, but drivers get long trips too, right? Yes, they do, and you lose you even more money in most cases. Let's say you drove 5 miles to a long trip, and your ride is going 40 miles to an area you never work. You are most likely going to drive back empty to the area you normally work. Here's the math without the napkin -

40 Miles @ $0.80 per mile $32.00 Revenue

85 Miles @ $0.67 per mile $56.95 Expense

EQUALS A LOSS OF $24.95

There is no magic here, the numbers I'm using are real. I don't think anyone has ever accused the IRS of being generous, and when they 'allow' you to deduct $0.67 per mile to operate a car, I feel that's likely at the low end. I could carry on more, but I think the point is made. Any money people think they are earning is nothing more than being paid by the mile to depreciate their car, while losing more money. The loss of dignity and pride is included by the Rideshare companies free of charge. As always, stay safe and TRUST NO ONE!

I talked about food deliveries a few posts back, and I stand by my opinion. However, I have been delivering for a HUGE NATIONWIDE BIG BOX STORE + to see what opportunities Gunther has with packaged food deliveries. It has been eye opening to say the least. I haven't driven rideshare in over a year, so I didn't realize how cheap everyone has become. Tips were way down when I quit rideshare, but they were still a decent amount of revenue.

Fast forward to February 2025, people expect you to shop 50 items for them, drive 20 miles plus to them (40 miles round-trip), carry cases of water and other heavy shit to their door, and tip ZERO! The majority of deliveries I've done are to people that couldn't have a pizza delivered until the HUGE NATIONWIDE BIG BOX STORE + membership included delivery....apparently to the most remote rural Oklahoma homes possible. I live in the sticks, a county seat in a town of less than 10K. The radius is 40 miles plus from here! Let me put that into perspective.

In some parts of the country, such as NYC, you would drive through a couple of states to accomplish what they send me for a delivery offer. There was an offer I got to drive 25 miles to the first delivery of 3, and then drive 9 miles more to the second one, then another 5 miles to the last stop. Two of the three being completely rural, something along the lines of - 297365 County Road 1048, Buttfuck Oklahoma. 5 miles of gravel roads, some partially washed out from the recent rains, no problem. You did sign up for a free month of HUGE NATIONWIDE BIG BOX STORE + membership, and it does say it's free delivery. The nerve to not tip, when as I said before, none of these people could've had a pizza delivered before this new HUGE NATIONWIDE BIG BOX STORE+ membership started. I know, I lived in the area I speak of. They offered me $31 and some change for that delivery.

Think about this - you have this stranger shopping for the FOOD you and your family are going to eat. Yes, it is packaged for the most part. Let's not go there yet, let's talk about how many shits the shopper gives when they grab your food and you don't pre tip. There are people who add tips on after the shop, but the numbers have shown me it's about a 1 in 10 chance. I work off the numbers, so I shop accordingly. The brown steaks in the front look OK to me, the spoiled bananas - perfect, smashed chips - right in the basket.

These delivery companies are offering waiter/bartender pay, without the expectation of tips. Seems like a recipe for disaster. As always, shop safe and trust no delivery drivers.