Kendrix

Because they aren't independent contractors.  They are employed.

The Fair Labor Standards Act does not apply the minimum wage payment requirement to independent contractors. However, merely classifying a person as a contractor instead of an employee does not automatically keep the worker from being considered an employee entitled to minimum wage. (Do minimum wage apply to independent contractors?)

Well, like everyone says, Uber can do whatever they want, with all the money and power of having a monopoly. Snap of a finger is all it takes. 

Perhaps what would be a useful info is what the heck the driver should do after the car is out of commission.  

It’s our livelihood, and this is a huge problem for rideshare drivers. 

They must have plenty of drivers where you are from. They are just thinning out the herd and don’t care. 

Nope. It crashes sometimes, but 9 out of 10 times I reopen it and it is doing what’s its supposed to be doing. 

You say be aware, but what are we supposed to do about it. LOL. 

Look at this article that states:

"Lyft set aside 5% of the shares for directors and some employees as well as for drivers who as of February have completed 10,000 rides on its platform or are serving or served on a driver advisory council. The company also will pay cash bonuses to those long-standing drivers, including $10,000 for those who completed at least 20,000 rides."

https://ride.guru/lounge/p/meet-the-drivers-who-may-be-offered-1000000-to-purchase-stock-in-lyft-thoughts-what-would-you-do

Yes.  Yes, they can.  As they should be able to.

So if you do this too often your ratings will gone down and risk waiting longer for your future trips.  One example where the rating system works well.

First of all, minors cannot give consent. However, I do see your argument. Can they ask for a ride from a stranger?  or an Uncle?  Of course they can, right? So as long as there is no provider-customer relationship, perhaps there is nothing illegal about this.

Now the real argument is the liability, right? You are NOT the uncle but a total stranger.  You also have responsibilities when you are transporting a minor in your care.

I love happy endings.

I fully expected the driver to get busted and go to jail. What's happened to me.

Yes. I can use the money. 

This article compares the $0.11/mile to other figures like IRS and expenses, but this is on top of what we have already been paid.

It doesn't seem that bad to me. Then again I am not sure what I comparing against.

I assume many other drivers are feeling the same way. If we don't take this, we may see no money. I wouldn't even know what to do next if I didn't.

Don't you mean the passenger locations, maybe? I know females prefer that drivers not know where they live. That would be a security risk. Drivers? I suppose drivers can get robbed or something.

Perhaps taxi drivers used to get attacked because they carry cash (as they accept cash payments), but I am thinking Uber drivers not so much. For what they make, they'd be horrible targets to rob for cash.

Webcam is pretty much a must for every driver. Recording what happens is a requirement to protect ourselves. 

Personal car, independent contractor, obvious camera in plain sight. I don’t wanna hear it. 

Brush off your feet.

Do your part in looking for us, please. Look out for the car, pay attention, stare at the license plate, tell us what you look like, get your face out of the phone. 

We are fighting all kinds of things on the road to get to you (think airport).  The least you can do is to pay attention!

Actually, this may actually be possible. I am hesitant to give any ideas to scummy telemarketers, but here goes.  I will have to describe a few components of how Uber's phone system works.

Uber uses a switchboard to connect drivers and riders without using people's personal phone numbers. We all are familiar with this, right? The phone numbers that appear on your caller IDs are not of those of real people's.  However these numbers are active and they do work...just for the duration that's needed. Uber does this to protect the privacy of the users on both sides.

Here's the thing. those numbers are re-used over and over again, as there are only finite number of phone numbers in the world. The number is limited by how many phone numbers a company (i.e. the switchboard service) can own.

Now for the telemarkers.  They have automatic software-driven phone dialers to place massive number of calls. All they need is a list of phone numbers.  What if they just use the list of numbers registered under the switchboard? They are static phone numbers that are being re-used all day along to serve 100s of million of users. So it's conceivable that Uber's numbers are being targetted and are being fed into these dialers.

When you think about it, these numbers are prime targets for telemarketers. 

• The audience is known and targeted. They are drivers, passengers, and people in transit. They can customize the content of the calls.
• However, it has good coverage of wide range of audience. People of all ages, both genders, etc.
• The calls to these numbers probably have good response rates. Calls made to these numbers are usually purposeful and Uber drivers and passengers rely on them as they seek for each other.
• The numbers are being re-used constantly and at all times of the days. You cannot say that about people's home phones or even some individual
• You cannot easily block it. The numbers that appear on your caller ID will be different every time.

Do you think my theory is correct? I am hoping I am wrong here, and as I have never received these calls on my own, I am not sure whether any of this stands.

I've too wondered how they consider for the angle that they beam you at.  That angle that the radar hits your vehicle must affect the speed.  True speed can only be calculated if they gun you straight on.

Then on second thought, if they get you in an angle, they would see you as going slower than you were actually going.  Think the extreme case where you are passing the cop on the side of the road, so he gets you at 90 degrees. (directly at the side of your car)  They'd theoretically see you going as 0 mph.

So true it hurts.

I make $5 a pop. Often I would buy the same amount of food during pickup, so I never make money. LOL.

BTW, there's usually a rack of food where drivers can just walk in and grab the delivery items.  I hear there are lots of mistakes and homeless people just grabbing them. Some growing pains on this business model.

Noooooo.  I told you above that I use "Rain" and "Linen", and I am still getting complaints!  Aren't you listening?! LOL.

Hmm, good tip.  Thanks. 

I didn't even think of people being "allergic."

Do you mean like water.

Actually, this may actually be possible. I am hesitant to give any ideas to scummy telemarketers, but here goes.  I will have to describe a few components of how Uber's phone system works.

Uber uses a switchboard to connect drivers and riders without using people's personal phone numbers. We all are familiar with this, right? The phone numbers that appear on your caller IDs are not of those of real people's.  However these numbers are active and they do work...just for the duration that's needed. Uber does this to protect the privacy of the users on both sides.

Here's the thing. those numbers are re-used over and over again, as there are only finite number of phone numbers in the world. The number is limited by how many phone numbers a company (i.e. the switchboard service) can own.

Now for the telemarkers.  They have automatic software-driven phone dialers to place massive number of calls. All they need is a list of phone numbers.  What if they just use the list of numbers registered under the switchboard? They are static phone numbers that are being re-used all day along to serve 100s of million of users. So it's conceivable that Uber's numbers are being targetted and are being fed into these dialers.

When you think about it, these numbers are prime targets for telemarketers. 

• The audience is known and targeted. They are drivers, passengers, and people in transit. They can customize the content of the calls.
• However, it has good coverage of wide range of audience. People of all ages, both genders, etc.
• The calls to these numbers probably have good response rates. Calls made to these numbers are usually purposeful and Uber drivers and passengers rely on them as they seek for each other.
• The numbers are being re-used constantly and at all times of the days. You cannot say that about people's home phones or even some individual
• You cannot easily block it. The numbers that appear on your caller ID will be different every time.

Do you think my theory is correct? I am hoping I am wrong here, and as I have never received these calls on my own, I am not sure whether any of this stands.