When Uber Feels Like Punishment

Every trip to the warehouse

With 22% fewer active drivers in Q1 2021 and a growing number of passengers as fears of the pandemic subside (for good or ill), ride prices are up by 79% since 2019. (Numbers from a recent story in my feed that I'm not going to cite. Feeds gonna feed.)

So this is a wonderful time to be an Uber driver, right? Especially when every stray cough from the back seat doesn't make you question your life choices, and summer nights means windows down for safe full ventilation...

Well, no. 

What's going on now is that the income inequalities between good and bad shifts are higher. Which means that when a shift goes south, it stings more at a human level. As a driver, it's much harder to be patient about that sort of thing. (And let's face it: if I'm in the car, it's because my other clients aren't keeping me busy enough. I had three, these days, it's closer to one. It's what happens in marketing in summer, and it's not good times.)

Which leads me to the experience of spending the better part of an hour driving a warehouse worker to their location last week. It was late at night, because of course it was. It took a long time to get to them, because of course there aren't drivers clamoring for this kind of fare. I didn't want long rides to warehouse areas late at night because I was chasing a ride completion bonus, which is why I was out late in the first place.

But I also had received nothing but long rides for the better part of the week from that platform, and the math only lets you choose so much.

So I had to do it. So did my fare. They weren't (ever) going to tip, because the only reason why you'd want a warehouse job late at night is because your other life choices have led you to, well, this. You also probably aren't going to be thrilled or great company, because you had to wait a really long time for your ride.

When a fare like this happens, what you are tempted to do is turn off the app, drive empty back to the area where prices are surging, and try to restart your shift at a better hourly rate.

Which is when, if you are me, you get a far request from outside of the surge area, for half or less of the bonus you saw on screen a few seconds ago. To a warehouse.

The side hustle doesn't *always* feel like punishment. Maybe the night shift warehouse job doesn't, either.

But when it does?

Yeah. 

A lot.