This Week In Rideshare: Underpaid, Dominos, and Nashville.

Lyft drivers get shorted, Dominos and Uber play nice and 10 years of Uber in Nashville. LegalRideshare breaks it down.

MONDAY 7/10/23

Costco asks Instacart shoppers to wait elsewhere. RetailWire adds:

Some Costco stores have started asking Instacart shoppers to wait for orders offsite, according to interviews with shoppers and a review of Reddit posts and discussions on the policy.

Many Instacart shoppers used to be able to claim orders even when they were at home or miles away from the store. But competition for orders has increased, and as a result, many drivers pull into store parking lots and watch the app in hopes of scoring better orders.

TUESDAY 7/11/23

15,000 Lyft drivers were underpaid. NBC Right Now reported:

According to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), more than three dozen complaints from rideshare drivers in the six months since implementing new protection laws.

L&I stated that these complaints lead to the discovery that Lyft was underpaying drivers by one-quarter of a cent for each minute and mile of the trips.

According to L&I when Lyft was contacted a self audit was performed. The audit concluded that 15,271 drivers were affected by this error. The payment was made back to the initial three drivers.

The total payment made to the original three drivers was $192,991.

WEDNESDAY 7/12/23

An Uber passenger was killed after being abandoned. Yahoo! news reported:

A 21-year-old athlete was struck and killed after he was left on the side of a busy highway by his Uber driver, according to a California lawsuit.

The vehicle pulled onto a shoulder, and Hunter, who had fallen asleep in the car, was woken up by other passengers and told to get out so he could let someone out to vomit, the lawsuit says.

After exiting the vehicle, Hunter did not get back in, according to the lawsuit.

The Uber driver then drove away without Hunter, “essentially leaving a completely disoriented individual on the side of a busy highway, knowingly endangering” Hunter, the lawsuit says.

Just before 3 a.m., Hunter was struck by a vehicle, the lawsuit says.

THURSDAY 7/13/23

Domino’s hops on Uber Eats. The Verge reported:

Domino’s, the world’s largest pizza company in terms of sales and stores, has signed a deal with Uber to list its menus on its Uber Eats and Postmates delivery apps in the US, the company has announced. Although orders will continue to be delivered by uniformed Domino’s drivers, the company hopes that listing its menus on the apps will expose it to more potential customers.

The rollout is expected to begin this autumn in four US pilot markets, including Las Vegas, the Journal reports, and should be available nationwide by the end of the year.

FRIDAY 7/14/23

10 years after Uber entered Nashville, the city reflects on the change. WPLN reported:

In 2015, Republican Senator Bo Watson from Chattanooga sponsored HB992/SB907 which carved out Transportation Network Companies — ride share apps like Lyft and Uber — as a distinct category that cannot be regulated by cities or the Department of Safety. On the House floor, in advance of the vote, Watson called the apps a game changer.

During the vote on the Lyft and Uber Act, Memphis Democrat Lee Harris raised concerns he had heard from his cab-driving constituents. Pricing was at the top of their mind. Harris called having regulated taxis jockeying for fares in the same market as unregulated ride share apps “not really a competitive environment,” and even invited the room to imagine the experience of getting into a cab that could just name its own price.

But the scenario that Senator Harris predicted has become a reality. As tourism has continued to boom in Nashville, we see regulated taxis competing with unregulated ride share apps, and it’s created a sort of Wild West.

Between surge pricing, and cab drivers trying to keep up by naming their own price when the regulators aren’t looking, it’s anyone’s guess how much it will cost riders to get home from a night out. Fluctuating prices for the rider also means fluctuating earnings for the driver.

And while it is typical for employers give raises to workers who stay with a company, Uber and Lyft have fought hard to keep their drivers classified as independent contractors. When I ask Simon about the overall trend of his income, he becomes animated. “From 2017 till now? It’s never increased,” he says. “It’s always decreased. I can say that.”

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.