Northern Virginia, especially Western Prince William County is a wealthy area. Many people are ordering online here as there is ample warehouse space and Amazon has its 2nd HQ here. Such infrastructure allows for quick and speedy deliveries.
The market for couriers is very big in America, especially after the pandemic. While it was big before for people carrying passengers, food delivery services were still mostly in the domain of the traditional Chinese and Pizza places. There were changes occurring here but it took the pandemic for food delivery to become important beyond the traditional areas.
I have begun driving for Uber, delivering orders and meals to customers. Being a future-centric person and not obsessed with the past, this app was just right for me.
However, as with all endeavors, you learn more about it rather than viewing it in an abstract way here.
This means that there are hidden aspects to the job that you really didn’t think about at the time.
One of those issues is delivering to rural areas or exclusive communities. Such locations are a pain to travel through. I have begun to learn to choose orders that within a reasonable area.
However, it is not that easy. Sometimes even if you look at the address, you often get orders that very strange. Today, I helped deliver laundry for a man in Manassas. Such tasks on the app are simply running errands not delivering meals which is what I thought the app was going to be about.
Considering that I joined the app in its mature phase, it is not surprising to me. Uber has become embedded and has encouraged the growth of many other apps similar to it. With such success, the company was bound to expand beyond the usual areas.
Uber’s business model of outsourcing much of the work to contractors is similar to eBay’s when it began some 30 years ago. Ebay outsourced the logistics to the people opening their own stores. Auctions, the main focus of the early site were held among users to other customers not from a business to customers, which had been the official standard in that age.
This business model has served Uber quite well. Instead of building cars that have official drivers moving around, you use America’s cars to basically build a fleet of cars which saves you tons of capital. Silicon Valley builds the software while the older hardware is provided by users.
The money is variable, however, for users. I have some people who do not tip. Sometimes the trip is long and in strange places that I have not even thought about.
However, such a job is helpful for many people. It is a great way to increase cash flow and give people to patch up any areas where they having some issues. In an age such as ours where having a job is not safe as it once was, Uber and other apps in the Gig Economy are not prefect but provide opportunities.
This is a great platform and I recommend that people use it.
My Game Reviews 