Ride sharing is redefining the transportation services industry. While the dust is anything but settled on the companies which will survive and thrive in this new order of passenger conveyance, or the relationships those companies will maintain with those who drive on their behalf, it seems clear app-based ride sharing is along for the ride.
This is my third career. I attended college on an ROTC scholarship and was privileged to serve as an Army Infantry officer for 8 years, which included leading 150 men in combat during the Panama Invasion in 1989. I then began a second career as a logistics executive, which showed great promise before divorce, brain surgery and a layoff struck at once. I don’t recommend trying all three of those things in any six month period of time, while simultaneously sending your children off to college. It leaves a mark.
The existence of ride sharing and its immediate earning potential quite literally saved me from living in a tent like the thousands of others in California, and has helped sustain our family for more than a year now. So every day is now a version of ‘groundhog day’ … same routine: keep gas in the car, pay for meals, keep the car clean, take care of my passengers, and hope ride volume provides for a bit more cash to pay some bills. It’s not pretty, but I’m thankful for each day, and its all we have right now.
If you asked me a year ago ‘Which would hurt more? … training for and racing an Ironman triathlon or driving 7 days a week’ … I would have laughed at even the notion that was a serious question.
I’m not laughing today. Driving every day on a perpetual road trip absolutely damages the body.
I believe a leader does two things:
- Improve the process
- Take care of the people doing the work
I’ve turned to publicly blogging because those two ideas don’t seem to be embraced by the pair of leading current ride share companies …which to me places them at high risk of irrelevancy. I’ve tried numerous times to surface what needs to be improved to #Lyft and #Uber and their inaction and disinterest has extinguished my behavior.
Should a new company enter the ride share market that didn’t devote the majority of their time to fighting AB-5’s redefinition of independent contractors vs employees, treated drivers well, and instead focused on improving the process for drivers and riders, the current incumbents would be quickly displaced.
It took me 3 days to go from being a 100% dedicated, 5 star, platinum driver of a single company to splitting my time between the two when I was mistreated and ignored. Drivers would immediately tilt market share toward any newcomer which prioritized the drivers, their efforts, and communicated better. After all – it’s a volunteer army.
This blog isn’t about complaining though. Its about improving the process, sharing what I’ve seen and learned, and reflecting on trends within the many experiences along the road, and their implications for drivers, riders, and the companies lucky enough to draw them into their app and system.
Ride confidently.
#zerotohero, #rideshare
Driving the Daisy's 