Food delivery services like Uber Eats remain popular since people are still willing to pay extra for the convenience of not going out themselves to buy food. Customers might not even have to decide on tips anymore since there will be no delivery driver to tip.
Automated Delivery Services
There is a lot of controversy around online delivery services, not only because of the eye-watering fees you have to pay to have things delivered to you, but also because of the wage policies it has with its drivers.
Uber Eats might have a plan to solve both problems with its partnership with Waymo. Soon, you might find yourself getting your order out of an empty car, as the food delivery service intends to use automated vehicles to fulfill delivery orders, as reported by Gizmodo.
The company began testing its driverless delivery method in the Phoenix metropolitan area just yesterday. Customers will go through the same process being ordering food through the app, only no one will be waiting at the door with their orders this time.
Since automated vehicles are only allowed on certain roads and areas, the option for driverless deliveries will be limited. An Uber spokesperson said that the company is expanding the number of restaurants that are eligible for the driverless service.
This isn't the first time that Uber tried the driverless route for its services, so you can say that the company was already easing into the automated service before its collaboration with Google's Waymo. This may be cause for panic for delivery drivers who rely on the service for work.
This could mean that human drivers will slowly be pushed out of employment, especially since automated services will be less of a headache for companies, provided that its vehicles do not go down the same path that Cruise robotaxis did.
Delivery Wages and Tips
Companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash have to adhere to the new rules about minimum wage in New York after a law that increased rates. By December 2023, delivery drivers will be given $17.96 for every hour they're on the clock.
While this first seemed like good news since drivers will now be paid fairly, the online delivery service made a few changes that potentially set drivers back with how much they can earn. Once determined before an order is placed, tips can now be decided once the food is already delivered.
Most customers are more than happy to tip drivers for a job done, but some do so to make sure that they will get a good service out of the driver given that they will see the amount before they even accept the job. That's not the case anymore, according to Daily Mail.
Removing gratuity before the order has been delivered was actually a suggestion from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash were happy to follow them.
Both companies also warned that the new wage rate will not only affect their service but their customers as well. To make sure that the firms will still be profitable, they might have to raise delivery fees for those who use the platform.
