Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nanoseltzer 2709 days ago
From my experience, people signing up for these type of work range from generally ok (most Uber drivers) to absolutely desperate for money (living out of car, signs up for petsitting while owner is vacay).

It seems the lower the bar of entry in terms of capital, the shadier it is. Ie Uber at least requires you to have a car, which involves some kind of credit check which is embodied in the car procurement before it even hit Uber. Dog walking? Not so much.
3 comments
will_brown 2709 days ago
>From my experience, people signing up for these type of work range from generally ok (most Uber drivers) to absolutely desperate for money

Come on down to Miami, where it’s not unusual for the actual uber driver to be different than uber drivers profile.

You can’t really get more shady than exploiting undocumented immigrants who can’t get a DL, and having them illegally without a DL by driving under someone else’s uber account for a fraction.

link
ddingus 2709 days ago
There is no way I would get into the car. I personally avoid gig services for a number of reasons.

Seeing a mismatch? Yeah, never again.

link
mpeg 2708 days ago
That's no different than traditional taxi services. Getting a taxi license is time-consuming and expensive in most places (as sometimes you have to buy from an existing license-holder)

Taxi drivers will therefore try to maximise their investment, so they have people driving their car 24/7, on shifts.

link
will_brown 2708 days ago
That is significantly different than having People without drivers licenses driving (a criminal offense in most jurisdictions) the taxis and fraudulently misreprenting the drivers to the public (again typically a criminal offense).

There would be nothing wrong with having two uber drivers with two legitimate uber accounts splitting the car...not allowing an unlicensed person driver for uber under someone else’s account.

link
cyphar 2709 days ago
> From my experience, people signing up for these type of work range from generally ok (most Uber drivers)

I agree with your general point, but the vast majority of Uber drivers I've seen are worryingly dangerous drivers (even worse than most taxis). I would not be surprised if many are driving all day, and are exhausted while being in charge of another person's life.

link
baseballMan 2709 days ago
Agreed! I was going to add that most uber drivers are okay (I've had one or two oddballs but nothing scary, just weird).
link