Uber for freight now!!

Very true lowmiler88. The taxi industry, in Toronto at least, has been an "old boys" club of plate owners for years. Over time, because there were and still are, restrictive barriers to entry, the value of the few plates in circulation rose dramatically. In addition, cab rates were set in conjunction with the regulators (city council) essentially isolating the entire process from normal marketplace conditions, i.e competition. Whether you agree with that process or not, it meant that the plate owners had a valuable stake in the industry and as a result of Uber's arrival, are rightfully angry. Still, had the industry been a bit more forward thinking, they could have started to modernize their processes and stayed a step ahead of Uber. In spite of this, I do use Uber and have found it to be convenient, economical and for the most part, a pleasant experience. I hope that doesn't make me a hypocrite!
 
I think Edmonton has the right idea: they will require Uber drivers to meet the same criteria as other cab companies entering the market. They will need to pay for a city permit, they will need commercial insurance, and drivers will require more than just a class 5 drivers licence. I'm all for competition, but the playing field should be level.
 
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Because Uber is still relatively new and depends on casual labour to operate, it's less likely you will see beaters than from a taxi service. The truth of the matter is that a taxi company isn't that much unlike a trucking company in how they need to work their assets. A trucking company with company trucks will need to run their trucks over 1 million miles to have the capital cost make sense (the ones that renew their fleets every 500,000 miles or 4 years are leasing the trucks or buying them with a contract that guarantees the resale value when they repurchase in 4 years), taxis need to run something like 800,000 km to 1,000,000 km in their lifetime as well. So chances are that when you get into a taxi it's going to have on average about 400,000 km on the clock. You really feel it in a car because the average car by a private owner won't be on the road for more than 200,000 km or so ... so those things will never look fresh and will probably rattle like a jar full of marbles.

Uber drivers are mostly not running Uber full time so the cars will tend to have low kms and be equipped just like cars you and I would drive rather than have the stupid cheap paint jobs and slabby vinyl seat coverings. But I would guess that you wouldn't have very many people driving Uber long term. I don't think people realize how much it costs per hour to keep a car on the road.
 
Freight Broker said:
I think Edmonton has the right idea: they will require Uber drivers to meet the same criteria as other cab companies entering the market. They will need to pay for a city permit, they will need commercial insurance, and drivers will require more than just a class 5 drivers licence. I'm all for competition, but the playing field should be level.
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Check Edmonton out again FreightBroker, Things aren't so hunky dory...
 
Not yet, but I think they've got the right idea. Allow Uber to compete provided they play by the same rules. Likewise, I have no problem with Uber Freight so long as they abide by the rules. They'll just be one more broker to add to the 20 thousand plus brokers already competing for freight.
 
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