The Human Cost of Amazon’s Fast, Free Shipping • Hacker News Board

Re: The Human Cost of Amazon’s Fast, Free Shipping

#21

Post by sundayedition » Fri, Sep 06, 2019, 11:53 AM UTC

x0x0 wrote: post #5

quinndupont wrote: post #2

Seems to me that the real story here isn’t Amazon but the heartbreaking frequency of vehicular crashes. Always fun to pick on Amazon though.

The article pointed out -- at some length -- ways that the brave new gig job world is different: less training, more inexperienced drivers, more layers of contractors and subcontractors, drivers under very aggressive time pressure, drivers in vehicles with which they are unfamiliar, and drivers on routes with which they are unfamiliar. And for the coup de grâce, Amazon -- unlike Fedex, DHS, UPS, or the USPS -- worms…

One of my chief complaints about the "gig" economy; large corporations get to avoid certain risks and (some) people ignore (or may be ignorant of) these risks which means society sometimes shares the burden. For example, not paying the extra insurance premiums when using their vehicle for commercial purposes.

I think of it similar to working under the table; some think "I get paid more than minimum wage and save money on taxes!" But the employer often saves much more and the worker is often to naive to realize what they're losing out on (social security contributions, potential workers compensation benefits, potential recovery of wages, etc)

Re: The Human Cost of Amazon’s Fast, Free Shipping

#22

Post by tedk-42 » Fri, Sep 06, 2019, 12:59 PM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #17

cucumberfanatic wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> taxis are the complete opposite, they go out of their way to be nice to pedestrians You must be living in a different UK to me (and everyone else based on the general consensus of taxis)! Uber drivers have to drive well else they'll be reviewed poorly. If someone leaves a 1* review for their Uber driver saying that they drove through a red, there will be serious repercussions. Try complaining about a similar thing…

Uber drivers have to drive well else they'll be reviewed poorly. Are they though? I took a good few Ubers who had great ratings but were terrible drivers. The incentive is to get as fast from point A to B and it's having an effect.

I ride a motorcycle to and from work everyday.

In terms of quality of drivers respecting other cars: regular car drivers > taxi drivers > Uber drivers.

Uber drivers are the worst to drive near to. They do all sorts of stupid things like pull over in spots where they SHOULD not, all to pick up or drop off passengers.

I see it time and time again. They prioritise their customer over the road rules and respect for other vehicles.

Taxi drivers also drive faster than Uber drivers, who seem to enjoy sitting well under the speed limit.

Re: The Human Cost of Amazon’s Fast, Free Shipping

#23

Post by Tade0 » Fri, Sep 06, 2019, 2:27 PM UTC

cucumberfanatic wrote: post #18

Tade0 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber drivers have to drive well else they'll be reviewed poorly. Are they though? I took a good few Ubers who had great ratings but were terrible drivers. The incentive is to get as fast from point A to B and it's having an effect.

> The incentive is to get as fast from point A to B and it's having an effect. That's the same for both Uber and taxi drivers.

Taxis usually don't have surge pricing which can end at any moment.

Also they usually charge you based on the distance actually travelled, not a predetermined price so they can afford to make detours.

Re: The Human Cost of Amazon’s Fast, Free Shipping

#24

Post by tomxor » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 2:06 PM UTC

cucumberfanatic wrote: post #15

tomxor wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the brave new gig job world is different: less training, more inexperienced drivers, more layers of contractors and subcontractors, drivers under very aggressive time pressure, drivers in vehicles with which they are unfamiliar, and drivers on routes with which they are unfamiliar. This seems to apply to Uber drivers in the UK - I've never been in one, but as a pedestrian they are terrible drivers compared to taxis…

> taxis are the complete opposite, they go out of their way to be nice to pedestrians You must be living in a different UK to me (and everyone else based on the general consensus of taxis)! Uber drivers have to drive well else they'll be reviewed poorly. If someone leaves a 1* review for their Uber driver saying that they drove through a red, there will be serious repercussions. Try complaining about a similar thing…

> Uber drivers have to drive well else they'll be reviewed poorly. If someone leaves a 1* review for their Uber driver saying that they drove through a red, there will be serious repercussions.

I really doubt that, people riding in ubers are too busy on their phones... and often the drivers are too which is why they are so unobservant.

Taxis in between jobs are on the look out for being hailed, they have their eyes on the road and on the street.

This is empirical, if you watch enough of them while they are around pedestrian crossings see how attentive they are by comparison.