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UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

developer.uber.com

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Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#41
Wow, this looks awesome. The ad for UberRUSH is one of the best I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRu6M9sCfmo.

I've actually been thinking of starting a similar venture in Tunisia. Over here, there is simply no straightforward way to deliver packages within a city. Obviously I don't have the platform Uber has, so I'm thinking of building both at the same time, but with a focus on package delivery for individuals or small businesses.

What I'm worried about the most is package insurance. How is this usually done? Do I need to setup a policy with an insurance company? Or can I just mention in the ToS something like "we are not responsible for the condition of the received package"?

Any input on this or any other potential hurdles would be appreciated.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#42

Can somebody give an example of a service that needs this, where Fedex wouldn't do?

Competition with bike messengers in the case of same-day wet-signature document delivery. Very big demand among legal and financial firms within major cities.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#43
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really is. There is nothing more to say than the fact that small business owners can't afford to have a dedicated delivery service when they know demand is near 0 in some hours and through the roof in another. I'm curious though--will small business owners bother to implement this in their website, or isn't it easier for someone else (Uber, or its competitor) to do it for them?

if you check out the bottom of the article, Uber has developed a dashboard for SMBs. But it's smart that they've opened this up to enable startups to leverage this as well as enterprise customers.

Indeed, UberRUSH exists for business end users that want to deliver their goods and products easily, especially if they don't have an app: https://rush.uber.com

The UberRUSH API exists for developers that want to go above and beyond and integrate Uber deeply into their products, services, or experiences.

A great example of this is Pythagoras (https://www.getpi.co/), a re-imagining of pizza delivery. Pythagoras doesn't have a brick and mortar storefront, and care a lot about design — so they built their own iOS app and use UberRUSH for delivery. Prior to integrating with UberRUSH, they needed to build and maintain their own fleet of delivery couriers, which limited their reach to a few neighborhoods in San Francisco. After integrating with UberRUSH, they now deliver across the city, expanding their addressable market size overnight without any additional overhead (aside from integrating the UberRUSH API into their app).

In this sense, we're offering the utility of UberRUSH to more contexts and use cases.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#44
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're challenging Instacart more than those others. I still can't use this API to ship something to another town, can I?

Please see my comment on what's currently allowed, and where our service is available: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11871600 UberRUSH is focused on courier-style deliveries within a single urban environment; you can not use UberRUSH for long distance deliveries.

Thank you for providing the list. Its more open that I would have imagined. Do the current Uber imposed car requirements still apply? (I mean the year / type of car allowed).

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#45
post #36

I wonder how the market leaders will react to this. They are essentially challenging UPS, FedEx and the USPS. Its going to be interesting. Is there a list of allowed deliverable items?

I think they're challenging Instacart more than those others. I still can't use this API to ship something to another town, can I?

Well, that's how it starts. Then you get Uber paying people with Vans, pickups, and vehicles capable of moving lots of stuff at once to move things from town to town. And so on until there are Uber commercial trucking drivers.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#46
post #41

Wow, this looks awesome. The ad for UberRUSH is one of the best I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRu6M9sCfmo . I've actually been thinking of starting a similar venture in Tunisia. Over here, there is simply no straightforward way to deliver packages within a city. Obviously I don't have the platform Uber has, so I'm thinking of building both at the same time, but with a focus on package delivery for i…

Ad is from Oct14, 2015.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#47
post #28

It would be nice to have a field to denote "This driver has a marijuana handlers permit" so they could potentially deliver recreational marijuana from retailer to consumer. Although I'm sure the regulators would want to go over this. This would be in Oregon.

Currently UberRUSH is only available in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, so that's the first gating issue for this idea. Second, there are several restrictions on what can be delivered via UberRUSH: - People or animals of any size - Alcohol (or any other goods that require identification) - Illegal items - Dangerous items (weapons, explosives, flammable, etc.) - Stolen goods - Any items for which you do not have…

Some other things you might think about excluding. BioHazards, Waste, Industrial Materials

Could be argued that they fall under Dangerous items, but if you look at USPS, they've seen it all and get pretty specific.

https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#48
post #27
post #9

We integrated the UberRush API as part of our multi-carrier shipping API https://goshippo.com/shipping-blog/introducing-uberrush-ship... It's interesting to see Uber entering the space of same day delivery. Happy to chat about the integration experience if anyone is interested!

Why does your API is making such a big assumption that there is only one parcel/package per shipment[0]. I have looked at your competitors as well. Except for one all of them make this assumption. I guess customers with multi package shipments are not your target clients. [0] https://goshippo.com/docs/#shipments

We call them Orders, and support them for all carriers including Uber.

https://www.easypost.com/docs/api#orders

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#49
post #24
post #2

This is a game changer - not only for what service it provides, but I think it will lead to more companies making APIs for totally non-technical tasks. Sure there are companies like task rabbit, shyp, etc etc, but this is the next level of ease. Relevant - I want an API for a cleaning service. AirBnB integration so that it can automatically track when a guest has left and the cleaner shows up within an hour to get it…

There are similar APIs available for same day delivery from Postmates and Deliv so not exactly a new concept.

We offer all three (Postmates, Deliv, and Uber) at EasyPost if you want to test them out with only one API integration.

Re: UberRUSH API – Add on-demand delivery to your app or service

#50

I wonder how the market leaders will react to this. They are essentially challenging UPS, FedEx and the USPS. Its going to be interesting. Is there a list of allowed deliverable items?

It'll probably depend a lot on marketing, and how much Uber and others spend to grow the market.

Same-day delivery's already provided pretty economically by the regional carriers (think Ontrac), but it's never been a huge market.

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