Uber has upended the taxi cab business with its ride sharing model that lets average people double as a delivery service. Now it鈥檚 trying to do the same with the shipping industry.
The Uber Freight app was unveiled late last year and started linking drivers with customers in May. Last week, Uber Freight announced it was starting service between Columbus and Chicago.
鈥淚n particular, it links businesses with truck drivers,鈥� says Eric Berdinis, an Uber Freight developer who helped create the Uber Freight app. 鈥淲e do those large loads from factories or warehouses.鈥�
He says Uber Freight uses demand-based pay, so driver wages go up if there鈥檚 a lot of need for their service, much like the 鈥渟urge pricing鈥� model employed by Uber鈥檚 ride sharing app.
Berdinis says the freight app also gives drivers more control over which jobs they want to accept.
鈥淪o if they鈥檙e driving to Chicago to drop off a load, then they can search for loads coming out of Chicago to make sure that they鈥檙e constantly running their truck," he says.
Unlike its first app, Berdinis says the freight app hasn鈥檛 been controversial. Uber saw worldwide protests from taxi drivers who saw Uber as unregulated, cheaper competition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfz2UunRs4&feature=youtu.be
鈥淭he truck drivers that we鈥檙e working with, they鈥檙e still doing the same job that they did before,鈥� Berdinis says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually taking the drivers that are already out there and making their business run more efficiently.鈥�
The foray into freight means Uber is invested in ride sharing, shipping, and self-driving vehicles. When asked what鈥檚 next, Berdinis says he doesn鈥檛 know.
鈥淯ber鈥檚 mission is to make transportation as reliable as running water," Berdinis says. "Turn on the faucet and get transportation鈥�
