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I have a question: why do drivers pee in a bottle? A few years ago, I called an Uber and a lady showed up visually uncomfortable. We drove in silence for 2 min
by firefoxd 6y ago
I have a question: why do drivers pee in a bottle?
A few years ago, I called an Uber and a lady showed up visually uncomfortable. We drove in silence for 2 minutes before I asked her if she would like to stop at a gas station. I knew to ask that because my previous driver have had the exact same problem and told me he had to stop. He told me that sometimes he has no choice but to use a bottle. Is Uber intentionally making drivers pee in bottles? No. But it happens by design. When a driver is matched with another rider before the current ride is over, she doesn't get a break. She can decline the next ride, but from what I learned you get penalized if you reject enough riders. Is the solution wearing a concealed pouch where the driver can relieve himself discreetly? Um, no. I think a simple button on the UI that say 10 minutes break solves it.
Riders pay the price by making the ride slightly late, but that's a damn good compromise.
So why do Amazon drivers relieve themselves in a bottle? Because sometimes they have 240 packages to deliver in one shift. And when they don't do a perfect job, customers complain and they get penalized. Unlike with Uber, a simple UI update doesn't fix the problem. The customer expects same day delivery. Is it Amazon's fault? Yes, they promised impossibly convenient delivery times. Fixing the issue means longer delivery. Are we willing to compromise?
- plandis 6y agoI grew up knowing several people in long haul trucking / delivery and this problem isn’t uniquely Amazon. Chances are if you’ve bought products that are shipped somewhere in the US you’ve been paying for pee labor. I also don’t think mandatory delivery targets are the sole reason. Even if you go right now onto the Amazon flex subreddit you can find people asking questions about peeing. Those drivers accept in blocks of a few minutes to hours, they could wait, find a bathroom, then take another delivery but it’s less money. This is a societal problem, it’s just Amazon that is having it exposed for them.
- rdiddly 6y ago"pee labor" LOL
- hairband 6y agoThere are 3 parties involved here: Driver, Amazon, and Customer. Your comment makes it sound like either the driver should compromise and pee in bottles, or the customer should compromise and accept late deliveries. Why can't Amazon compromise, and hire more delivery drivers?
- krapp 6y ago>Why can't Amazon compromise, and hire more delivery drivers? Amazon doesn't compromise where profit is on the line. If Amazon hired more drivers, they would still require that rates and quotas remain the same. It would just make firing drivers caught urinating and defecating on the job easier for them.