944 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Is it possible to save the environment and get paid for it? Jim Estill thinks so.

 

A crowdsourced parcel delivery system called ShipperBee looks to make use of the space in vehicles already heading somewhere to deliver parcels.

 

ShipperBee began as a pilot in Guelph, Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo last week with designated drivers delivering parcels and getting paid for it through the company website. Drivers can also sign up through the web site.

 

“This is Uber to taxi. This is Airbnb to hotels. That's exactly what it is,” says Estill, CEO of ShipperBee and Danby Appliances who is also well known for his work in sponsoring Syrian refugees.

 

 

The way ShipperBee works is simple: You place an order, locate a pickup driver, they deliver it to a mini station called a hive which takes a photo of the parcel, it transfers across networks where another driver picks it up to deliver to the final destination while eliminating the added greenhouse gasses into the environment because the driver is already driving there.

 

People willing to deliver parcels sign up on the app as a driver currently only available to drivers.

 

“One of my goals is to change the way courier systems are done because it is 77 per cent in greenhouse gas savings and our biggest challenge is the climate,” Estill said.

 

“I’m a very big environmental person and we can save 77 per cent of the greenhouse gases per parcel which is a meaningful number.”

 

 

https://www.guelphto...y-world-1590437

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 October 2019 - 04:15 PM.

[Mike K.]

Sounds unnecessarily complicated.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sounds unnecessarily complicated.

 

it eliminates the central hub that is both efficient and inefficient for shippers.  at the end of the day it makes little common sense for your package from new york to go to memphis then to chicago.  but that's how it does go.   so this decentralizes the hub.  and that can only be done if you have lots of part-time or really micro-time drivers.  he's banking on having them.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 October 2019 - 04:20 PM.

[Mike K.]

Yeah, I dunno. I don’t want some random guy walking up on my home dropping off packages. I like the FedEx guy in uniform.

[LJ]

Amazon, FedEx, UPS all have non uniformed contract drivers delivering for them.

[Victoria Watcher]

ya it's no big deal.  just like the average uber driver is equally or less likely to be a murderer than your average taxi driver your package delivery person is most likely a nice competent trustworthy person.  at least as much as the guy in the uniform.

[FogPub]

This is unclear: it is talking about inter-city driving (e.g. "I'm driving to Toronto anyway so fill me up with parcels that are going there") or just the first and last steps on a local level (source to departure hub, then arrival hub to end recipient)?

 

If it's the latter, how does it save any greenhouse gases at all?  If it's the former, how's it going to work cross-border? (for example if I'm driving to Toronto there's no way in hell I'm doing it all in Canada; it's straight down to Seattle and turn left)

[Victoria Watcher]

for your first paragraph it does indeed talk about two types of drivers.

for the border it’ll probably mean a depot on each side then a bulk move across the border.

[spanky123]

Sounds unnecessarily complicated.

 

Agreed. What are the chances of a driver going precisely from A to B? Odds are that at some point the driver is going to have to veer of the planned course to pick up or deliver the parcel and they are going to do that for a dollar or two?

[Mike K.]

Amazon, FedEx, UPS all have non uniformed contract drivers delivering for them.

It’s still a contractor, not Billy-lets-looking-around-and-see-what-hours-Mrs.-Jones-isn’t-home the random delivery guy.

In my area I’ve seen the contractors from time to time, especially during Xmas.

[Victoria Watcher]

Agreed. What are the chances of a driver going precisely from A to B? Odds are that at some point the driver is going to have to veer of the planned course to pick up or deliver the parcel and they are going to do that for a dollar or two?

 

that's the thing they don't go a to b.  they go to a decentralized hub that's located mostly at gas stations.  the computer figures out what's best.

[Victoria Watcher]

are going to do that for a dollar or two?

 

tens of thousands of drivers are working for uber and making only 10 or 15 dollars per full hour.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 October 2019 - 12:55 PM.

[LJ]

I have had 5 deliveries to my US door in the last two days, all were delivered by random people in random vehicles.

 

As an aside I ordered a piece of luggage and it was coming from Milan Italy, it was delivered in two days. Incredible.

[naveen]

ya there's lots of hyperbole (and spelling mistakes).

 

https://luckyucanada.com/services.html

I think, Its not luckyucanada.com

 

It is Lucky to go Canada. You can check here: https://luckytogocanada.com/

[Matt R.]

Uber has been refused a new license to operate in London by TfL, something like 45,000 drivers. They will be allowed to operate while they exhaust all appeals.

https://www.independ...l-a9216546.html

We found public transport to be more than adequate while we were there, never bothered with taxis and we covered the whole city.

Here in PV we took Uber around for a few days but always found we needed two to fit our group. The last few days we’ve just been using regular taxis as we can all fit into one and it ends up being very similar to two private cars.

Matt.

[Victoria Watcher]

Horgan says he prefers to see an orderly introduction to ride-hailing.

 

The premier and Transportation Minister Claire Trevena have consistently said ride-hailing will arrive in B.C. before the end of this year, but also have not ruled out a possible Christmas start.

 

Horgan says the Passenger Transportation Board is in the process of reviewing licence applications for 20 prospective ride-hailing companies wanting to operate in B.C.

 

Opposition B.C. Liberal critic Jas Johal says people in B.C. should be prepared to find designated drivers this holiday season because it appears ride-sharing remains stalled.

 

On Thursday, Horgan was asked if not having the service in place by Christmas Eve would be considered a failure.

 

"I don't think it's a failure if we get to the end result," he replied.

 

 

https://www.timescol...line-1.24022177

 

you know if nothing else it'll be interesting to see how this works when all (potentially 20) companies start here at the same time.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 November 2019 - 03:38 PM.

[DustMagnet]

Is this why a Class 4 is required to drive for ride-hailing companies - you need to be a good as a taxi driver?

 

 

Note: Viewers should note there is some swearing near the end of the video.

https://www.vicnews....ncouver-bridge/

 

 

In an email, Bonny’s Taxi general manager Emon Bari said the driver’s driving privileges have been suspended pending a full investigation. Bari said the investigation will begin Monday, and the company will not have any further information until it’s interviewed its driver.

[spanky123]

Looks like Victoria wants to introduce its own rules for ride hailing. https://pub-victoria...ocumentId=48158

 

- $140 a year fee for every ride hailing driver.

- Suspend taxi licensing and operating rules ("to level the playing field")

- Start work on regulating ride-hailing services in line with the Go Victoria program (ie restrict pick up and drop off zones, limit traffic, support electric vehicles, etc)

[Mike K.]

What if Saanich introduces its own license? And Esquimalt its own? And so does Oak Bay, but with different requirements?

This could turn into a hot mess.

[spanky123]

What if Saanich introduces its own license? And Esquimalt its own? And so does Oak Bay, but with different requirements?

This could turn into a hot mess.

 

So someone wants to go to the airport and the driver has to stop at the Saanich border because they are not licensed there? 13 x $150 is almost $2,000 a year in licensing fees which is about the amount of money part time drivers actually take home every year.

 

IMHO, the only reason for this last minute move by Victoria is to kill off the remaining ride share companies before they get a chance to start.