Uber and Lyft Ride Costs Have Skyrocketed Amid the Pandemic
If you feel like your last Uber or Lyft trip cost a whole lot more, that's because it did. CNBC reported on new research from Rakuten Intelligence on Tuesday that showed the average trip riders take using Lyft or Uber costs 92% more as of this July. The figures look at a 2018 baseline for comparison, which is important to understand the COVID-19 pandemic's effects. And that's where a lot of the problems lie.
According to the research and report, the main cause for the price spikes is a shortage of drivers. CNBC reported a vast number of former Uber and Lyft drivers turned to different side gigs once the pandemic commenced, such as food or grocery delivery. While people weren't grabbing rides to head out on the town during lockdowns, they were ordering plenty of take-out to support local businesses.
While drivers stay away from their past gigs, Uber and Lyft are trying to lure new drivers in with bonuses for signing up and higher pay. However, such trends could force these now-public companies to take an even closer look at autonomous vehicles, which one day offer the promise of forgoing human drivers altogether.
Read the article at MSN.
Doing Insurance Tracking In-House Creates Huge Risks
Fleets that are doing their own insurance tracking in-house should be aware they are taking on a huge amount of risk.
Driving Safety
If like the FMW editorial team you were unable to attend NAFA I&E in Pittsburgh last week, you still have a chance to experience the conference, but registration is closing soon.
Beginning next Monday, September 13, NAFA is offering three days of virtual sessions, some recorded live from I&E, and some created specifically for the virtual event.
The latest NHTSA report showing a rise in traffic fatalities is disturbing. This is all down to risky driver behavior.
We like Ed Dubens' perfectly timed column: The Importance of Emergency Response in a Driver Risk Management Strategy. Ed writes, "We all know about a single vehicle 'event' with a driver unconscious at the side of the road and no witnesses to call for help, OR a driver delivering parcels in the run up to Christmas hijacked enroute to their delivery locations."
Janice Sutton
Editor in Chief
Annual Cost to Own, Drive a New Vehicle Inches toward $10,000, Says AAA
There are plenty of hidden costs involved in buying and driving a new vehicle, from depreciation to maintenance. If you add them all up, the national average cost hit $9666 this year, according to AAA.
Different vehicle segments stand out in different ways, with electric vehicles having low per-mile charges but high depreciation, while half-ton pickups have the highest overall driving costs.
Changes in methodology mean it's not easy to directly compare annual average costs through the years, but AAA does point out that when it did its first Your Driving Costs study, in 1950, gas was 27 cents a gallon and the average car cost nine cents a mile to run.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
Lordstown Motors Showcases its Pickup Truck at NAFA 2021
When the full-size, all-electric Lordstown Endurance pickup truck hits the road, it will be powered by in-wheel hub motors, a design innovation that greatly reduces the number of parts on our vehicle, providing workers with a more stable center of gravity, and giving our workers a motor and a mind in each wheel.
This means a safer, smoother and more efficient ride, not to mention a vehicle that is better for the planet and the environment in which we work.
WHEN: Monday, August 30, 2021 - Wednesday, September 1, 2021
WHERE: David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Exhibit Hall - Level 2 - Booth #1011
WHO: Michael Stafford, Director of Business Development
