Lyft

Bringg platform democratizes third-party seller data

In 2020, e-commerce transactions skyrocketed to new heights as consumers opted for online shopping to protect their health. According to ACI Worldwide, a global leader in real-time digital payments, there was a 24% increase in year-over-year e-commerce transactions in December 2020 compared to 2019. With this increase — driven largely by the pandemic — retailers are beginning to experience issues with scaling their delivery services.

According to the Reuters Supply Chain Last Mile Report, only...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bringg-platform-democratizes-third-party-seller-data

Medically Necessary: Rideshare companies angle for a bigger piece of the health care supply chain

This is an excerpt from the March 25, 2021 edition of Medically Necessary, a health care supply chain newsletter. Subscribe here.

Good afternoon. Medically Necessary is a newsletter by Matt Blois about the health care supply chain — how we get drugs, devices and medical supplies to health care providers and patients.

Rideshare companies angle for a bigger piece of the health care supply chain

A driver for the non-emergency medical transportation company Veyo helps a patient get to a doctor’s...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/medically-necessary-rideshare-companies-angle-for-a-bigger-piece-of-the-health-care-supply-chain

Will US Uber drivers benefit from UK reclassification decision?

Uber reclassifies UK drivers as workers

Uber’s (NYSE: UBER) decision on March 17 to reclassify approximately 70,000 Uber Rides drivers in the U.K. as “workers” — a step closer to what U.S. businesses would consider employees and away from the independent contractor category — was not unexpected, but it leaves plenty of unanswered questions for the rideshare community on both sides of the Atlantic.

The decision by the global ride-hailing giant followed a February ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court upholding a lower court’s decision that...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/will-us-uber-drivers-benefit-from-uk-reclassification-decision

Stripe most expensive startup in US with $95B valuation

Payments technology provider Stripe has raised $600 million in additional funding for a $95 billion valuation, making the firm the most valuable startup in the U.S., according to CB Insights, which pegs the company’s valuation second only to China’s Bytedance in the world. Bytedance is valued at $140 billion. 

Stripe, which is based in San Francisco, California, and Dublin, Ireland, was valued at $36 billion last April when it also raised $600 million. Total funding across 15 rounds is now $2.2...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stripe-most-expensive-startup-in-us-with-$95b-valuation

COVID relief bill could trigger larger tax bills for gig workers

Gig workers and third-party sellers on e-commerce platforms such as Etsy, Walmart Marketplace (NYSE: WMT) and even Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) could find themselves with tax issues in 2022 thanks to a change in Internal Revenue Service tax codes contained within the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that just passed the U.S. House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden by this weekend amends Section 6050W of the IRS code to require...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/covid-relief-bill-could-trigger-larger-tax-bills-for-gig-workers

What happened to gig workers in 2020? Gridwise report tells the story

Gig economy drivers took a big hit when the nation shut down because of COVID-19 in early 2020, but many have bounced back, and some have even thrived, according to a report from Gridwise, a rideshare and delivery assistance company.

Ryan Green, co-founder and CEO of Gridwise, told Modern Shipper that the supply of gig drivers is still about 40% below where it needs to be at this point.

“From the supply of drivers as soon as the pandemic came in March, by April we saw a 65% decline in drivers for...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-happened-to-gig-workers-in-2020?-gridwise-report-tells-the-story

Ghost kitchens accepted into college

Chartwells adding ghost kitchens to college campuses

Ghost kitchens have become the default way to profitability for many restaurants that faced extinction because of COVID-19 restrictions on in-person dining. They drew in both established restaurants as well as a bevy of startups looking to capture the hot meal delivery market.

On college campuses, many dining halls do not allow students to leave the facility with food. That could be changing as Chartwells, one of the largest operators of college campus dining halls, is rolling out ghost kitchens...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ghost-kitchens-accepted-into-college

Motional moves to driverless vehicle testing

Motional testing driverless vehicles in Las Vegas

With agreements in place with ridesharing companies Via and Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT), and backed by the expertise of Hyundai Motor Corp. (LSE: HYUD.LN) and Aptiv, Motional has taken another step in its desire to be the autonomous vehicle of choice. The company announced that it not only is testing driverless vehicles – with no drivers – on roadways but that it has secured a key outside endorsement of its product from consulting firm TÜV SÜD.

“Not all driverless systems are created equal. Ours is the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/motional-moves-to-driverless-vehicle-testing

The Daily Dash: Fuel prices feeling the heat from deep freeze

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, the winter weather rolling across the South is likely to drive diesel fuel prices higher. Plus, the activist investors pushing for change at Forward Air are not thrilled with the latest news from the company.

Diesel prices face pressure from deep freeze

The winter weather hammering the South is likely to have another impact: higher diesel fuel prices as refineries are shutting down.

John Kingston has...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-daily-dash:-fuel-prices-feeling-the-heat-from-deep-freeze

Lyft sees its future, and it is autonomous and B2B focused

Lyft charts course to autonomous driving future

On the Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) earnings call Feb. 9, co-founder and CEO Logan Green spoke a bit about the future of transportation, a future he sees Lyft being perfectly situated to thrive in. He was talking about autonomous vehicles (AV) and business-to-business (B2B) deliveries.

“We believe the future of transportation is as-a-service, and we are the only company in North America that has a seamless multimodal transportation platform that can replace car ownership,” he said. “We expect autonomous...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/lyft-sees-its-future-and-it-is-autonomous-and-b2b-focused

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