My Story Driving In The Gig Economy Since 2019

 

Insurance policies, car dealerships, and accidents transporting people to essential appointments ended me. Of course, you would think that doing the right thing and obeying the law would be a positive thing? No, it does not matter if you are a good citizen; your insurance will almost triple getting into too many accidents. 

Fall behind on your car payments? Some financial institutions will charge half of your interest payments, making it nearly impossible to pay off your car payments. 

The following things took place which caused me to lose everything: 

 

1. Accidents: Car accidents are a gig economy driver's worst nightmare, and as I brought out in my first article, a domino effect of doom is not too far away. For starters, your motor vehicle record will be ruined with too many accidents (Three or four).  

 

2. Rise In Crime: The rise in crime is being highlighted daily across the United States. It has become way too dangerous to drive for a platform that doesn't even care about our well-being. 

3. Huge Pay Cuts: I remember when door dash used to pay $6 - $8 bonuses back in October 2019. Times were good, and a nice bonus for driving during the bad weather.

Fast forward to 2022, and I remember working for about six hours and making a reasonable $216.00, and the company took $80.00! This type of greed is what is wrong with the world. 

Of course, this list can go on and on, but let's get into the meat and potatoes of my story.

Halloween Thursday October 31st 2019

 

 I'm not superstitious, but it has been a nightmare since I purchased my former car for ride-share services. It is not that the car was not great; everything that happened after purchasing was not good. 

Four accidents and a lot of stress, worry, gunshots being heard, and rescuing people from toxic events. Do you remember the shooting that took place at a festival in Jackson, Mississippi? 

I was driving that night, and the young ladies I picked up were not doing well: 

 

 

 

I didn't know what was happening at the time, but I figured there was a reason why they seemed so tense when I picked them up. The first accident was during a $3.50 door dash order, which set me back $500, and I could not work, which set me back further. 

 

The second accident was hitting a muffler I could not avoid or see, going down a ramp at an angle with another car in the other lane. 

The third accident was a pothole that I could not see, which was impossible to see at night make a right turn.

 

The fourth time I almost hit a deer, and it was a very, very close call. To me, the risks of doing ride-share are not worth the reward. We are looking at the end of an era if more is not done to keep plenty of cash on gig economy drivers' wallets.  

As I mentioned in my article, unexpected expenses are one of the main reasons I drive. You would think that doing the right thing and being a good citizen would result in being treated with respect, and that was not the case. 

 

1. My motor vehicle record resulted in my insurance almost tripled.
2. I'm suffering from PTSD and anxiety attacks that made it hard to return to work. 
3. I have lost faith in the procedures of those in power positions as they did not help me after being devastated financially.
   

 

I remember there being a bad storm outside, so I thought I would come into the hotel to work on my online class, and I was asked to leave because "I was using the hotel's wifi, and I had to go." 

The treatment of gig economy workers is deplorable and spoken about by many people in the gig economy.

 

Fast Forward 2022 

 

Times are changing, and we are now seeing an entirely new world order of the gig economy, where companies are cutting back, gas prices are rising, expenses for repairing cars are rising, and change is upon us. 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the gig economy might not be here for a long time. What we might see is a new form of the gig economy, and the rise in autonomous cars and delivery trucks. 

 

Uber is already leading the front in this "Innovation," more like cutting out the middle man, aka drivers:

 

Conclusion: Make no mistake about it; things are changing, and the good people running the gig economy must be ready for change. I'm not saying do not drive the gig economy; note that a lot of bad things can begin to happen in a short period, and you have to be the ready. 

 Take some of my mistakes and learn from them, and try your best to become a true independent contractor as soon as possible. Here is a great video highlighting how you can make good money in certain areas: