Uber has a plan to help drivers make an extra $100 a month by letting them sell you snacks and other necessities straight from their cars
Uber has a plan to help drivers make an extra $100 a month by letting them sell you snacks and other necessities straight from their cars
Good news for hungry people: Some Uber drivers are going to start selling snacks and other goodies straight from their car, via a partnership with startup Cargo. But it's an optional program, so don't assume every Uber will have this.
The Cargo boxes fit neatly on the center console of the car, held securely down by ties. Items for sale might include RX Bars or hydrating masks. Some select items will even be free — but Cargo places a limit of four free items per passenger.
Every Cargo box has a unique four-digit code specific to each Uber driver. Passengers can simply scan the QR code to access the Cargo menu while on their ride...
...or plug in the URL for the mobile website. There's currently not a Cargo app to download, nor can you pay for products via the Uber app, at least for now. It's all cashless; you can pay with Apple Pay, Venmo, and other digital wallets.
The Cargo team builds the menu based on the city and time of day. So in San Francisco, for example, the menus cater to techies with lots of energy bars and earbuds for sale.
The Uber driver will receive a notification on their phone when a passenger's transaction has been completed. They'll then unlatch the Cargo box door and hand the ordered items to the passenger at a safe stopping point, like a stop light.
And voilà! You get your goodies. Cargo's partnership with Uber will expand to other cities eventually, including New York and Dallas. For now, though, the Uber/Cargo partnership is for Los Angeles and San Francisco only.