- This week Uber South Africa held an event for Eats couriers to highlight some of the platform’s upcoming driver safety features.
- One of the key new features will be Driver Hour Limits.
- Uber Eats couriers will work according to a 12-hour limit to address any potential fatigue.
This week Uber South Africa hosted an event focused on courier safety, specifically aimed at the Eats division of its platform. To that end, Uber announced several new features and partner-led innovations that have or will be coming to the fore.
Regarding the latter, Uber South Africa will be implementing a new Driver Hour Limits feature for its Eats couriers.
“Driving for long periods can make accidents more likely because fatigue limits alertness, thus reducing reaction times to changing conditions. Uber Eats will introduce a driving time limit to help protect the safety of delivery people and other road users,” Uber South Africa outlined in a release shared with Hypertext.
“Drivers will receive a notification when they have 2 hours, 1.5 hours, and 1 hour of driving time, of their 12 hour limit remaining. Once they have been offline for 6 or more hours, the counter will reset to 12 hours again,” it added.
Speaking to representatives of the company, Hypertext found out that this new feature is compulsory, and that it applies to Uber Eats couriers in particular. Driver Hour Limits are also active for the time that a courier is on the road or in-transit, and does not factor in time waiting at restaurants to pick up orders or handing over to eaters.
Uber South Africa also noted that this feature has been rolled out in selected regions where the ridesharing platform operates, and it has been found to yield positives in terms of addressing driver fatigue and well-being. It will therefore be interesting to see whether the same will apply here.
The same goes for courier feedback, with many having to work long hours or on multiple platforms in order to make enough money week-to-week. On this front Uber South Africa did confirm that it will be engaging on sessions with couriers, and will take any feedback seriously should changes need to be made to the Driver Hour Limits.
As for the other courier-requested safety features being introduced to the platform, Uber is making Destination Transparency and a Comprehensive Safety Toolkit available moving forward.
“Insights obtained through these regular discussions showed that more than half of delivery people would like to see the destination in the app when accepting a trip. This feature ensures that delivery drivers will be able to view their destinations upfront, providing them with more control over their routes and enhancing both safety and convenience,” it explained regarding Destination Transparency.
“A new safety toolkit will be added to the Uber Eats platform, offering a range of safety resources and features, including the ability to record audio, share trips with a trusted contact and emergency assistance, features that currently exist for Uber’s mobility consumers,” it continued in respect to the Safety Toolkit.
With more work needing to be done for local gig workers across all platforms, we’re hoping the new safety features being introduced result in the desired outcomes.
“The safety of users of our platform is a top priority. With these new features, we’re reinforcing our commitment to keeping delivery people safe, and thus maintaining our position as the leading food delivery platform in the country,” noted Cassie Jaganyi (pictured above), head of Communications for Uber South Africa.
[Image – Provided]
