FOX25 Investigates sex offender driving for Uber in Boston

[FrodosPet]

http://www.fox25boston.com/news/fox25-investigates-sex-offender-driving-for-uber-stopped-at-logan-airport/353505391

by: Eric Rasmussen Updated: Jun 20, 2016 - 10:38 PM

BOSTON — A convicted sex offender was working as an Uber driver ferrying Boston-area passengers, FOX25 Investigates uncovered.

Massachusetts State Police confirm a trooper stopped a driver in a Kia Sorrento at Boston Logan Airport on Thursday and they plan to issue a court summons for driving with a suspended license, revoked registration and canceled insurance.

FOX25 Investigates has learned that driver, 54-year-old Ronald Deluca, is a Level 2 sex offender, according to public records obtained from the North Andover Police Department.

Deluca’s driving record is 18 pages, detailing a variety of citations, including speeding, license suspensions, and traffic violations.

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Uber is no longer allowed to claim their background checks are "industry-leading, best-in-class". I wonder why not?

[hobbit709]

1. And Uber wanted to force Austin to accept their checks instead of the city requirements.

[Recursion]

2. Still better than cabs

Boston's cabs are awful, and the drivers make next to nothing. I'll stick with Uber, thanks.

[FrodosPet]

5. It's nice to be tech savvy, isn't it?

For people like us, technology is easy. We can sit at any computer or other device and figure it out, no problem. But not everyone has our skills. Some people hate technology. Some people hate smartphones. Some people like cash. With the disappearance of "pick up the phone and call a cab" service, these people are going to be increasingly isolated.That'll teach them to not be nerds like us.

Medical transport: will insurance companies be willing to transport their customers in privately registered vehicles by illegal cab drivers? I know at least one group home which does not allow its residents to summon Uber because of liability.

Stick with Uber. I get it. They are cheaper, and their dispatch technology is cool as it gets. I ALMOST started driving Uber myself. But when they cut fares below a dollar a mile - I am too good at math, I saw it was a disaster from a driver perspective. Even with lease and dispatch charges, I was making over a dollar a paid mile CLEAR without having to pay for the car, maintenance, insurance, daily wash, and the biweekly detailing. The Uber driver still has to pay 25% of their 70 cents a mile to Uber, so they are making 52 cents a paid mile (which is about 30% to 40% of your total miles).

Uber has issues, and the public has a right to know what those issues are. With public attention to those problems, there will be public pressure on Uber to improve.

[Recursion]

9. Uber has issues. Medallion cabs' issues are worse

I absolutely will not astroturf for millionaire medallion owners and their rent-seeking. You do what your conscience dictates. Mine is clear.

[FrodosPet]

13. Most cab company owners are NOT millionaires

Many are one or two car operations, with the owner driving. I would guess 90%+ of the cabs nationwide are in fleets smaller than a dozen cars. Of the big fleets, often times they are filled with owner operators. So the cab company owner is just collecting a few dollars per car for fleet insurance, licensing, CC processing, and dispatch services (yes, they have expenses to go along with their revenue).

Damn straight on tearing down the medallion system. But Uber cannot fulfill everyone's point-to-point transportation needs. There HAS to be a viable system similar to the conventional taxi service to take care of the developmentally disabled, the elderly, the technophobes, the people who forgot their phone charger, and the people who don't want to erase their current phone apps because their phone will not let them DL Uber.

[Egnever]

3. It's almost like you try to find these articles.

Like the Cab companies don't have their own issues..

Rise in Sexual Assaults Reported by Taxi Passengers

http://www.wsj.com/articles/rise-in-sexual-assaults-reported-by-taxi-passengers-1452476904

Uber may not be the answer but then clearly cabs aren't either. Given the choice I would take an Uber every time. At least with the Uber My driver is logged with no action needed on my part and I can do something about any transgressions by down voting them at the least or going straight to the company or law enforcement if needed and the whole transaction is transparent. Good luck Trying to do that with a cab.

[FrodosPet]

4. Uber IS a cab company

They can protest and call themselves a "technology company" because they were smart enough to figure out how to get paid while shuffling fleet expenses to their already underpaid drivers.

But they are still an unmarked taxi dispatch service.

And no, I am not going to claim that cab companies are saints. Many owners are cheap assholes. Well, more and more, FORMER cab company owners. A lot of them are going out of business! Hooray!(?)

Cab drivers - if you are going to sit in a car from 12 to 16 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week, you are probably there because you have no options left in life. So yes, while some individual drivers ARE saints, the overall pool of drivers is of a lower socio-economic class.

Best bet for safety - don't take cabs OR Uber. Get a car, and if you are out of town, get a rental car.

And if you ARE going to rely on Uber, don't forget to bring your phone charger, and make sure you have plenty of money on your debit card. Your waitress or desk clerk cannot call you an Uber, and (theoretically) you cannot pay them cash.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. I often see these Uber trashing threads (often from you, op) and I'm just wondering...

...did they reject your driver application, or what?

I drive for Amazon Flex. You got any trash on them?

[FrodosPet]

7. No, I was accepted. But I did the math, and started reading the stories

Uber has issues. Is it a bad thing to bring these issues to the public?

Amazon Flex is still below the radar. Are they running an illegal delivery service? Are Amazon Flex drivers getting deactivated for B.S. reasons?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

10. Not necessarily a bad thing to bring bad things to the public. Are you making money...

...or losing money in your experience with Uber?

I have no idea if Flex is an "illegal delivery service". They hired me as an independent contractor to take their packages to people who are waiting on them. If that's illegal, it's a messed up kind of illegal.

This really has nothing to do with the discussion but I've only been working for Flex for three weeks and, so far, and my expenses-to-earnings ratio is very satisfactory. I've spent maybe 5% of my income from Flex on fuel.

[FrodosPet]

12. I'm not doing Uber

I did the math. It doesn't work as a long term thing. As far as I can tell, no one at Uber is teaching the drivers about fleet management. Even if you only have one car, in this context it is your "fleet".

Currently, I am set up job wise, and I am studying point cloud processing for LiDAR units used in self driving cars and industrial equipment. I am probably going to back off following Uber, except for the self-driving car stories.

I have a couple friends who might be interested in Amazon Flex, though. Thank you for the info.

[FrodosPet]

8. Anyhow, what is -your- experience with Amazon Flex?

I know a couple people who may be interested. Do they set your hours, or choose your own? Will a 40 hour week let you take home over $350 a week?

Packages don't vomit or crap their pants taking you out of service for the rest of the night, or cuss you out, or kick your seat (to the point of causing you to pull over and demonically say "you need to stop NOW!!!&quot , or accuse you of long riding because they are too drunk to know where they are, or grab your cell phone and throw it halfway across a parking lot, or try to whine and/or bully you to put way too many packages in the car.

Does this MB thread have good info?

http://uberpeople.net/threads/amazon-prime-flex-delivery.37893/

[ChisolmTrailDem]

11. Experience is exemplary so far. You set your own ours in 4-hour blocks but you have to be...

...diligent - meaning you have to actively pay attention and be on top of time block releases. I have had no issues getting time blocks in the Dallas area.

Yes, you can make $360 for 20 hours in a week. Getting 40 hours seems like it would be a challenge but I'm content with 20 so I haven't tried for anything above that.

All the things you describe in your second paragraph are why I don't drive for Uber, rather than any issue with the operation of the company.