Posts by BenWilson
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A PSL (Passenger Service License) is a kind of TSL (Transport Service License). Yes, you need it to be compliant. You need your own one, for Ubering, unless you are an employee of the person holding it, who must also own your car, and be paying you a wage. So, in practice, you need your own one. Otherwise you face a fine and and a stop working order. I've spoken to 3 people this has happened to in the last couple of months. The fine is around $500 for the first offence, but it could be $10,000 if you continue (as Uber is likely to advise you to do). One of the guys had his car impounded.
You actually need the TSL to get the COF. Of course it's quite possible to use someone else's one for that purpose. You probably shouldn't, but it would seem that there is no checking of any kind going on on that.
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Trumps chances have been rising rapidly in the final run in. It’s become scary close again. Yes, Clinton has the lead, but as far as I’m aware the probabilities that FiveThirtyEight assigns (currently putting it about 65:35 for Clinton) are true probabilities, to be interpreted as such. They’re essentially saying this has become a game of Russian Roulette with two bullets in the chambers.
Yes, there are more likely events coming which are not factored into the models, which are based on current polling and historical volatility*. The get-out-the-vote machine for Clinton is better organized.
But I’m definitely much more nervous than I was a few weeks ago. The weirdest part about the Trump support bouncing all over the place is that it’s not a function of polling noise. In each case it’s been actual trends. Trump has actually trended up and down and up and down and up. It’s like very large number of Americans literally change their minds about Trump vs Clinton based on the latest round of scandals.
*And turned into probabilities using Monte Carlo simulations based on the underlying distributions.
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It's one thing to tolerate an illegal service, quite another to actively promote it and attempt to integrate it into public services, when the staff of NZTA are expressly forbidden from using Uber on account of the inability to ensure that any rules involving commercial transport have been followed at all.
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Who needs more bus stops when the council is seriously recommending using Ubers to get to bus stops? I'm still a little bit surprised that no one suggested to councillor Chris Darby that recommending the public use a service that currently actively promotes it's drivers not having any proper certification might be a very, very stupid idea that will land them in deep shit.
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to Sacha,
It's a good analysis, as usual.
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to goforit,
IANAL, but I don't think that the details of the driver compliance make much difference in this case. It's about the actual nature of the work, much more than it is about the legal fictions that have been invented around it. That ruling Ben Austin referred to is absolute dynamite. It exposes what anyone reading the Uber contract immediately sees, and what anyone who has dealt with them for more than a few weeks already knows.
In a nutshell their legal position is farcical. It requires seriously difficult mental conniptions to maintain the position that they are trying to maintain, because it is so contradictory at so many levels.
I think this is why the only people I've seen churn faster than the drivers on average is the frontline staff. In the 11 months I've been dealing with Uber, their entire front office staff has changed 4 times. Each time there is literally no one I've ever seen before there.
I think this is because it's incredibly stressful to tell lies all day, especially lies that could be actionable. The staff probably realize that they are literally being set up as Patsys, and who wants that for the SFA they get paid? Who would or could feel loyalty to an organization that tells you to pretend not to even be working for them, if pressed on any legal matter? An organization where the management hide out and never ever allow calls to escalate to them, lest they be held accountable?
Uber drivers are essentially contractors being treated as employees with no rights. I doubt there is any driver in this country working under someone else's TSL and getting paid a wage. The number of people working under someone else's TSL as a front has dwindled massively in the last few months as CVIU actively chased down the 3 main people doing that, and the biggest one of all shut down immediately, taking out over 100 drivers. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the other two are being taken to court by NZTA.
TSL exams are being booked out solidly, and I get a steady stream of people who have been caught driving without one who are being ordered off the road, and are then joining our organization.
So there is a third category, those who are partially compliant. Quite a few drivers are getting a P endorsement, but haven't got the rest. Without a TSL they can't get a COF, nor can they use Logmate (the preferred online option) so if they're keeping a logbook it has to be a paper one.
But definitely the completely non-compliant drivers are the majority. I understand that the police are treating them much more harshly now, since firstly Uber is paying the fines anyway, and secondly, they can't claim they weren't given fair warning, and ignorance of the law is no excuse anyway.
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Busy day:
TV3
One News
Granny
Radio NZ
…and I can’t find the Newstalk ZB interview.I can’t say I have a deeply informed opinion about this case that was just ruled on a day ago on the other side of the world, nor can I claim to be speaking on behalf of all drivers in my opinions. But I stick to the view for now that this ruling can only be good for drivers. Certainly most would probably prefer to remain independent contractors, particularly part-timers. But some might prefer a proper employment situation, particularly full-timers. More to the point, when operating under conditions that so closely resemble that of an employee, the ability to choose is important, and what contracts the independents do operate under should be enforceable in the jurisdiction that they operate in, and afford them more than no protection at all, which is the situation at the moment, if you were to take them at face value.
If Uber appeal it, then the outcome is very likely to form a strong precedent here. And before the appeal, it’s also very relevant.
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I'm getting too many interviews to keep up with on this today. Watch TV3 and One tonight, listen to NewsTalk ZB or RNZ or read NewsHub. That's so far....
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@ rich I expect it will be very relevant. Much to digest there.
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Polity: Four thoughts on polling in…, in reply to Sacha,
Thanks for that Sacha. Interesting that it's not about cost, but actually about the statistical validity and complexity.