Image Source: BBC
Uber has created a “private-label” version of its delivery technology to assist the UN in delivering food and water supplies to Ukraine’s war-torn territories.
The tech company is collaborating with the World Food Programme of the United Nations (WFP).
Because of structural damage and the possibility of attack, substantial delivery trucks find it difficult to access several districts of Ukraine.
The WFP may manage a fleet of smaller vehicles using Uber’s platform.
Although the WFP selects its drivers and vehicles, some are former Uber drivers who operated in Ukraine before the Russian incursion.
Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, said the WFP had received “their own private-label Uber” from his company.
It’s a customized version of the Uber Direct delivery technology, which is also accessible commercially; huge names like Apple and Tesco are among the company’s customers. Businesses usually pay Uber a commission per delivery, but the WFP is not charged.
Within a 100-kilometer radius of its warehouses, the software may help it coordinate distribution and track supplies and drivers.
In the center city of Dnipro, the scheme is being tested. It is hoped that it will be implemented later in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Chernivtsi and four additional cities.
The Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and Save the Children are just a few of the assistance organizations trying to offer emergency supplies to those in need.
Within weeks of first contacting the World Food Programme, Uber’s platform was up and operating.
“It’s not like you can give people food in a month,” WFP executive director David Beasley said.
“You can’t go more than a few weeks without food, so with Uber’s technology, distribution systems, and dispatch systems… it’s a tremendous success story.”
Uber’s past few years have been tumultuous. First, because people stayed at home during the epidemic, the company’s ride-sharing service was severely impacted, and the company was obliged to alter its driver policies, giving them better working conditions.
Mr. Khosrowshahi claims that when he initially became CEO in 2017, Uber’s delivery arm was in its infancy, but that it is now positioned to become the company’s most important service.
Uber’s delivery orders for restaurant meals accounted for 96% of all orders in 2021. It was also the company’s first profit in its 13-year history.
