UK’s Ryde Intros Shift-Based Compensation for Delivery Drivers

Ryde, a U.K. company that provides clients with platforms to create their own driver networks as well as access to its own pool of drivers, is launching an optional shift-based payment model for drivers.

The company launched Houly+ following several weeks of trials to “increase fulfilment rates for on-demand deliveries, particularly for clients in the grocery and retail space,” according to a Tuesday (April 19) press release.

Ryde states in publicity material that its clients use its white-label service to build delivery operations in food and beverage manufacturing, grocery retail, maintenance services, eCommerce, construction and retail.

“Traditional on-demand has notoriously bad fulfilment rates — and we expect them to get worse,” Duncan Mitchell, chief executive of the London, England-based company, said in a prepared statement. “It’s because delivery couriers are opting for more reliable shift-based work, instead of the traditional wait for a job, without pay, on-demand model. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of instant grocery has conditioned consumers to expect their deliveries in 10 minutes or less. This combination causes major fulfilment issues for companies in the last-mile delivery space. So, we responded with Hourly+, a shift-based approach to on-demand.”

Ryde stated in the news release that a survey of riders found that 90 percent preferred shift work to on-demand work because shift work offers more-reliable pay and better job security.

Ryde says in marketing materials that it has a network of “more than 15,000” couriers across England and the average time from pickup delivery is 18 minutes.

The price for companies that manage their own teams but use Ryde to operate them is a flat monthly fee plus the equivalent of about 33 U.S. cents per trip.