Almost two weeks after cutting driver pay, grocery delivery startup Instacart appears to continue revamping its service in the aim of increasing profitability. To that end the company has fired all of its drivers in the Minneapolis area just six months after opening for business in the city.
Citing an email sent to Instacart drivers in Minneapolis, BuzzFeed News reports that the delivery company ran into logistical issues in the Twin Cities, forcing it to dismiss all of its drivers.
“Given the market’s size and geographic layout, we’ve found it difficult to efficiently provide enough opportunities for delivery drivers to receive orders,” reads the email. “As our market has evolved, we’ve found that the delivery driver service is not the best fit for the Minneapolis market at this time.”
Drivers’ last day carting around grocery deliveries will be April 3, at that point drop-offs will be made by the same people who pull products from store shelves to fill orders.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that the change is fairly minimal and won’t affect the company’s partnership to deliver groceries for Target, which is headquartered in the city.
The dismissal of Instacart drivers in the city comes just two weeks after the company said it would cut driver pay and advertising to their customers, hoping to maybe make money on most of their deliveries soon.
Early on, drivers were guaranteed $10 per hour whether they actually had deliveries to make or not. Drivers will have a guaranteed rate of $1.50 per delivery, when they now get at least $4.
Drivers are supposed to receive tips on top of that, and the company claims that their drivers will make about $15-$20 per hour after adding up base payments, tips, and commissions that they may receive for picking up items from a store. Remember that drivers fuel up and maintain their own vehicles for deliveries.
Instacart Fires Its Delivery Drivers In Minneapolis [BuzzFeed News]
Instacart fires Minneapolis delivery drivers [Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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