The Company Car Is About To Change

It might steer itself. It might fly. It might, well, not be a thing you own anymore. But if the experts are right, one prediction will definitely hold true: The future of fleets is awesome.

- Michael Frank

THE END OF OWNERSHIP?

Ride-sharing services changed the way we travel. Now they’re changing the way we do business.

YOU CAN’T EAT AT San Francisco’s Pythagoras Pizza: Each $20 pie is available for delivery only. The model keeps costs down, but when the shop’s popularity skyrocketed in 2015, founder Evan Kuo had a problem. “How do you staff to endure waves of two- to three-times-demand spikes?” he says. After all, he needs way more drivers (and cars) for lunch and dinner, but he can’t afford to own a huge fleet that goes unused during most hours.

His solution: Uber.

In 2015, the car giant launched UberRush, which is essentially a messenger service that uses Uber drivers. It partnered with e-commerce platform Shopify and is available in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, and has become a favorite tool of businesses that deliver. Today, half of Kuo’s pizzas arrive via UberRush. “Even if your forecasting model is 80 percent accurate, you’re still either overstaffing by 20 percent or underserving by 20 percent,” Kuo says. “That volatility can be frustrating and really costly.”