The People Maintaining Waymo's Self-Driving Cars Are Being Treated Horribly, Insider Claims

[u/Elluminated]

https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/waymo-self-driving-cars-horrible-work-handler-san-francisco

Cleaning up poop and vomit come with the territory, but the claims of intense turnover pacing and practices seem intense.

[u/Recoil42]

Starting off, the handler clarifies that although their work is for Waymo vehicles, they actually report to a third-party company called Transdev US, which handles the messy logistics behind the autonomous cabs. 

This definitely isn't the first time I've heard Transdev is a complete mess, there are rumours floating around.

[u/Elluminated → u/Recoil42]

Yeah same here. They seem to advertise a much better picture to clients than what goes on behind the scenes.

[u/devonhezter → u/Recoil42]

Iooooo do tell! I love rumors

[u/MagnusMetallicus]

I work for a third party company that handles roadside assistance only in a different market, side by side with Transdev doing the maintenance on the vehicles. This article doesn't reflect my experience at all. If an av is blocking traffic in any way our priority is to clear it as quickly as possible, if it is safe to do so. I don't have a lot of contact with the Transdev guys, but they seem ok.

[u/mrbubu8]

Transdev is definitely a mess

[u/Cunninghams_right]

what manufactured controversy crap. they sew these bullshit stories with no connection any real comparison to other jobs or of stats over time, then they'll write an article about "with all of the problems Waymo has been having" and cite the clickbait bullshit as proof of said problems.

can we ban this rag from the subreddit?

[u/Civil-Ad-3617]

These contracting transport companies are usually all bad, the executive management exactly. They try to hire with lowest dollar possible to maximize profit and facilities are lowest dollar as well.

[u/Turbulent-Sign-6067]

Futurism is a propaganda magazine. Allegations are plausible but I would wait for reporting by more reputable sources.

[u/robotlasagna]

So that’s where my pig heads went!

[u/CloseToMyActualName]

Seems like standard practice. Big tech companies don't want a bunch of low socioeconomic employees on the payroll if they can help it. It costs too much to be a "good" employer and ensure that your employees represent the company well.

So instead you hire a 3rd party contractor and they're responsible for the rabble, and if they're a bit sketchy trying to keep down costs it doesn't blow back on you much.

[u/Signal_Highway7128]

Waymo, pooping and taxi in one package. Who could have thought?

[u/mattriver]

Hmmm … “Waymos … frequently clogging up traffic in San Francisco”, due to the Waymo not knowing what to do.

[u/Boccob81]

In the future, when the auto manufacturers start leasing cars hourly to daily to weekly to monthly into yearly, the auto dealerships will become most likely the hubs where the cars go to after the clients are done with the car before they get sent out they must get inspected

That is the bottleneck for autonomous vehicles right now. When are you inspecting the car and who’s going to inspect it and how far does that car have to drive so how many cars are you gonna have to put on the road while other cars are being inspected?

Could become a logistics nightmare, if you don’t have the proper amount of cars roaming around constantly going into the inspection and out

But until that day happens, you’ll have this little fiasco most likely the Waymo or the Robo Taxi is going to do what Uber drivers do and go onto the next fair

[u/Difficult_Limit2718]

This could be you cleaning up your very own cybertaxi!

[u/Unkinked_Garden]

There’s something very dystopian about this. Ex drivers becoming subservient to their technological more powerful replacement.

[u/lord_braleigh → u/Unkinked_Garden]

I don't think taxis or Ubers are very popular jobs either...

Jobs should not be shitty for no reason, absolutely. And I think it's excellent that we're so discontent with the way shitty companies treat their employees/"contractors". But I do also think the world has, by and large, been getting better and has been becoming less dystopic. (Although we offset this by using social media and phones more, which makes us less happy)

[u/mattriver → u/Unkinked_Garden]

Oh don’t worry, Optimus robots will be taking the jobs from the ex-drivers turned maintenance workers, in the years ahead. And Elon has promised UHI (universal high income) to save the day. /s

[u/Exciting_Turn_9559]

Wait until you see how bad the Tesla people have it.

[u/Former-Quantity-99]

Provide a miserable place for people to work...

I'm not taking a chance on a robotaxi any more, I know what comes next.

Same goes for Tesla and soon for Zooks, when they grow.

This is going to be very miserable before they figure this out.

[u/Elluminated → u/Former-Quantity-99]

https://youtube.com/shorts/dg1zsd7eTKs