Uber partners with Cargo startup for last-mile service

Uber, the rideshare car service that launched a thousand app-based imitators, has made a move to establish a toehold in the last-mile freight market by partnering with a Bay Area startup called Cargo, which enables passengers to order small packages while in transit to their destinations. While there are no specific airfreight applications for the Cargo-Uber project, the service provides another option to potentially enhance the last-mile delivery of delivery.

Starting today, Uber drivers will be able to register with Cargo and pick up boxes of consumer goods at select driver onboarding and support centers, known as Uber Greenlight Hubs, in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Goods that are typically ordered via Cargo include snacks, beverages, electronics, and beauty products.

The “exclusive global partnership” with Uber will cover Cargo’s service area, which recently expanded from San Francisco to the Los Angeles area.

Launched in June 2017, Cargo has made it possible for 7,000 carshare drivers to earn more than US$1 million dollars distributing more than a million consumer products to passengers in New York City, Boston, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Atlanta, and Dallas/Fort Worth.

“Because of companies like Uber, people spend more passenger-time in cars than ever before,” said Jeff Cripe, founder and CEO of Cargo. “This opened the door for Cargo to create an unparalleled level of convenience for a generation of people on the move, and our partnership with Uber will play an important role in making that vision reality.”