Drivers, riders, and supporters of all things Drover — these are unprecedented times. We have all surely been effected at this point by Coronavirus; people have lost jobs, entire industries have temporarily shut down, our personal lives have been drastically altered by calls for social distancing. This blog is purposed to serve as an update on the status of COVID-19 in the state of Tennessee as well as provide insight into the actions that Drover is taking as a company to enact precautions and best practices to prevent the spread of the virus.
We are proud to announce the arrival of Drover Rideshare to Gatlinburg, TN. Our dream is that that by bringing Drover to Gatlinburg, we will be able to provide the residents and tourists of Gatlinburg with exceptional service as well as create opportunities for people who want to make some extra cash by driving through the app. We’re so excited to get started!
We are proud to announce the grand opening of Drover Hub in Shelbyville, TN — Drover’s first retail store and customer service center open to the public!
Drover Rideshare officially became a corporation on May 13, 2016. Near that date, CEO Jeff Garland assembled a team of some of the best app developers in Tennessee to start working on Drover's Android and iOS apps. In the past four months, our app dev team have been working tirelessly on bringing Drover to the app market. Today, I am ecstatic to announce that the Android App is 'core complete'.
Here at Drover, we are enthusiastic about the idea of the connected car. Now, when we say the 'connected car', we don't mean Matrix-level connected, like "ahh, the machines!" connected... Instead, we mean getting your car connected to your phone so that you can have an integrated, safe, and fun driving experience.
In my previous post, we walked through a diagram I made to evaluate if you would make a good rideshare rider / if you would enjoy participating in rideshare as a rider. This post will follow a similar format, working through questions to help you decide if working as a rideshare driver is right for you. To illustrate this concept, I have once again attached my poorly drawn whiteboard diagram which I will annotate throughout this post.
When I first thought of this post, I imagined it being mostly funny, however, I realized that this question raises some very valid concerns. In a post-Uber world, and especially in a city like Nashville where ridesharing is very popular, it can be easy to forget that not everyone is on board with the concept. So, if you have ever had any thoughts about whether or not rideshare is right for you, or if you already do engage with ridesharing but want a laugh, you've come to the right place. To illustrate this, I have included a (hopefully) amusing whiteboard drawing.
I think that I am not alone in saying that reading that tweet just leaves you with a feeling of pause. Pause to realize that you just read a piece of history. Pause to realize that, in our lifetimes, we witnessed one of the most significant advancements in automobile technology since the invention of the Ford Model T. Pause to realize that we just read the death sentence of the gas-powered car -- potentially within our lifetimes. Pause to realize that Tesla finally listened to someone and designed a Model S body style that looks different from a Ford Taurus
Drover, as you may know, places a HUGE emphasis on charity, community service, and giving back to the community, as explained on our Drive for Charity page and my Drover Fares Benefit Local Charities blog post. As such, we love sharing the stories of service projects and non-profits that we are involved in. Though Drover doesn't currently have the capacity to do so, perhaps one day we will be able to sponsor our employees to do their own projects in the communities we operate in. Until then, stories of the cool community service projects we do in our own time will have to suffice :).
Hunter Goodson is Chief Technology Officer at Drover Rideshare. The following is in his words.
I’ve been fascinated with machines and electronics as far back as I can remember. I was always curious as to how and why they worked. In elementary school I would tear down old electronics and household items in an attempt to better understand their functions.
At Drover, we have a culture of service, and serving the community. As many of you know already, 2% of Drover ride fares benefit local charities. While international aid -- like my friends and I have been doing this week -- is extremely important, there are also many areas in the states that still need support.
UberPOOL is a brand new feature Uber is releasing in select cities through which riders can elect to share their Uber ride with other riders along the route. Fares are much cheaper for riders. I was fortunate enough to be in Philadelphia earlier this month where I experienced UberPOOL first hand. This video/transcript goes over my thoughts on the service and explanation of how it works.
So you have your fancy new eCommerce site that you have invested time and money into. Now, however, comes one of the most important tasks you have as an internet entrepreneur: order fulfillment. Thoughtful and timely order fulfillment can make or break your brand. Thoughtful consideration and application of order fulfillment by you -- the boss, the head honcho, the fondateur is essential to the success of your online store.
Meet Dylan Hall, Chief Android Programmer at Drover Rideshare. The following text is in his words:
When I was 5 my parents bought a computer for the family to use – looking back on it I’m not sure why, they never used it. Regardless, that computer was one of the many aspects that made me who I am today. I spent my entire time in primary and secondary school engulfed in computers, learning how they worked and attempting to understand what caused them to break. I have been programming for 10 years.
Until this blog post, there was literally no single, comprehensive and accurate tutorial to guide people in successfully implementing these fun animations into a Squarespace site. I worked alongside Drover programmer Neel Patel to figure it out... and we did! The following guide will walk you step-by-step through the process of adding CSS Animations to your Squarespace.
Until summer 2014, the family vehicle was a 1996 Ford Taurus hatchback in the 13th round of a 12th round boxing match with the US highway system. My mom’s philosophy was to never, and I mean never, walk into a dealership when desperate. Emotional buying leads to impulsive purchases. So, we actually started looking for a new car as early as January 2013. At that stage, my mom’s search was really vague. Her famous line was “a car is four wheels that gets you from point A to B”. At the beginning of our car hunt, I liked cars in a detached sense but I wasn’t nearly as versed in their vocabulary and models as I am now. Throughout the course of our car search, I fell in love with cars of every make and model.
I think it is important to keep positive in the moment and realize that you shouldn't beat yourself up for your mistakes. I made the huge mistake of leaving Dave's keys in an Uber... but in the end, it was really an interesting experience, and I think Dave and I definitely grew closer as friends haha! The important thing is that you keep your head up, and deal with the situation you are faced with, without dwelling too much on the past. It's important to learn from the past, but not to be hard on yourself about past actions to the point of not being able to function in the current moment.
The Drover Shop supplies rideshare drivers with everything from essential Drover Rideshare gear to specially designed accessories to outfit any vehicle. Drovers can find all required Drover shirts and car safety accessories (like hands-free phone mounts). Additionally, we believe that drivers for other rideshare companies -- and just about anyone -- can find something useful at the Drover Shop.
Announcing the official launch of the Drover Hall of Fame! The Drover Rideshare Hall of Fame recognizes and honors exceptional Drovers (Drivers) who have completed milestone-numbers of rides. We thank all of our Drovers for their continued support and commitment to making Drover the world's most eco-friendly, safe, and fun rideshare! Read more to find out more about the Hall of Fame, and our first Drovers ever.
One of the great things I learned from my dad was that he was very good at making you feel you were the best… like you could be anything you wanted to be. If you asked me a question like ‘who is the best basketball player of all time’, and I would say ‘I am dad’, and the reason I would say something like that is because he gave me the confidence to believe I was. His leadership style was very optimistic and supportive, in that you could be anything you wanted to be, if you worked for it
When the car as we know it today was first invented, it was called the horse-less buggy, because they didn't know what to call it! They figured, well, it gets us around, and it is a buggy without a horse... We are at that stage with electric vehicle technology. We are calling them 'electric cars', the same way that today's cars were once called 'horse-less' buggies. However, just as ridiculous as 'horse-less buggies' sounds to describe today's cars, it's the same thing with electric cars.
