Uber has been a controversial company for a while now. In some parts of the world, taxicab drivers are blaming Uber drivers for stealing business. In other parts of the world, Uber drivers have been blamed for all kinds of mischief. For the most part, though, the people that use Uber regularly to take a reliable ride (that’s also relatively quick) are happy with the service.

Now, Uber has started a new beta service that will make a lot of courier companies across the world upset. UberRUSH is a courier service that uses the same concept that Uber rides does -- asking Uber drivers to deliver items across town quickly. Here’s why UberRUSH is causing a stir this week.

Inside UberRUSH

Have you ever wondered how it might be possible to make some extra cash by doing something as simple as delivering an item across town? Or, maybe bringing something that’s desperately needed to someone that has no way of getting that thing? This is what UberRUSH is all about. Take a regular courier service and add Uber drivers (and rates) to it, and you have UberRUSH.

Here’s a likely scenario: a restaurant is completely busy and has a lot of take out orders at the same time. Try as that restaurant might, there just aren’t enough drivers to deliver all the orders. What can a restaurant owner do? Call an Uber driver to deliver those orders. Or, another example might be a small business that needs to have an item delivered across town quickly. Uber drivers can do that too.

Out of Beta

UberRUSH has been in beta mode for the past two years. Tomorrow, the service turns into a legitimate business. So far, the new Uber company is doing really well, and a lot of people are using the company for the sake of delivery. To use the UberRUSH feature, simply select RUSH when hailing an Uber cab, see what your fare is, and then ask that driver to pick something up or drop something off for you.

Clearly, Uber is about to upset a lot of companies including postal services and companies like UPS and FedEx. Uber is on demand, so Uber drivers will deliver items a lot faster than a company like FedEx would. Also, it’s hard to beat the price of an UberRUSH deliver. Often, these deliveries are a lot less expensive than other courier service. Uber intends on getting a lot of small businesses as RUSH clients.

Trackable Too

Just like tracking an Uber ride, you can track an UberRUSH driver too, so you can see where your package is. UberRUSH drivers can also pick up numerous packages at once. In most cases, you wouldn’t even know that an Uber driver was about to deliver your item to you, but you’d quickly find out when a tracking notice appeared on your phone.
UberRUSH also opens up the door to restaurants that could not deliver to certain areas before.

Now, you can simply call an UberRUSH driver, ask that drive to pick up a meal across town, and you can have your delivery meal whether or not you are in the delivery circle that a restaurant normally delivers too -- this will generate a lot more business for many restaurants.

Whether or not courier services are going to like UberRUSH is one thing, but it’s fairly certain that regular people are going to love the new possibilities.