Top 10 Driver Tips

1. Swipe at the start time of the ride

We encourage drivers to arrive a few minutes early to their start destination to ensure they are ready to go at the start of the ride time. Once it's the ride time, regardless of if you're waiting on the rider or they are already with you, please swipe to start the ride. For example, if you have a ride scheduled at 1:00 PM, you arrive at 12:55 PM and the rider is ready at 1:10 PM, you will swipe to start the ride at 1:00 PM.

If the rider is ready and asks to the start the ride early, that is the only circumstance in which it is okay to swipe early to start a ride. If you arrive to your destination late, please swipe upon your arrival and not at the start time of the ride.

2. Take time to review and make updates to the ride's final screen

After you've dropped off the rider safely to their final destination, you will swipe to end your ride. The next screen is a review of all details related to the ride you've just completed - please make sure you take a moment to review this final screen before hitting submit. On this final screen, you will want to review/adjust the start and end times for accuracy - this is also where you will enter reimbursement amounts for things like tolls, groceries, parking, etc. All receipts should be uploaded on this screen.

If you review this screen and notice you've made a mistake after submitting it, please let us know immediately. Waiting to let us know may cause a ripple effect of issues when charging the customer and getting you paid - the window of time to finalize ride details is small so reviewing this screen carefully and then alerting us promptly if you've submitted something incorrectly is very important!

3. Always go to the door, unless specified in Ride Notes

By default, our riders and their custodians expect door-to-door service. Unless other instructions are specifically noted for the rider, please always call the rider upon arrival and then go to the door to retrieve them. Please offer to assist them by offering an arm or to carry any items they may have with them.

4. Never exchange personal telephone numbers

It is important that you never share your personal phone number nor take/store the rider or custodian's number(s). Within the Onward Driver App, you have the ability to call or text the customer - but be aware that these numbers are masked in our system and change with every ride. This is for both the protection of our drivers and customers.

Sometimes customers do not want to be contact by the driver - in the event that this occurs, you will be routed directly to the Concierge team to help communicate with the rider.

Any communication between a driver and a rider or custodian, outside of the Onward App platform is forbidden and may result in expulsion from the driver team.

5. Transfer rides directly in the app

If you've committed to a ride through the Onward Driver App and can no longer complete it, you can transfer the ride directly in the app. This may charge you a transfer fee - depending on how close it is to the start time of the ride. All transfer fee amounts go directly to the driver who helps you out by accepting the ride.

If you're headed out of town or unable to drive for an extended period of time, please give us a heads up by emailing [e-mail] with the dates. We can put your driver profile on a status of "Pause" if you will be out for more than a week.

6. Tipping is allowed but never exchange cash

While we ask that you never solicit a tip, if a customer (rider or custodian) asks about tipping, please let them know drivers are allowed to accept electronically processed tips only. They can give a tip of this kind by entering it into their Onward App or by calling the Concierge team directly with their review.

Cash tips may never be exchanged. In the event that a rider leaves cash with you or in your vehicle, please contact the Concierge team immediately.

7. Keep your vehicle information up-to-date

It's important that we always have accurate information about your vehicle on file. We share your vehicle information with the rider prior to your arrival - as you'd suspect, it is very disorienting for the customer if you show up in a different vehicle.

It is also imperative, for insurance and liability purposes, that any vehicle used with Onward Rides has all required information submitted, on file and is kept up-to-date. For example, a vehicle that has not passed a 19 Point Vehicle Inspection can never be driven with our service.

8. Communicate early and often with the Concierge team

If something is unclear about a ride address, you're looking for more information about a rider, you might be running late, among many other things - the best first step is to reach out to the Concierge team by texting them at: 833-323-4833. You can access this number through the Onward Driver App on all rides - we also encourage you to save it in your phone!

It is especially helpful to update the Concierge team with information about a rider after you've driven with them - these notes can be added to their rider profile to help future drivers.

If you have an issue outside of a specific ride - like needing to update information in your driver profile or would like to give feedback - please reach out through email to: [e-mail].

9. Request more driver materials when you're running low

All new drivers receive a Welcome Packet containing: a welcome note, vehicle window cling, 10 referral cards and 10 business cards. Outside of that, if you'd like to request additional items - including things like masks, brochures or tear-aways - you can always let us know through the request form. You can access it directly through the link above - or, through the Onward Driver App menu.

10. Having issues with the Onward Driver App? Try an update from your app store!

If you're app isn't working as you'd expect - for example, swiping isn't working, a screen is spinning, a screen appears blank - the best first step is to go into your App Store and ensure the Onward Driver App is up-to-date. Most, but not all, phones update their apps automatically. If your phone is older, or you have it set to "manual" for updates, you will need to do this anytime you experience an issue with your app. You should never need to delete the app - but instead, just trigger an update to the latest version of the app.

If you're sure it's up-to-date, you will want to check that your location tracking is set to "always".

If you're not seeing rides being offered to you by the Concierge team, double check your driver preferences for date & time as well as location. If you've updated your settings here, you may have them too restricted to see rides that are actually perfect for you.

Once those things have been checked, if you're still experiencing issues, please text the Concierge team for further instruction at: 1-800-700-4797.