Lugg

Lugg worker review

Lugg is a moving app that enlists freelancers to deliver furniture from retail stores, such as IKEA and Pottery Barn, and help people move. However, the site demands a lot from freelancers and appears to pay a pittance.

How Lugg works

If you want to apply to work with the company, you sign up on the website and say whether or not you have a truck. A truck is not required.

What is required is that:

• you must be able to lift 100 pounds, without assistance;
• pass a background check;
• have a year of customer service experience.
• a smart phone, with unlimited data
• if you’re a driver (as opposed to a helper, who doesn’t have a truck), you also need auto insurance

Once accepted….

Assuming you have all those things and are accepted into this platform, the site will apparently ask you to sign up for set shifts. You determine the shifts you’re willing to work. But, you apparently must commit to those hours — to the degree that you’re expected to sit in your truck, ready to go — regardless of whether or not there’s work available.

If no jobs come up during that time frame, you must remain on call, but you’ll earn nothing.

If a job is so far away and so low-paying that it would be uneconomic for you to take your truck there, you must accept the shift anyway or face suspension or “deactivation.” Some workers say the amount they earn is barely enough to pay for gas. Even in the best of circumstances, your earnings after expenses are unlikely to even amount to minimum wage.

Labor violations

Sound like a miserable gig? It does to us. Moreover, we believe that the way this company treats freelancers crosses a line from being merely abusive to actually breaking labor laws.

Here’s why: Federal labor law differentiates employees and independent contractors based on who has control in the relationship. (Check out our “Employee vs. Freelancer Quiz” here.)

The short version is this: If you are able to cherry pick the work you take, work when you want and how you want, you’re an independent contractor. However, if the company tells you what to do and how to do it, you’re an employee.

Drivers and helpers consistently say in reviews that this company tells them what to do, when and how — from what gigs to take to how to wrap furniture. Any worker who deviates from what the company says they should do gets penalized — suspended or deactivated.

That sounds like Lugg an employer to us. And those suspensions and deactivations are akin to being fired.

Why should you care?

As an employee, you are entitled to at least minimum wage. If you work more than 40 hours in a week or more than 8 hours in a day, you are entitled to overtime, too. Since former workers say they often make as little as $4.50 an hour, we would advise any former Lugger to contact their local Department of Labor and ask for the enforcement division. If you have kept good records, you may be able to file a claim for back wages.

Pay

The one positive about this company is that it promises to pay you immediately following a shift by direct deposit.

Recommendations

There are dozens of moving apps, where drivers and helpers are actually treated fairly. These include GoShare, HireAHelper, CitizenShipper and uShip. All of these sites are better places to secure a moving job. (You will need a truck with CitizenShipper and uShip, however.)

You can find Lugg here.

What their workers say (from Indeed)

I used to work for Lugg as an independent driver around the DC area. I can say they are the worst delivery platform that exists. Their platform works by assigning you 8-hour shifts which you would only get about
$80 worth of work from between you and your helper. 

They treat you like you are an employee — expect you to work as an employee. But, when convenient for them, they treat you like an independent contractor. For Lugg, it’s the best of both worlds. They don’t have to pay health insurance or benefits because you’re a 1099. They expect you to work a 7-hour shift. And when they don’t have work, you sit there and wait for a job.

Rotten pay

The good thing about Lugg is you can pick the days you would like to work. The bad thing is the pay. Usually barely enough for gas.

You will do a lot of driving for very little pay. After a week of work, after paying for gas, I was making $4.50 an hour. Had 1 job I was sent to that was 1 hour and 45 minutes of driving, and customer canceled 5 minutes before I arrived. For all that driving I was not paid. By the time you figure in wear and tear on your vehicle, you are losing money driving for Lugg.

Long drives; little support

Lugg will send you literally 100 miles away sometimes and not pay for gas. If you ask a question thru text or email (because there is no way for drivers to speak to support even in emergencies) the response is always the same: “Just do it!” They treat their drivers and helpers with complete disdain.

Helper’s view

The job requires you to do anything and everything they send your way.

There is no declining jobs. As a helper you may end up sitting for hours on end with no pay. So it’s very likely you end up making less than minimum wage on days when no work is available. Or they send you out of your area and spend 2 to 3 hours in traffic for what may be 20 dollars gross.

You can be a good driver or good helper but they still will come at you with disrespect and suspend you for any reason. You’re at their disposal. The only time they want to be nice is when they really need you and want to offer the guys a bonus, especially on weekends. Other than that you’re nothing but a number.

Rotten pay

Biggest complaint is the pay. Lugg takes the biggest percentage. Even as a driver you’re only ever gonna make about 30%. Helpers get up to 23%. This means you can spend hours on a job and not make it worth your time.

They bully you into jobs and force you to accept any and everything that comes your way. Even if it’s hours away and not for your vehicle size. They label everyone as independent contractors but treat everyone as employees. Especially in California this seems morally grey and unethical.

From the Apple AppStore:

This is a horrible company to drive for. They make you sit there with a partner in the truck for an entire 8 hour slot without getting paid if it’s a slow day. With every other app, your time is yours unless you have a task that you accepted. On top of that, they suspended me without warning due to them finding out that I didn’t wrap an item in stretch wrap. I signed up for this in 2020 when that was NOT a requirement and they never told me they added that as one. And they expect the driver to pay for it when you literally lose money some days due to pay not outweighing these high gas expenses.

I was suspended due to not competing my first haul. The helper they paired me with canceled last min. They messaged me and informed me. Out of the blue I’m getting a text from a total stranger saying they are on the assignment. Then wanted me to drive 20 miles to pick them up so they could help with the gig.

11/6/2023