Stride and Roadie Partner to Empower Drivers with Financial Tools

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May 29, 2024, 09:00 ET

The Roadie driver community will now have access to Stride's all-in-one toolkit built to support the health and financial well-being of independent workers

SAN FRANCISCO and ATLANTA, May 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Stride, the pioneer in portable benefits technology, is teaming up with Roadie, a UPS (NYSE: UPS) Company and a logistics management and crowdsourced delivery platform, to provide comprehensive support to independent drivers nationwide. As independent workers increasingly seek flexibility and autonomy, they face significant challenges when it comes to navigating insurance, managing taxes, and maximizing savings. Through this collaboration, independent drivers using Roadie's platform will gain access to a suite of tools and services offered by Stride, empowering them to tackle the financial complexities of independent work more efficiently.

"At Stride, we have been serving the delivery industry for years and deeply understand their unique needs around taxes and insurance. We are excited to serve Roadie drivers," said Noah Lang, Co-Founder and CEO of Stride. "Roadie and Stride's partnership represents our commitment to ensuring that every independent worker has access to the essential benefits they need to thrive in today's economy. By joining forces, we're not only empowering drivers using Roadie with affordable healthcare coverage and valuable tax and financial tools but also fostering a stronger and more resilient independent workforce."

Through the partnership, drivers who use the Roadie platform will have access to Stride's comprehensive portable benefits platform, including affordable insurance coverage — health, dental and vision — and tax and financial planning tools. As an official partner of HealthCare.gov, Stride simplifies the process of choosing insurance by providing access to the same affordable health plans with the added support of personalized plan recommendations and unbiased advisors to ensure drivers who use the Roadie app get the best plan for their needs and budget. Only 32% of independent workers receive health insurance from their employers or unions, according to McKinsey research; this reality underscores the importance of Stride's initiatives, which seek to bridge the financial gap for those navigating independent work.

In Roadie's recent study, 2024 State of the Side Hustle Survey, over 65% of respondents expressed deep concerns regarding the impact of inflation on their income and expenses. This partnership aims to alleviate these concerns by providing essential financial support to the Roadie community of drivers. In addition to traditional benefits like health, dental, and vision coverage, the Roadie driver network can also take advantage of mileage, expense, and income tracking tools offered in the free Stride app — simplifying tax processes and saving $710 per year on average. Since launching in 2014, Stride has helped more than 4 million workers save more than $5 billion on their taxes and monthly health insurance premiums. Stride has enabled more than 30% of independent workers to pay less than $1 per month for qualified health insurance. With access to free advisors, the Roadie driver network can receive personalized guidance ensuring they make informed decisions about their financial future.

"We know Roadie drivers value their independence and care a lot about flexibility. They're their own bosses and they want to feel like it," said Marc Gorlin, Founder and CEO of Roadie. "Historically, that independence has come at a cost: the benefits that usually come with a nine-to-five. This partnership helps to bridge that gap. Through Stride's comprehensive benefits platform, drivers can now access essential coverage and sophisticated tools tailored to their unique needs as gig economy workers."

Through the partnership with Stride, the Roadie community of drivers will have the resources and support they need to thrive in the independent economy. For more information about Stride and Roadie, please visit https://roadie.stridehealth.com/

About Stride:
Stride simplifies the complexities of being an independent worker by creating a modern benefits system for individuals — regardless of their employment status — that they can take with them and to which companies can contribute but do not control. Stride is the first portable benefits platform specifically designed for the nearly 60 million American independent workers who do not receive employer-based benefits. The Stride platform offers access to insurance — health, dental, vision, life, and other supplemental insurance — as well as financial tools to track income, mileage, and other deductible expenses to manage their tax obligations, all via a single app. Since launching in 2014, Stride has helped more than 4 million workers save more than $5 billion on their taxes and monthly health insurance premiums.

Stride is partnered with over 100 organizations, including with the world's leading work platforms, employers and service providers of non-benefited workers, such as Uber, Amazon, DoorDash, Instacart, Grubhub, Patreon, Care.com, Gusto, Gopuff, TaskRabbit, Recording Academy, ShiftKey and more so they can provide their workers with access to a full marketplace of health and wealth benefits. The company is backed by $96 million in capital from Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, F-Prime Capital, Mastercard, Allstate and King River.

About Roadie
Roadie, a UPS Company, is a logistics management and crowdsourced delivery platform. Founded in 2014, Roadie offers businesses fast, flexible, and asset-light logistics solutions for last-mile delivery. Roadie enables local delivery to more than 97% of U.S. households by providing access to more than 200,000 independent drivers nationwide – allowing businesses to offer their customers delivery optionality for almost any industry, from airlines to artisans.

Roadie's solutions include local same-day pickup and delivery, delivery from warehouses with in-house sortation, oversized delivery, sustainable delivery, returns, and more. For more information, visit www.roadie.com.

Media Contacts:

For Stride:
Meg Sloan
[email protected]

For Roadie:
Katie Vroom
[email protected]

SOURCE Stride Health