Uber to deploy on-demand ice cream trucks on Friday

Uber is looking to give some city dwellers relief from the sweltering summer heat.

On July 19, the San Francisco-based startup known for letting people order private drivers in sleek black cars using a smartphone app, is offering an ice cream-on-demand service for one day only in more than three dozen cities around the world, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, London, Singapore and Rome.

The stunt, an expansion of last year's ice cream promotion, comes in the midst of a sticky heat wave in New York City and elsewhere.

Ice cream trucks will hit the streets at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. All purchases will be charged to the Uber account making the call, so no cash will be exchanged. Treats will be bundled, so ordering with a group of five to six people is advised.

Last year, people in seven U.S. and Canadian cities could use the Uber app to summon an ice cream truck hired by Uber to their location, provided they purchased a minimum number of treats. But demand exceeded supply, and not everyone who wanted ice cream got it.

A list of participating cities can be found on Uber's website.