Food Delivery in the time of the Coronavirus

I’ve been doing food delivery for Doordash for like, 4 years now, in addition to the years of doing food delivery for other services in the years before that, so I’ve had a lot of experience in the field. The onset of our current pandemic though has changed the business in a number of ways that I could not have expected.

Of course the lower cost of gas that has precipitated from the crisis has been a boon to my wallet, enabling me to fill up my car at a greatly reduced cost. Additionally, as there have been few places that have open lobbies, there have been far more delivery orders than we would normally expect. However, since there are so many orders, and the reduced capacity to meet those orders due to reduced staffing and fewer open places has pushed the orders onto fewer places, and has extended the busy hours, especially for places that are open late at night. With many places closing early, the places that are still open late are packed with orders. The less strict hours that many are adhering to means that there are many more orders outside the typical rush hours (11a-2p for lunch, 5p-8p for dinner, 11p-1a for late night). In the early days of the pandemic, tips were larger than usual, with people being highly appreciative of those doing delivery. Now, the tips have started to become more conservative as the financial stresses have started to more families, though this has been offset a little with the increased base pay that many delivery services have been imposing.

 

I think that one of the most surprising things that has changed during the coronavirus crisis that I have noticed has been the availability of restrooms has significantly dried up. Many restaurants have closed accessibility of their restrooms off to customers and delivery folks alike, limiting the ability of drivers to work long, continuous shifts. Now I find myself taking breaks to find a gas station with an open restroom, or even going home to use the one I know is always open. It used to be that with nearly every restaurant being open that there was always a place to stop for a couple minutes, between fast food places, gas stations, and the restaurants where I would have to take deliveries from. Now I would consider myself lucky if a restaurant even has an open lobby, so I’ve got at least a chance of it being open, instead of being relegated to the drive-thru, or the order being brought out of the restaurant to my car by a staff member, effectively turning everywhere into a Sonic Drive-In.

 

Another observation has been that many of the orders I’ve taken more recently have ended up being farther out to more rural areas, presumably as it is more difficult for them to find places that are open and nearby, especially late at night, resulting in a lot of longer drives than the short hops that would be more typical a few months ago.

 

Overall though, even with the forced breaks, and the unreliable tips, things have actually been pretty decent as a delivery driver the past few months, and it has been quite a relief to know that my bills are paid in this concerning time!

 

Interested in signing up to join Doordash or Postmates in this crazy time to secure a side income? Get a sign up bonus by using the links!