THCreate

No offense, I want to deliver your food, but it has to be worth it, literally

The invasion of Ukraine has dramatically caused gas prices to rise nationwide. In some western states, gas prices are over $5/gal and in Louisville, Kentucky, we woke up Monday morning to $4.25/gal.

For gig workers who primarily use their vehicle for transportation, we definitely are feeling the pain at the pump more than the typical driver who fills up their gas tank once a week.

When gas was a comfortable $3.25, I filled up for about $34. On average, I fill up my 11.5 gallon Jeep every day at an increasing cost of $45. Why is this a problem? I’m a father with parental responsibilities among other duties that I fulfill on a daily basis. With the cost of gas going up, up, up, it requires me to drive longer hours than usual to compensate for the increase in cost at the pump.

So how much does a Dasher make?

We receive a base pay per delivery. This is the amount Doordash pays the driver for an order. It varies from $2-$10. Rarely, do I ever see a base pay more than $5. Peak pay is offered when an area is busier than usual or is experiencing inclemental weather, which adds to the base pay for a higher payout.

Several times a day, I decline orders that do not benefit me. These are usually orders further from my current starting point, or orders where I know a customer didn’t tip. The order has to allow me to profit so I can still pay bills and fill up my vehicle with inflation on the rise.

Just as I previously stated, here’s an example of driving to a destination out of my starting point. The app didn’t assign me any deliveries in the area I was currently in, which actually causes the customer to wait even longer for me to drive out to the location the customer placed the order. This causes a longer delay when there could have been a Dasher nearest the location to accept the order.

To conclude, I don’t blame the customers for not tipping — I blame Doordash — a multi-billion dollar company who uses people like me to do their dirty work. Doordash should raise their base pay to supplement when customers don’t tip, adding a sense of financial security to Dashers when distances are far or when a customer doesn’t tip.

This is a call of action to get Doordash to stop being greedy and help the people that run yor delivery business.

Call us mobile bartenders, Dashers deliver alcohol as well.