Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (2024)

Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (1)

Drivers for third-party delivery apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and GrubHub experienced a flood of orders at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as restaurants closed forin-person dining and patrons largely decided to enjoy their meals at home.

Carryout and delivery orders have surged, but the spike in demand for their services hasn’t resulted in a windfall, drivers said.

More orders initially meant higher pay for many, but as more drivers joined the apps, competition increasedand customers seemed less willing to sign for a tip, drivers said. Services pay commission based on the cost of an order, but drivers said that many orders aren't worth taking without a gratuity.

DoorDash added 1.9 million new drivers between mid-March and September of last year, a spokesperson said.

“I feel that there was quite an upswing in people signing up for these services,” said Nate Vanderhoof, a 42-year-old Uber Eats driver who lives on the Far East Side. “It’s fairly easy to make money. You go out and drive when you want, stop when you want. There's no set schedule.”

Drivers said they are making just as much money as they did before the pandemic, despite a surge in business.

“It’s been better and worse,” said Alyssa Jones, 26, of Ashville. Drivers get “more offers, but no one wants to tip.”

More:Columbus restaurants win city measure limiting food-delivery fees

Tips are crucial

Food delivery drivers for third-party delivery apps are independent contractors who get paid perdelivery, making their salaries dependent on the volume of deliveries — and tips — rather than hours worked.

Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (2)

“I'm on a couple of the Uber Facebook pages, and that's one of the complaints, thatthere’s a lot of rideshare drivers,” Vanderhoof said. “They talk about the good old days when there weren't as many drivers, they were a lot busierand they would make more money.”

The apps said the total tips drivers received increased in 2020, according to their statistics. Across GrubHub and the GrubHub-owned Seamless, customers tipped an average of 15% more, company spokesman Grant Klinzman said.

“So if a diner was tipping 20% before, they tipped more than 22% during the pandemic,” he said in an email.

Order sizes, which also typically mean higher tips, also have increased following the coronavirus outbreak, he said.

Klinzman said the company doesn’t release information on its pay rates, but stressed that GrubHub helps drivers calculate their pay rate through its website.

Column:If you want to help local restaurants, don't use delivery services like Grubhub or Uber Eats

Paying the bills

Most of the drivers contacted for this story said they work part-time, supplementing income from other jobs. A minority said they depend on third-party delivery services to pay their bills. Those are the drivers who said they struggle the most.

Jones said she started delivering for GrubHub, UberEats and DoorDash after her daughter was diagnosed with autism. Frequent and irregularly scheduleddoctor's appointments made a full-time job with traditional hours impossible.

"I couldn't work a full-time job with her appointments,and she needed extra help at home," she said.

Third-party delivery services afforded her the chance to work on her own schedule, but when asked whether she makes enough to pay her bills, Jones said, “It depends on the tips, but mostly no."

Jones said she often is stuck working long hours now that customers are less generous, and she finds herself holding out forlarger deliveries and bigger tips to make ends meet.

Vanderhoof drives for Uber and Uber Eats to supplement income from his primary job. But when he was unemployed for several months at the height of the pandemic, the apps were his only income.

“In an eight-hour shift, my goal would be to make a minimum of $100,” he said. But to achieve that, “I would usually go past” eight hours of work time.

Vanderhoof earned enough to pay his bills, but it was tight.

“I learned how to budget pretty good,” he said. “If I had big bills coming, I knew that I had to drive more, stay out longer, and drive during the most opportune times.”

Even so, Vanderhoof said he likes the work and feels the money he makes more than offsets the cost of gas and car maintenance. Servicespaya commission for each delivery, but drivers are responsible for gas, car repair and maintenance, and insurance.

Tracking expenses

Sarah Dygert, 36, of Victorian Village, said she was able to make ends meet driving for DoorDash full-time by working out an intricate system. She tracksthe location and hours she workedandthe orders she received to identifythe best times and places to work.

“If you're willing to put in the work and keep driving and keep accepting orders, then it’s all based around when you want to work,” she said.

Dygert worked as a bartender and server for the District Pourhouse in the Gateway District near Ohio State University’s campus. But the bar and restaurant closed when Gov. Mike DeWine shuttered most nonessential businesses in mid-March, and Dygert found herself unemployed.

She said the money she made delivering meals completely replaced her salary and tips from the District Pourhouse, helping her pay her bills and save a small amount of money once her obligations were met.

Richard Figley, 68, of Clintonville, delivered for food appsbefore the pandemic as a supplement to his Social Security checks. He is one of the few drivers who said he subtracted the cost of gas and car repair from his overall income, and he was unimpressed with the results.

Figley is an Air Force veteran whoworks as a marketing consultant.

“If you take into account wear and tear on your carand everything else that goes into it, you come out making about $10 an hour,” he said. “It looks good because you have a lot of cash, but if you put it into an Excel spreadsheet (comparing expenses with revenue), you quickly find out that you're not making any money.”

Volume vs.quality

The commission attached to a delivery depends on the size of the order, and drivers said they see more orders for inexpensive fast food meals now that Ohioans are mostly staying home.

Drivers have different philosophies on small orders. Some take as many deliveries as they can, others hold out for the most expensive meals.

“Any opportunity is a good opportunity for me,” Vanderhoof said. “Sometimes it's a super short ride where I'm only pulling in $3 for a couple miles. To me, that means it was quick, and I can move on to the next ride.”

Cassandra Flore, 36, of Gahanna takes a different approach, one she gradually honed in her nearly three years driving for DoorDash and UberEats.

"I'm a single mom, and I needed a second job that let me work when it was convenient," she said.

The search for a side gig led her to Uber, a ride-share service that pays drivers a commission for each ride. The service introduced her to UberEats a few years ago.

"I hated it at first, but then I really got into it," she said.

“I've been doing it for so long, I learned tricks of the trade,” she said. “When I first started doing it, I thought you had to accept everything they sent you. I realized like a year later that you don't really get penalized for declining trips.”

Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (4)

The services incentivize drivers to take every order, offering perks to those who don’t refuse deliveries. But drivers overwhelmingly said those perks aren't worth it.

DoorDash, for example, bestows “Top Dasher” status on those who accept the most orders. The service won’t let drivers take deliveries in certain neighborhoods with too many active drivers. But a “Top Dasher” can take deliveries anywhere.

Columbus, however,is so busy, neighborhoods are rarely off-limits for long, Flore said.

“The benefit is not good enough,” she said.

Customer complaints seem to have surged along with food orders, drivers said. While drivers aren’t financially liable if a customer says their food was coldor didn’t arrive on time and asks for their money back, too many complaints can geta driver kicked off the platform.

To ensure prompt deliveries, driver Jennifer Nelson, who delivers for UberEats and DoorDash, said the apps give drivers a strict schedule.

“When you're given an order, you are given a time that you need to pick up by and then a time that you need a drop off by,” she said. “So both Uber and DoorDash pretty much control the timing of everything.”

Despite the expansion in the ranks of third-party delivery drivers, the apps aren’t an option for everyone.

Figley, for example, decided the odds of contracting coronavirus are too great a risk and stopped driving near the beginning of the pandemic.

“I’ve got some health issues, and if I got COVID, that would be really problematic,” he said.

Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (5)

pcooley@dispatch.com

@PatrickACooley

Is delivering food in Columbus worth it? Drivers for apps say orders are up and tips down (2024)

FAQs

How much do Uber Eats drivers make in Columbus, Ohio? ›

How much does an Uber Eats Delivery Driver make in Columbus, Ohio? As of Aug 11, 2024, the average hourly pay for an Uber Eats Delivery Driver in Columbus is $18.80 an hour.

What food delivery app makes drivers the most money? ›

Here's how top delivery apps stack up, wage-wise
Food delivery appHourly wage
Uber Eats$20.00
Grubhub$18.12
Amazon Flex$18.09
Instacart$18.00
1 more row
Jul 19, 2024

How much do DoorDash drivers make in Columbus, Ohio? ›

Total salary range for DoorDash Delivery Driver Hourly Pay in Columbus, OH. The estimated total pay range for a Delivery Driver at DoorDash is $18–$26 per hour, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Delivery Driver base salary at DoorDash is $18 per hour.

How much does an Uber driver make in Columbus? ›

How much does an Uber Driver make in Columbus, Ohio? As of Aug 6, 2024, the average hourly pay for an Uber Driver in Columbus is $16.30 an hour.

Does DoorDash or Uber Eats pay more? ›

Based on what drivers make per delivery, Uber appears to come out on top. These are 2022 numbers for median deliveries per order. Although Uber Eats earnings per trip are 18% higher compared to DoorDash, DoorDash drivers complete 1.5 trips for every trip completed by an Uber Eats driver.

How much do Uber Eats drivers make before tips? ›

What do Uber Eats earnings look like? EmpowerHustle.com reports the Uber Eats base pay rate is around $2.00. This rate might be higher if a variable such as distance, time, or demand exceeds what is “normal” for Uber Eats orders in your area.

What is the most successful food delivery app? ›

DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE:DASH) is the most popular food delivery service in the country, having an overwhelming 65% of the market share along with its subsidiaries. It is followed at second with 23% by Uber Eats, which is owned by Uber Technologies, Inc.

Which food delivery service is most worth it? ›

Most restaurant options

Uber Eats and Postmates are great options for people who want the most food options and the fastest delivery and don't mind paying for it. Uber bought Postmates in 2020. The main difference is that you can order an Uber in Uber Eats, not Postmates.

What kind of delivery driver makes the most money? ›

Among delivery driver positions, Local Delivery Drivers and Home Delivery Drivers are among the highest earners, with salaries ranging from $39,000 to $195,000 per year for Local Delivery Drivers, and Home Delivery Drivers potentially earning between $180,000 and $195,000 annually.

What food delivery app pays out instantly? ›

Instant Cashout is feature on the GrubHub for Driver app that lets you cash out your available earnings directly into your bank account—so you can get paid faster.

Are any of the food delivery apps profitable? ›

It's not clear where food delivery goes from here. Uber, DoorDash and Meituan all appear to have profitable businesses, but Deliveroo, Just Eat and Delivery Hero are all struggling to be both profitable and growing. More consolidation may be on the cards.

What is the best driving app to work for? ›

Ride-Hailing and Delivery Driving Apps to Make Money
  • Lyft. Pay per hour: $17-30. ...
  • Uber. Pay per hour: $18-33. ...
  • Shipt. Pay per hour: $17-27. ...
  • Spark Driver. Pay per hour: $18. ...
  • Amazon Flex. Pay per hour: $17-21. ...
  • Roadie. Pay per hour: $17. ...
  • GoShare. Pay per hour: $20-36. ...
  • FedEx SameDay. Pay per hour: $21-32. Google Play link: 4.5 (272K reviews)

How to make $1000 a week with Uber Eats? ›

If your goal is $1,000 a week driving for Uber Eats, you'll need to put in 50 hours if you're earning at an average rate. While you might be able to do that working typical Monday through Friday dayshift hours, you'll have better odds of maximizing your earnings if you work weekends and evenings.

Does Uber Eats or DoorDash pay more? ›

The combination of Uber Eats' base pay and tips comes in 25% to 33% lower than DoorDash. However, if DoorDash drivers are making more deliveries per hour than Grubhub and Uber Eats drivers, one might think they would receive more tips.

How much do Uber Eats drivers make per trip? ›

Earnings per trip

According to Gridwise, the average delivery driver makes $15.84 per hour, or $9.37 per trip. But, drivers can simply do their own calculations to determine their hourly rate by factoring in how many deliveries they expect to make per hour.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Amb. Frankie Simonis

Last Updated:

Views: 5711

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (76 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Amb. Frankie Simonis

Birthday: 1998-02-19

Address: 64841 Delmar Isle, North Wiley, OR 74073

Phone: +17844167847676

Job: Forward IT Agent

Hobby: LARPing, Kitesurfing, Sewing, Digital arts, Sand art, Gardening, Dance

Introduction: My name is Amb. Frankie Simonis, I am a hilarious, enchanting, energetic, cooperative, innocent, cute, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.