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5 DoorDash Hacks For 2018

Food delivery platform DoorDash is a quickly expanding gig economy company that claims its Dashers can earn up to $25 per hour. However, most Dashers don’t see that top dollar earning level.

If you’re working for DoorDash or considering the platform, here is a list of hacks to try.

1. Use Peak Times

Most Dashers don’t find it helpful to Dash during breakfast hours. The best daytime hours to work for DoorDash are probably during lunch—around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The peak shift, however, is between around 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Peak hours can vary by area and app. It can be helpful for you to keep a weekly schedule of which apps peak at which times for your area.

Unfortunately for those who work multiple platforms, DoorDash peak hours fall around the same time as peak hours for other platforms, such as Uber and Lyft. However, rideshare peak hours tend to end a little earlier on weeknights, so couriers still have the option of working part of peak hours on DoorDash and part on a rideshare.

(Speaking of which…)

2. Use Multiple Apps

Working in the gig economy means you’re running your own business, and that means you have no obligation to stay with one platform. In fact, using multiple platforms at once can be helpful no matter which one you tend to prefer.

Rather than sitting and waiting for an order from DoorDash, consider using your time more efficiently by switching to another app and seeing what orders are available there. This can also be helpful if you work during peak times, because it will enable you to check which platforms are offering the most for a delivery.

3. Drive Efficiently

Driving efficiently is more than just a matter of not getting lost (although that’s important, too). Rather, there are small ways you can maximize your time in order to finish the most orders in an hour. For example, consider checking for the best entrance or parking location before you start driving. This can save you from wasting time by having to drive around to a parking spot or entrance you missed the first time.

Driving efficiently can also mean not taking deliveries that are far away, unless you are getting paid a significant bonus for taking that order. This can also mean opting to not rush to an area that suddenly has a lot of orders, since those orders are likely to be gone by the time you get there. Generally, it’s better to stay in a smaller radius and wait for the orders to come to you (hopefully from multiple platforms).

4. Make Multiple Deliveries

This one isn’t always possible, but if you are using multiple apps, you may be able to pick up deliveries for more than one customer on the same route. For example, if you could pick up a DoorDash order and then an uberEATS order a block later, you could get twice the pay for your time.

5. Customer Service

This should go without saying, but great customer service is always going to help your income. Happy customers tip, and simple customer service tricks can push them to tip you better. For example, handing a customer their receipt back can be a simple shift that will remind them to leave a tip every time.

8 Comments

  1. Ana

    You to use multiple apps. It would have been great if you’d shared. Which other apps can I download and use? Now are these other apps offering their own income or are they assisting DoorDash?

    1. Courier Hacker

      Which city are you in Ana?

      I have the following apps on my phone – Caviar, DoorDash, Postmates, Grubhub, Instacart, Lyft, Uber.

  2. Kyle stack

    In a gig community you have to be fast and work multiple customers and multitask two apps and two maps . Some go as far as two phones and they bring a friend to help and offer them lunch to lol . But if you really think about it your like a chef . Your working 2 to 5 different main dishes for 10 costumers who all want them slightly different but your trying to do it with out an hour wait , keeping a smile on there face and hoping they leave a tip or compliment. All at the same time wondering hey can I serve $200 worth of costumers this hour or is it a slow $50 dollar day . Granite a chef is paid buy the hour but I’m sure you get the point . Your gonna have rude customers . Your gonna have made a 10 min drive one way to see oh the customer canceled his order . Your gonna have no tips. Now McDonald’s is putting drive threw orders before doordash . We had to pull up and wait as the served 12 other costumers . 30 min wait we pull around say we have been waiting !!only to get a bunch of laughes. Apparently they forgot about us . Wegmans is awesome for finding groceries . Aldies is ok once you have been in the same one a few dozen times . Tops Markets don’t even get me started.. if your a new shopper and you have to shop for 60 items at tops for less then $25 it’s probably not worth the stress or the money . Very unorganized to much running around . Continuesly had to find employees to help with finding items and the worst part if your on the clock for instacart you can get in trouble if you refuse a order . And yesterday I worked 10 hours that’s at least 300 pot holes in rochester NY an hour so I would hope my costomer knows im doing my best to not destroy my car , be on time and they know I and many more workers have a mind set to make hopefully over $10 an hour after gas . And granite two apps can be to much for some people , it can be done . But what I find a little rude maybe a little funny . I get to a restaurant to pick up a doordash and the costomer in front of me gets so mad it’s a hour in a half wait to be seated cause it’s busy on a Saturday at 9:30pm . Like really have you never been out on the weekend . So I pick up my door dash and in a hot bag mind you and I have to drop off my instacart groceries it’s 5 mins in the other direction and according to the map door dash is 13 mins the other way . So this is how it goes groceries were picked up first plus there closer . Second my hot food is in a hot bag is a 13 min drive or a 18 min drive going to affect the temperature … Slightly are they both going to be slightly late yes should the costomer be mad and take it out on me …. For one you can nuke it. I really hope I was not that late and second you forget you could have been that customer that want out and you would still have 1 hour and 12 mins of waiting to be seated . So from my personal experience your always going to run into unhappy people but if you want to make $25 an hour it can be done if you willing to work hard smile and strive for it. And hopefully your tires don’t roll away lol

  3. Brad

    I tried both apps last night and it was disastrous. You only have a finite amount of time to accept an order. I’m not sure how you are suppose to analyze both the restaurant address and the delivery address on both apps, map them out to determine if they are all in the same route, research the correct way to get into the complex all within 15 seconds. This is very flawed advise. The only realistic tips on this article are the following;

    1. Use Peak Times
    2. Use Multiple Apps (pausing one or the other depending on which order comes thru first)
    5. Customer Service

  4. James

    I multiapp. I run 3 apps at once. What I do is decline until I get an order I like. Once accepted. I turn off the other apps until im 5 mins to dropoff. With Doordash I just pause as u get 35 mins to do so. I schedule my shifts in 1-2 hour increments. I average 3 rides an hour at $20/hr. Works for me. I worked 4 hours tonight at $17/hr. Was kinda slow. Multiapping is the only way to make it work like that. If u only use one app ur not gonna make our well consistently

    1. Ana

      Which other apps are there to multitask with?

      1. Courier Hacker

        It depends on your city. Not every app is available in a region. Where are you from?

  5. Michael

    Not to be a negative nancy because I can tell you mean well but there’s a few things to add that could turn that good advice into a bad time pretty quick.
    If you work multiple apps you have to pause the Doordash app if you expect to not get orders. On Doordash you can only pause for 20 minutes before it will force orders on you or kick you off. I also realise thats only an issue if you have to use schedualing as opposed to dash now. In my area I hardly ever see the dash now.
    I highly suggest not running two apps at once. Number four usually if not always contradicts your number five. Even if your able to pick up both orders next to each other most apps give the customer the ability to see your location. Almost every time I ever tried to make a seperate stop between a delivery ive been contacted by my customer to ask why I’m not headed straight to the drop off location or why I’m not waiting on the customers order. Ive tried every excuse i can think of and nothing ever mattered.
    Im not sure why I’m taking the time to respond to your article because I never really do this kind of thing but I just wanted to share those few points. Thanks!

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