10 Secrets To Driving For DoorDash

I always recommend diversifying your income by trying every on-demand app that is available in your area. You might find a service that works better for you, and diversifying allows you to always have a backup in case something goes wrong with your Uber or Lyft account.

DoorDash is one of the on-demand delivery apps that is worth looking into, and I found a great video by a YouTuber that gives a lot of good tips about DoorDash from an experienced driver.

The video is by Rideshare Panel. Give his video about DoorDash secrets a look, then scroll to the video transcript below to see all the points he covers.

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What’s going on, everybody? It’s your boy Jonathan with the Rideshare Panel. I’m coming at you today with 10 secrets for DoorDash drivers. A lot of these you probably didn’t know about.

I’ve been driving for DoorDash, running around with this red bag right here, making some deliveries for the past two months. And I have learned a ton. I’ve also talked to a couple veteran drivers and got their opinion to weigh in. So I spent a long time getting these secrets together, and I guarantee that they’re going to be very helpful for you. Make sure you tune in for the full list because there’s a lot on here that’s going to make your job a lot easier, and it’s going to lead to you earning more money as a DoorDash driver.

But before I hope into this list, I just wanted to do a quick shout-out to my subscribers. I want to say thank you so much for all the support. You guys have been sending so many positive emails and leaving tons of great comments in the comment section below, showing me how much you appreciate this advice, because there really isn’t a lot out there for DoorDash drivers and I’m doing my best to cover everything I can. So, once again, thank you for subscribing. I appreciate it so much. All right. Let’s go ahead and hop into these DoorDash secrets.

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Fast food pickups aren’t phoned in – Use the most convenient location

The first secret that you probably didn’t know about is that most fast food pickups aren’t phoned in. That means when you get a Starbucks order, you can go to any Starbucks to pick up that order, and a lot of times DoorDash will set you up driving to one that either isn’t on the way to your drop-off or isn’t that close to you. Because it hasn’t been phoned in and you’re paying with your Red Card, you can literally go to the most convenient location and pick up there instead.

Don’t worry too much about your acceptance rate

Long orders don’t really pay that much better, and you end up driving a long time. So the wear and tear on your car and the gas that you end up spending means that you’re probably delivering for free on these orders. Go ahead and just ignore them. Personally, I have a 60% acceptance rate, which by most standards is not that good. But I have yet to be deactivated for that reason.

Avoid delivering in downtown areas

A lot of times, surge pricing doesn’t really even get hired downtown, and parking can be absolutely crazy. This means more parking tickets, which really take a hit on your earnings. A lot of times when you’re delivering downtown, you also end up delivering to high-rise apartment buildings, and that means that not only do you have to find a place to park and worry about getting a ticket, then you have to head inside and go up maybe to the 15th floor to make a delivery, which ends up taking a long time to deliver and, once again, lowers your hourly earnings as a DoorDash dasher.

Always accept batched orders

This means that you get another delivery that’s already on your route, and you end up not driving a whole lot further but making a lot more pay. It’s the best way to increase your hourly earnings, but a lot of drivers avoid this because it can make customers angry when it takes them longer to get their food. The truth is that you’re not going to get enough batched orders most of the time for this to actually negatively affect your dasher rating, so don’t worry about it too much. Go ahead and make that extra money.

Dinnertime is the best time to deliver for DoorDash

You can also make some decent money delivering during the lunch hours and the breakfast hours, but you’re really going to get the most bang for your buck when you deliver during the dinnertime hours.

Tips about being deactivated

You will probably be deactivated delivering for DoorDash at some point in your driving history. It’s a fairly common thing, so just expect for it to happen. The best way to approach this is to actually go back into the office and talk to someone in person once you’re deactivated.

Always set the shortest possible dash time when you’re beginning your shift

When you’re dashing for surge pricing, you have to maintain an 80% acceptance rate. But longer dashes (shifts) make that harder to keep up because you’re going to get fed a lot of orders that are a long distance away that you’re not going to want to accept. A shorter dash time allows you to get out and lock in that surge pricing as quickly as possible.

Don’t argue with support

This is the fastest way to be deactivated by DoorDash. Support holds all the power in this case, and they can easily deactivate you. DoorDash support is honestly terrible, but you gotta be smart and not argue with them, and figure out another way to take out that frustration.

Always be as friendly and positive as possible

A lot of times, this can be difficult because customers can be really frustrating, but this is really the only way to keep up and get those good tips. Oh, and by the way, don’t expect to get a lot of good tips with DoorDash. The price for customers to order through the platform is a lot higher than other platforms, so by the time they place that delivery, they don’t really feel like tipping that much. If you want to get higher tips, try doing Amazon Flex Instant Offers.

Make sure that you’re diversifying ride-share app platforms

DoorDash isn’t really a one-ticket meal when it comes to delivery. There’s a lot of other great options out there, and you’re really only going to make money during the dinnertime hours with DoorDash. Other times of the day, you can definitely get orders, but it’s going to lower your hourly earnings significantly. It’s a good idea to apply for Amazon Flex if it’s in your area. It can be worth the long wait. Instant Offers with Amazon Flex definitely pay a little bit more than DoorDash, and you can also pick up normal Amazon Flex blocks during the daytime hours for guaranteed work at closer to $20 or $22 an hour.

That rounds out the top 10 secrets for DoorDash drivers. If I missed anything on here, make sure to leave a comment down below and let me know what’s up. I’d love to add some more advice for drivers, and I’d love to get a conversation going with you all. And, once again, make sure that you subscribe to the channel down because I’m going to be dropping a ton of great news for DoorDash delivery drivers.

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