Is UberEATS Worth It For Drivers?

Now that UberEATS has expanded to most Uber markets, there are lots of drivers out there who are wondering whether it’s worth it to accept EATS deliveries or not. And it’s not like you always have a choice — A lot of us were signed up for it without notice! So should you keep EATS deliveries active, or is it not worth it?

Youtuber munchkym made a great overview video that discusses whether she thinks it’s worth doing UberEATS. She makes some great points in the video, so check it out below and scroll to the video transcript to see the points she makes.

How UberEATS orders work: The process for drivers

The way Uber Eats works is you start by receiving the request. Uber Eats can be surging, but it’s unclear whether or not that shows on the heat map. If it is surging, it will say that it’s a surge with 1.4x, or whatever it is at that time. If you accept a request it will then take you to the food establishment, usually fast food. There you will need to park before going in to retrieve the item. You will have a order number, which is very important as establishments are supposed to check for it. You don’t want to end up with the wrong order.

Restaurants are supposed to be ready, but they usually aren’t. And fast food restaurants usually don’t start specific parts of the process until you’ve gotten there. This is because if they do, then maybe the fries will be cold, or the milk shake will be melted.

Once you’ve confirmed and picked up the order, you then go to the passenger. This is where you actually start getting paid. UberEats has a pick up fee, a drop off fee, and the time and distance from when you have the food in your hand to when you drop it off. At drop off there may be specific instructions, but often times it is curbside so they are expected to come out. Passengers don’t necessarily know this though!

The pros of driving for UberEATS

Let’s start with the pros. A big question I often see especially for women, is whether or not you’re allowed to bring someone with you when you’re doing Uber rides. The answer to this is no. That person has not been vetted by Uber, so there’s a huge liability. It also makes passengers uncomfortable, means that you have one less available seat, and it will get you deactivated as soon as it’s reported.

But with Uber Eats you can bring your husband, your dog, your kids, no one cares. So that’s better because a lot of people will feel safer. But it’s also nice for working parents who want to make some money, while they’re watching their kids. However, do not leave your dogs or kids in the car especially in summer. This is extremely dangerous, and we do not need people dying.

Although some passengers do not want to talk, most of them do. A big pro for Uber Eats is that you don’t really have to talk to people. None of that awkward small talk, no answering the same questions a million times about how long you’ve been driving, whether you have another job, blah blah blah. This is especially good for people who have anxiety disorders, or just aren’t very social. People who aren’t very comfortable with their English skills, people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Minimal communication is the number one reason I see that people enjoy Uber Eats. Occasionally you’ll get some free food. Sometimes the person that you’re supposed to drop off doesn’t grab it. Or sometimes there’s a long wait time at the restaurant, and they feel bad. McDonald’s will almost always give me a free coffee around 3:00AM.

So if you don’t have a super particular diet or anything. the free food can definitely be a pro. On UberEats you can sometimes get multiple orders to pick up, which is awesome. You only get one pick up fee, but you still get two drop off fees, and you’re paid for the entire trip from the pick up to the last drop off. So the passengers are only paying for the mileage between each order. Customer one is paying for pick up to their drop off. Customer two is paying for drop off there to their drop off et cetera, et cetera.

An additional pro is that the ratings and comments are separate from passenger runs. They are also as I think ratings should be. They are thumbs up and thumbs down. This is great because if you’re someone who really cares about your rating, it’s not going to negatively impact it if you have a bad day on Eats.

The cons of driving for UberEATS

People tend to talk about the cons of UberEATS more than the pros. There is a lot of waiting. Waiting at the restaurant, waiting for the passenger to answer their door or come out to the car, as someone who doesn’t like waiting this is particularly a nuisance for me.

People rarely tip on Uber Eats. This is both because people rarely tip delivery drivers in general, but it’s also because Uber Eats is really bad at actually showing the tipping pop up. If you think Uber is bad, which it is, Eats is even worse. When they do tip, it’s really not much. It usually sucks for the restaurant workers, especially if their server’s working a server wage. In case you don’t know, most servers in the US are paid less than minimum wage, and that additional is paid by their tips.

When a server is working on Eats orders they’re not working on their tables, or maybe they still have tables and they’re spending less time on them. That negatively impacts their tips. Although that may not suck for you, it is something to be aware of because some times the servers are kind of rude to us.

Finding parking is terrible. This is true for anywhere ever. If the restaurant doesn’t have it’s own parking, you may actually have to pay for parking at a meter, and no one likes that.

Is it worth it to drive for UberEATS?

Whether or not Eats is worth it is totally up to you. Some drivers only want to do Eats, some drivers will never turn it on. But if you are going to do it, here’s a couple tips to help you do it best.

Get a hot and cold bag, some people don’t use them but there are restaurants that will not allow you to pick up without one. Or they’ll rate you poorly for professionalism. I know they seem really unnecessary, but they really do make a big difference. They help the food stay hot or cold, they can effect your tips because customers are happier when their food is the temperature it’s supposed to be.

And this one is huge, if you’re doing Uber and Uber Eats using the hot and cold bag and actually zipping it up can trap in the smell. This is essential, because when you get your next passenger and they come in and it smells like McDonald’s they’re going to want to stop. Or they’re just going to rate you poorly because it smells funny. Trapping in the smell can also help you personally, which leads to my next tip. Which is eat first. Having all that food around is going to make you hungry. So, eat something.

Don’t accept far away trips, especially if they’re for a fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s. Passengers are usually going to be using a restaurant close to them. Ten minute drive to go pick up MC. Donald’s is probably only going to be three minutes to drop it off at your passenger. And that’s the part you’re actually getting paid for. Follow the directions for drop off. If there are specific directions, they will show up. So, make sure you’re paying attention to that. They can sometimes be hard to find, but this is going to be the difference between a tip, or not a tip.

I hope this was helpful, as always feel free find me at my other links in the description. Please don’t find me in other ways besides those links. Questions and comments are always encouraged. And I will see you next time!