Should you drive for UberEats?

Are you thinking about driving for UberEats to make some quick extra cash? I've done a tiny bit of regular Uber driving and a bit more of UberEats driving. Regular Uber driving is not for everyone. Apart from the usual, requiring a clean driving record, a newer car, and living in a city that offers Uber services, you'll need to enjoy continually meeting new people and engaging in chit-chat while being keenly aware of your driving. Regular Uber driving is not for me. UberEats driving, on the other hand, requires only picking up food from a restaurant and dropping it off to a customer (usually at their front door). Just delivering food from point A to B before it gets cold and a few cheerful greetings. Income equates to a bit above minimum wage (or maybe more if you can optimize your routine) once all your expense factors are considered.

The Pros

Work any day you like at any time you like. Of course, lunch and dinner times are ideal for maximizing your income. Do just one delivery a day or do thirty, it's completely up to you.

Weekly payouts happen every Monday directly to your bank account (and the cash is usually accessible to you by Wednesday). It is also possible to get paid right away if you sign up for their Flex Pay option.

No dealing with money exchange as all payments and tips are handled within the UberEats app.

You do not need to spend time/money to keep your car as clean since customers won't be looking inside and will rarely care about the outside.

No stress from making navigation mistakes as nobody is watching you. Many times, I have missed a turn or have a bit of difficulty finding the customer, but it doesn't really matter as long as the food gets delivered in the end.

No chit-chatting with customers if that's not your thing. Although, I would advise providing a friendly greeting as you hand over the food.

You get to learn about new places to dine at. I know I've personally been introduced to a few local places I didn't even know existed that had items I want to try out.

The Cons

You are doing more work for usually less cash (than doing regular Uber driving). Each trip requires you to get out of your vehicle, stand in line to wait for food to be prepared and/or packaged (more often than not, it will NOT be ready when you arrive). Get out of the car again to hand the food to the customer.

When you are first starting out, you will have some difficulty finding parking for the occasional restaurant (especially downtown locations). With time and experience, you will get to know all the popular UberEats restaurants in your service area and this will no longer be an issue.

Most trips are short, as this is food delivery and the product needs to reach the customer without getting cold. Short trips equate to less money per trip. Although, this may be a positive for you if you don't want to make longer trips.

Wear and tear on your car is to be expected, but this is the case with any type of delivery job. You will also be paying for your gas, so keep track of it. If you are up for it, you can opt to do bicycle deliveries if supported in your service area. In essence, getting paid to exercise. When doing bike deliveries, the system will prioritize assigning the shortest deliveries with smaller orders to you.

Some people don't like their car smelling of food, but I personally don't mind this.

Hints

You should get an insulated delivery bag or two. I have one cube-shaped bag for most deliveries and a larger pizza bag for pizza. I also carry a printed out sign in the car which says "UberEats - Driver on delivery - Please allow 10 minutes" just in case I need to do some questionable parking (which I really try to avoid). Some drivers will put in the extra effort to send a "Got your food, heading you way now" message to the customer once they are leaving the restaurant as well as a thank-you message after successful delivery. I put vidberg.com/delivery in my profile blurb just in case customers check me out it gives them a bit of extra information. All this is done to try and increase the chance of getting a tip from a satisfied customer.

Verdict

If you really need to make some money quickly, have a car, and don't want to provide Uber taxi service, UberEats is the way to go. There are other food delivery gig economy companies out there as well like Skip The Dishes, DoorDash, GrubHub, Postmates and possibly others. I can't compare these as I only have experience with Uber. If you decide to sign up, please use my referral code dsac6ue which gets me and you extra bonuses.

Safe driving!