Updated: 07/04/2021

One of the more common complaints of on-demand food delivery gigs is low wages. So how do you go about making good money delivering for on-demand food startups? Firstly, you need to know that on-demand food delivery drivers must be mindful of both On-Delivery Time and On-Duty Time. The former is the amount of time spent completing deliveries. The latter is the total amount of time the courier is available to accept jobs. To achieve a good income, couriers have to keep a minimal difference between these two times. A greater difference between the two times means the courier spends too much time between jobs being idle.

So, what should you do?

The most obvious way to keep the difference between these two times minimal, and increase your earnings, is stacking delivery jobs. But, conversely, couriers who don’t frequently stack jobs will typically have a significant difference between their On Delivery Time and their On-Duty Time.

But, before you run off and start stacking delivery jobs, it’s essential to know which jobs you should and shouldn’t stack. All jobs are stackable. However, not all stacks are practical. An excellent way to know which jobs are suitable to stack is to look at the Pickup and Drop-off locations. I typically analyze these locations near each other before moving forward with a stack.

Below are several common scenarios to consider before you decide stacking delivery jobs.

Scenario 1: Further Same-Direction Pick-ups 

In this scenario, the courier is heading toward a drop-off location. A new job with a pickup location in the same direction as the ongoing drop-off location becomes available. However, the second pickup location is further down the road from the drop-off location (see image below).

The courier (blue) is heading toward a drop-off location (gray) in the example above. A second job becomes available, and the pick-up location (green) is in the same direction the courier is heading. However, it’s past the drop-off location of the first order. This scenario can be profitable since the courier gets closer to the second pick-up location as they work to complete the first order.
However, this situation isn’t as ideal as if the second pick-up location is between the courier and the first drop-off location (see the following scenario).

Scenario 2: Closer Same-Direction Pick-ups

In this scenario, the courier is heading toward a drop-off when a new job becomes available with a pick-up location that is in the same direction as the pick-up. However, unlike Scenario 2, the second pick-up location is in-between the courier and the first drop-off. This is a very practical stack as the courier is getting closer to the first drop-off location and can pick-up the second order along the way toward the first drop-off.

Scenario 3: Same Direction Drop-Offs

In this scenario, the courier accepts multiple jobs (for the same restaurant or different restaurants), and the drop-off locations are in the same direction from the courier’s current location. This is a very practical stack.  

This type of stack is harder to come by for couriers driving for Postmates. The courier will have to reject several available jobs before accepting the job with the right pick-up location arises.

Caviar’s platform has a larger degree of automation when it comes to dispatching, and therefore couriers typically will be assigned by the algorithm what is called a Batched Delivery. Batched Deliveries typically will fit this scenario (see images below).

This the best stack possible:

Scenario 4: Opposite Drop-Off Locations

In this scenario, the courier accepts two jobs (from the same restaurant or different restaurants) and discovers that the drop-off locations are in the opposite direction of the restaurant the courier is currently at. This is the most impractical stack because the courier moves further away from the second drop-off location as they head toward the first drop-off location. This scenario totally sucks because the courier will have accepted the jobs before they realize how impractical the stack is.

Scenario 5: Opposite Direction Pick-up

In this scenario, the courier is heading toward a drop-off when a new job becomes available, and the pick-up location is in the opposite direction of the ongoing drop-off (see example image below).

In terms of time and distance, this is an impractical stack because the courier (blue dot) gets further away from the location of the second pick-up as they complete the first order. However, depending on how far the second pick-up location is, a courier can exercise discretion.

Sometimes the choice to not stack is obvious, like in the example below:

Final Thoughts

To make the best use of time, couriers should avoid scenarios four and five as much as possible. Scenario 2 and 3 are practical stack situation for couriers.

Gut instincts and general knowledge of the city will allow you to make the right judgment call and reject scenarios that are not practical. However, if couriers found themselves in undesirable stack scenarios, the best thing to do is to inform the customers of the situation and let them know you’re working as fast as you can to complete multiple orders. This gives the customer some information to base their evaluation when rating you (if applicable). Good communication will help your chance of getting a tip from the customer also.

Related Topics:

• The 5 Key Skills You Need To Make $1400 A Week With Food Delivery
• How Do Batched Deliveries And Chained Deliveries Differ?