Parking is always necessary while doing food delivery. You have to park until the food is ready and delivered to the designated residence. Since companies do not compensate for parking, it only makes sense that delivery drivers find ways to avoid spots with parking fees. 

The easiest way out of it is to find a spot without a meter, but sometimes you don’t get that lucky, especially in crowded urban settings. Here are some ways to avoid paying for parking while working food deliveries in the gig economy. 

An Out of Order Parking Meter

If a meter is broken and not replaced yet, you can park there for a certain amount of time. This period of grace is usually an hour. Most of the time, if you’re picking up a food order and have to wait, you won’t wait that long. To be safe, check how long your district or city allows this.

Ensure that you are not mistaking a parking meter that allows for a different payment form than your preferred one.  

The Food Delivery Community

Every area has its tips and tricks. Connect to your local network of rideshare and food delivery drivers. Some may be doing gigs longer than you and would be happy to let you know how to avoid paying for parking in different parts of the city. 

Turning on the Lights

Another great tip is to turn your hazard lights on. You can do this when you’re sure you will be only staying for a few seconds. Like, making a quick exchange of the food that is to be delivered. It’s less likely that you will get into any trouble for this, and you will be done in a couple of seconds before anyone notices and gives you a ticket.   

Courtesy Parking Cancellation

In most cities, you are given one exemption from paying for parking. This exemption is because of Courtesy Cancellation. Every driver gets one cancellation on their ticket. It helps if you check whether it applies to the city you are in as well. Your license number will be logged with the ticket cancellation. Which is why you can use this only once.

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