I am starting this thread in hopes that there are some others using 2 wheels for this gig. There are some FB groups but they are dominated by car drivers. They are also 49% about people bitching about bad tips, 49% about tin foil hat conspiracies about DD stealing tips, 2% helpful content, and 0% about doing it on 2 wheels. There seems to be some nuances to doing this on a moto where it might be helpful to have some people discussing different strategies.
My story:
A few years ago, I looked at some of the other delivery companies and they prohibited motorcycles, so I gave up on that idea. Recently, I had seen someone mentioned they were doing DD on a motorcycle. To take advantage of some nice weather, I downloaded the app and signed up, just as a experiment. I bolted a milk crate to the back of the Honda Trail 125, installed a phone charger and cradle, off I went to see what this is all about.
That day, I rode for about 3 hours and cashed out at around $32/hr. A couple days later, I got 5 hours in again, and cashed out at $28/hr. A couple more shifts resulted in right around $28/hr. There seems to be an algorithm at work here but it is all speculation on how it works exactly. Lots of people say to be picky and turn down orders that have low pay, my first day, I took every order unless it was taking me real far away. Following days, I only took higher dollar orders and my hourly rate went down. It is an ongoing experiment and this small sample is far from conclusive.
Yesterday, I contacted DD directly and asked what would happen if I changed my mode of transportation to a car. They said I would get bigger orders. Bigger orders equals higher tips. So I told them to add the car. Then last night, I went out in the car, just to see how big the orders might get and what might happen if I “forgot” to change my mode of transportation back to the scooter. All of the orders could have fit on the bike, no problem. The dollar amounts were a good bit higher, but it was a time of day that I had not worked before, so not sure if that is a factor. I don’t know how people manage this gig in a car, the scooter is so easy, just pull up and park almost anywhere. Because the car took more time to maneuver, I cashed out at $25/hr for a few hours. I really don’t know the maintenance costs on the scooter and per mile costs. It gets 125mpg, so fuel is not an issue at all. I’ll see how long the tires last, and the drivetrain.
So far, this seems like a fun thing to do if I have a little free time on a nice day. It is slightly addicting, it is almost like playing a video game, trying to work the system, trying to get orders done quickly, taking short cuts around town, while the app is dinging new orders In my headset. I should mention, some type of headset is almost mandatory. The phone is on my bars and it will ding with a new order. I will have 20-60 seconds to respond and accept the order. I get a ding and have to quickly pull off the road to respond.
The weather has gotten chilly again and the next 7 days do not look good for getting out. I’ll take this time to try and sort out a better system for carrying items on the bike. I am looking at a catering bag, it is insulated and of a big size.
My story:
A few years ago, I looked at some of the other delivery companies and they prohibited motorcycles, so I gave up on that idea. Recently, I had seen someone mentioned they were doing DD on a motorcycle. To take advantage of some nice weather, I downloaded the app and signed up, just as a experiment. I bolted a milk crate to the back of the Honda Trail 125, installed a phone charger and cradle, off I went to see what this is all about.
That day, I rode for about 3 hours and cashed out at around $32/hr. A couple days later, I got 5 hours in again, and cashed out at $28/hr. A couple more shifts resulted in right around $28/hr. There seems to be an algorithm at work here but it is all speculation on how it works exactly. Lots of people say to be picky and turn down orders that have low pay, my first day, I took every order unless it was taking me real far away. Following days, I only took higher dollar orders and my hourly rate went down. It is an ongoing experiment and this small sample is far from conclusive.
Yesterday, I contacted DD directly and asked what would happen if I changed my mode of transportation to a car. They said I would get bigger orders. Bigger orders equals higher tips. So I told them to add the car. Then last night, I went out in the car, just to see how big the orders might get and what might happen if I “forgot” to change my mode of transportation back to the scooter. All of the orders could have fit on the bike, no problem. The dollar amounts were a good bit higher, but it was a time of day that I had not worked before, so not sure if that is a factor. I don’t know how people manage this gig in a car, the scooter is so easy, just pull up and park almost anywhere. Because the car took more time to maneuver, I cashed out at $25/hr for a few hours. I really don’t know the maintenance costs on the scooter and per mile costs. It gets 125mpg, so fuel is not an issue at all. I’ll see how long the tires last, and the drivetrain.
So far, this seems like a fun thing to do if I have a little free time on a nice day. It is slightly addicting, it is almost like playing a video game, trying to work the system, trying to get orders done quickly, taking short cuts around town, while the app is dinging new orders In my headset. I should mention, some type of headset is almost mandatory. The phone is on my bars and it will ding with a new order. I will have 20-60 seconds to respond and accept the order. I get a ding and have to quickly pull off the road to respond.
The weather has gotten chilly again and the next 7 days do not look good for getting out. I’ll take this time to try and sort out a better system for carrying items on the bike. I am looking at a catering bag, it is insulated and of a big size.
