What Does the Doordash Heat Map Really Mean?

In this post, I am going to talk about the Doordash heat map. We are told that the heat map is a good source for dashers to know which regions are hot. We are also led to believe that when a region is hot that there are lots of orders to be filled. It does seem to make sense. After all, when we don't have a regular schedule and are trying to dash using the dash-now option, a region has to be either light pink, pink or red for us to login.

Dashers that don't have a schedule and use the dash-now option to begin dashing are dependent on the heat map. A gray region will indicate that no help is needed, and a dasher will not be able to log in to that particular region. That does not mean that the dasher cannot work at all. If another region is hot with a light pink, pink or red color, the dasher will be able to login and start working immediately in that region if they choose to.

The red regions indicate that dashers are needed and can log in to work

While newbies may not understand exactly how the Doordash heat map works, an experienced dasher will know how to use the heat map to their advantage. Most dashers prefer to schedule their shifts, but there are some people that prefer to use the dash-now option to start working. Even those that prefer scheduled shifts will sometimes not get their preferred schedule for whatever reason, and they will have to take advantage of the dash-now option.

Whether somebody is an experienced or new Doordash driver, it seems that many people do not understand exactly what the color of a region really means. The Doordash app seems to be self-explanatory about the subject, but it is a bit misleading. We know that we can only login to a region when it is hot, but the real reason that a region is hot may surprise you.

How Doordash explains the heat map

When viewing the Doordash driver app, a user will notice that there are many different regions. When a dasher does not have a schedule and wants to work, he will have to analyze the heat map so that he can login with the dash-now option. Throughout the day, it will also be noticed that the color of each region will change. This is known as the Doordash heat map, and is how Doordash lets drivers know when help is needed in a certain area. By default, the color of each region is gray. There are three other colors that a region can display which are a very light pink, regular pink and red.

When a region is gray, no help is needed in that area. If you try to "Dash Now" in a region that is gray, you will receive a message that states "All orders are currently being delivered. Schedule a dash for later?" You cannot login and start dashing in a region that is gray as other dashers in that region have the capability to handle the orders.

When a region is light pink, you will be able to login and start dashing in that area. Doordash explains this color to mean that there are some orders in the region. Since you are able to login and start dashing, a dasher will naturally assume that help is needed in the area. When a region is pink, Doordash indicates that there are many orders in the region. This is considered to be hotter than the light pink, and would indicate that there is a high probability of receiving orders if you login with dash-now. When a region is hot as can be, it will be red, and this indicates that the region has a lot of orders. As mentioned already, you can login with dash-now no matter what color the region is; except for gray of course.

This is how Doordash explains what the different colors mean in the heat map

 

The truth about the Doordash heat map

As a person becomes more experienced with dashing, they will undoubtedly at some point login by using the heat map. They will also at some point experience logging in to a hot region and not get many orders. What happened? If the region was so hot and full of orders, why didn't they receive a lot of orders?

The truth is that Doordash wants to keep a certain number of dashers available in each region. I do not know the number of drivers that they want logged in at one time, and I am sure that this number changes throughout the day. For example, Doordash is going to want more dashers logged in and available at noontime than at midnight.



Let's say that Doordash wants 50 dashers logged in and available from 1pm to 2pm on a Monday afternoon. Doordash knows that they will need this amount of dashers in this particular region because they have a pretty good idea of the expected number of orders they will receive during this hour. Let's say that three scheduled dashers do not login to their shifts. That would leave three openings from 1pm to 2pm. Since those three scheduled dashers did not login, the region will get hot, and dashers that want to use the dash-now option will be able to login to that region. As soon as those three replacements login, the region will become gray again. This assures Doordash that they have enough dashers to fill the orders.




The biggest misconception that a lot of dashers have is that an area is busy when it is hot. The Doordash heat map does not indicate how many orders a particular region is receiving. Just because a region is hot does not mean that it is busy. All a Doordash heat map really indicates is if Doordash has a certain number of dashers available. When they are short on available drivers for a particular region, the region will become hot. If Doordash is missing a few drivers, the region may become light pink. If they are missing more than a few drivers, the region may become pink. If they are missing a lot of drivers, the region will become smoking red.

If you want to test this method, go on ahead and end your dash one day and look at your region's heat map change. There are times when you will notice that as soon as you log out the heat map will get hot. Pick up your schedule again right away, and you will notice that it turns gray again. This may not always work as Doordash may have too many drivers sometimes. In that case, when you end your dash there will be no change to the heat map. In all honesty though, it will usually change.

 

 

 

Should I use the Doordash heat map?

Even though the Doordash heat map is no indicator of how busy an area is, it is a great tool to help you login and start working. You will have to keep an eye on it so that you can login when your preferred region turns hot. As soon as you login, you become available to take orders.

Please do not think that I am saying anything negative about the Doordash heat map. We need this tool to show us when a particular Doordash region is short on drivers. I just want everybody to know exactly how it works as even some of the most experienced dashers falsely believe that a hot status means that there are a lot of orders. The best thing that a hot region can do for you is get you on, and from there you can start making deliveries and making money.