While out Dashing, the delivery time of customer's orders will vary. I am not talking about the expected delivery time that Doordash customers see when they are looking to place an order on the Doordash app. I am talking about the actually delivery time that us Doordash drivers actually take to deliver a customer's order.
A Dasher can never know how long it's going to actually take them to deliver an order. Every order is entirely different. There are many things that will impact the delivery times.
Dasher's distance from the merchant impacts delivery time
Most of the time, a Dasher will receive delivery opportunities that are within a mile or so, but there are times when a Dasher is much further away. I have personally received calls that were more than five miles away. I've even gotten the really ridiculous offers that are 10 plus miles away. Of course I would never consider taking these type of calls.
The point here is that a Dasher's distance from the pick up location can easily add on an additional 20 minutes to a call. This is especially true if there is traffic. Traveling five miles in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or any other large city can sometimes take longer than expected.
Traffic will impact the Dasher delivery time
Since we are talking about traffic, it's no secret that we all try to avoid it. Unfortunately, food delivery drivers can't avoid it. Many Dashers are out working during peak time, which unfortunately is traffic time. But, Dashers do what they must if it means earning big money. Sometimes we just have to deal with it. Traffic is something that none of us can control.
Over congestion is more common in large metropolitan areas, but it can happen anywhere.If there is heavy traffic driving to the restaurant or to the customer, it will definitely cause a delay. Knowing back streets can help, but sometimes there is just no way around terrible traffic. Bad traffic can easily add on an extra 15 minutes to deliver.
Slow merchants can delay a Dasher's delivery
This is by far the most important factor in determining how fast a Doorash delivery is made. Unfortunately, Doordash drivers have absolutely no control of how quickly a merchant prepares the customer's food. There are many Dashers that learn the restaurants that take long and will avoid them.
It's terrible when a Dasher finds themselves on a good pace by arriving at the merchant swiftly, but then they find themselves waiting a long time for the food. They'll find themselves sitting down trying to maintain their patients. A five minute wait might be okay, but any experienced Dasher will have a story to tell about waiting 20 or 30 minutes for food at a merchant. This undoubtedly will cause a Dasher's blood to boil.
What is delivering in a timely manner?
A timely manner delivery should be in the 30 to 40 minute range. The vast majority of customers will not think anything of it. I mean, most customers do not expect their order to arrive in 20 minutes. If they do, they really need to get a sense with reality. Don't get me wrong, sometimes everything goes great on a delivery and a super fast delivery does happen, but nobody should ever expect that.
The expected delivery time on the Doordash app will disagree with reality
This is not a put down to Doordash. I'm sure that they try to do their best when it comes to giving estimated delivery times, but most of the time they are inaccurate. I completely understand what a customer may be thinking here. I have looked at the Doordash app from the customer's side before, so I know where they are coming from.
I have seen some pretty foolish estimated delivery times. I know the merchants in my region, and I know how long they usually take. I know the quick ones and the slow ones. I have seen some of these slow restaurants on the Doordash platform with Doordash giving a 20 or 25 minute estimate delivery time. It really makes me laugh because I know that a pick up at this example restaurant would be more like a 45 minute delivery.
This is terrible because some customers will be expecting a delivery time that usually cannot be done. Then they'll think that the slow delivery (Not really a slow delivery) is the Dasher's fault. If a Dasher ever feels that things are taking a bit too long, they can always text the customer and let them know the deal. They almost always understand.
A food delivery driver shouldn't ever worry about all of this. We all know that Dashers are out to make as many deliveries as they can in the shortest amount of time possible. Dashers are out to make money. There are just some things we can't control; like traffic and slow merchants. Ease your mind and don't even think about it. Happy dashing!
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