Introduction

The gig economy becomes ever more connected with our everyday lives, especially the use of delivery services. As such, becoming a delivery driver for GrubHub has become a popular choice for people looking to make some extra money on the side. However, making these choices have become increasingly harder with the rise in other popular delivery services as well.

This guide will lead you through the basics of being a Grubhub delivery driver (worker requirements, responsibilities, earnings, pros and cons) to help you better understand if this is the right job for you.

What is GrubHub?

Launched in 2004, GrubHub is one of the earliest food delivery companies and has expanded its delivery service to all 50 states, 4,000 cities and over 300,000 restaurants. Originally, GrubHub was founded in order to provide an alternative solution towards paper menus. However, in 2013, GrubHub merged with Seamless, allowing for a shift towards pure food delivery. 

Worker Requirements

Being a GrubHub also entails certain responsibilities. As a driver, you will be required to deliver food to customers. GrubHub has a few basic requirements that you need to in order to become a driver:

• Be 18 years of age or older (21 or older in Chicago and Las Vegas)
• Have a car or bicycle (in select cities)
• Car: Valid Driver's license number or Car Insurance
• Bike: Valid Driver’s license or State ID 
• Smartphone
• iOS 11 or higher
• Android with 5.0 or higher
• Checking Account

The sign-up process takes place in 4 main steps

1. Driver Application (3 - 5 days)

• Fill out basic information
• Name
• Phone Number
• Address
• Location
• Email

2. Background and Vehicle Check

• Through Checkr, GrubHub checks your background and is provided a report on your history
• Note: You may get rejected as a potential a driver if you have a history as a sex offender, convicted felon or criminal

2. Fill out new driver paper work
3. Set up direct deposit information
4. Receive GrubHub driver kit (5-10 days after completing background check)

• Insulated Bag
• Driver Card to pay for deliveries not yet paid
  

Driver Pay Model and Earnings 

Generally, GrubHub pay and earnings differ from location to location. For example, being a driver in New York will have a different pay than being a driver in Kansas. However, the pay structure of GrubHub remains fairly constant: 

Total Pay = Mileage Per Order + Time on Road + Special Offers + Tips 

Mileage Per Order

• This factors in the compensation for the distance travelled for each order
  

Time Spend on the Road

• Since mileage doesn’t always best portray the amount of time an order takes, GrubHub also 
  

Special Offers

• Sometimes GrubHub offers special bonus offers that can potentially increase pay
  

Tips

• You are able to keep 100% of the tips that you receive from orders
  

The GrubHub Contribution

One feature that Grubhub offers in select markets is hourly minimum pay called the GrubHub Contribution. Even if you receive few or no offers, you can still earn money from GrubHub by having a high acceptance rate of offers during the scheduled block. At the end of the day, the GrubHub contribution amount is added, but can take up to 24 hours to display.

Overall, some sources have noted that you can earn between $12-$15/hour + tips, while others say that you can earn between $11-$20/hour + tips.

How You Will be Paid

Every Thursday, Grubhub sends payments directly to your checking’s account that you registered with them. There will be a slight delay in actually receiving the money in your as banks take around 5 days to process the payment from GrubHub.

However, GrubHub offers an Instant Cash Out on their allowing for you to immediately access your earnings. There is a $0.50 fee for each Instant Cash Out transaction (Max $500 per day) that can be waived by setting up direct deposit using a Chase bank account.

Understanding the Financials of a Dasher

By being an independent contractor as a driver, GrubHub does not provide any direct employee benefits such as medical insurance, overtime, vacation days, or retirement plans. Instead, you will have to cover all of those by yourself. Additionally, GrubHub will also not withhold a portion of your paycheck to pay taxes. This means that GrubHub will give you your full paycheck and you have to file and manage your own taxes liabilities yourself.

Expenses

• Drivers have the responsibility pay off their own expenses:
• Gas
• Car Insurance
• Maintenance
• Cell Phone Data
• Parking Fees, Toll Booths, Parking Tickets etc.
• Any other driver-related expense
• As these expenses are business-related, you have the ability to write these taxes off (More detail below)
  

Taxation

As an independent contractor, GrubHub gives you a 1099-NEC tax form to fill out. When filing tax reports for the IRS, you need to file your own taxes. Many business-related expenses are tax-deductible. As a driver, it is imperative to keep track of all your earnings and expenses throughout the entire year related to being a driver. This will allow you to report all these expenses when you file taxes and reduce the amount of taxes you pay. When you are ready to file taxes, you must file a Schedule C Form 1040 to determine your profits for the IRS to assess taxes and refunds.

Tips to Maximize GrubHub Income

• Use GrubHub Promotions 
• Because promotions incentivize drivers to drive through monetary rewards, you should always try to achieve the promotions whenever possible
• Avoid Slow Orders
• Orders with long wait times (over 10-15 minutes) or difficult drop offs (higher building floors or complex security check-ins) take more time than an average delivery and usually have the same pay
• Strategic Driving
• Avoid high traffic areas
• High Traffic Areas cause a lot of blockage for all vehicles. By going through high traffic areas, you run the risk of not only dramatically increasing vehicle usage, but also delaying the time it takes to deliver food. This will decrease your pay.
• Drive during peak hours
• Many customers like to order food around breakfast, lunch and dinnertime
• Breakfast is one of the best times because there are fewer Dashers on the road
• Think about driving in harsher weather conditions
• Many drivers prefer not to drive in harsher weather conditions such as rain and snow and many individuals would want to order food that day. This allows for you to get more orders and earn more money
• Understand local restaurants
• Get to know the restaurants that take the most time to complete an order, ones that are most likely to mess up an order, and ones that are the most efficient. Then, when the order does come to your phone, you will know whether you should accept specific order based on your knowledge
  

GrubHub Driver Recognition Program 

GrubHub’s Driver Recognition Program is GrubHub’s way to encourage people to continually driver for its platform. They offer better perks for those who are more committed to GrubHub in an attempt to keep attract and maintain drivers to the app

Levels are updated each week based on your delivery statics in the past 30 days. New drivers will be assigned a level after they complete their first 20 deliveries and have an active history in all stat categories

Partner

• Acceptance Rate: < 85%
• Block Drop Rate: 20% +
• 3rd Access to New Blocks
• Automatically assigned when you initially join
  

Pro

• Attendance Rate: 100%
• Acceptance Rate: 85% +
• Block Drop Rate: < 20%
• 2nd Access to new blocks
• GrubHub Perks
• Access to Referral Program
• Access to Catering Ordering
  

Premier

• Attendance Rate: 100%
• Acceptance Rate: 95% +
• Block Drop Rate: < 10%
• 1st Access to new blocks
• GrubHub Perks
• Access to Referral Program
• Access for Catering Ordering
  

Pros and Cons

Pros

• GrubHub Perks (Discount on Taxes, Vehicles, Healthcare, Maintenance)
• Ability to schedule different shift times
• Driver Recognition Program
• Access to Perkspot
• GrubHub Contribution
• Instant Cash Out

Cons

• Lack of helpfulness of customer service
• Lack of promotions for drivers
• Popular shift times may be in high demand
• Schedule ordering based on rank/level
• Lack of ability to see total mileage and estimated time before order making it harder to see if the order should be accepted