For Breanne Witte, picking up an order on DoorDash isn’t worth it unless she’s making at least $2 a mile.
Witte has done the math to figure out how to make a profit while delivering around Longmont for DoorDash, but rising gas prices and inflation mean she’s had to get pickier about what deliveries are worth her time.
“I have noticed especially in February and the beginning of the year, I just wasn’t making as much money,” Witte said. “The offers were just so much lower.”
Witte started driving for DoorDash last June after the pandemic destroyed her ecommerce business. With three kids, she works 15-20 hours a week as a food delivery driver to supplement her income.
She explained that base pay for DoorDash is just $2.50 an order, meaning drivers make most of their money from tips. While gas prices have risen by 22% in the Boulder-Longmont area over the past month, the base pay for those orders has remained the same.
“When gas prices go up, we do take a little bit of a hit or we become pickier about what offers we take,” Witte said.
According to AAA’s gas price tracker, fuel was averaging $4 a gallon in the Boulder-Longmont area as of Tuesday, which is similar to the statewide average at $3.97 a gallon. A week ago, a gallon of gas in the region cost $3.85, $3.27 a month ago and $2.81 a year ago, according to AAA.
Colorado’s gas prices are below the national average of $4.31 as of Tuesday, the AAA report said. The highest recorded average gas price Colorado has ever reached was $4.09 a gallon in July 2008.
Witte explained that she often sees food delivery orders, especially those with greater mileage, where she would actually be losing money to cover. To help cut costs as a DoorDash driver, she drives a hybrid and attempts to purchase gas at the lowest prices, but if a customer doesn’t tip she usually can’t justify taking the order.
According to GasBuddy, the cheapest gas in Longmont on Tuesday was $3.79 a gallon at Sam’s Club followed by $3.89 a gallon at Murphy Express and Gasamat.
Witte emphasized her belief that a lot of people simply aren’t aware of how little drivers get in base pay compared to the expenses they pay as contractors for their own equipment.
“Unlike waiters and waitresses, where they work really hard but they’re not having to use their own car and pay for their own gas, we are,” Witte said.
Witte said if gas prices keep rising, she’ll probably have to get even pickier about what orders she accepts for DoorDash to make sure she’s not losing money. She hoped that people ordering food in Longmont would keep that in mind.
“Especially now with the gas prices going up, an extra dollar tip makes all the difference to me and it means that your order will probably be picked up faster,” Witte said. “You’ll probably get your food faster and we also really appreciate it.”
Other companies that rely on contractors driving their own vehicles, namely Uber, Uber Eats and Lyft, have added temporary surcharges that go directly to drivers to help cover the rising gas prices.
According to a release from the company, Uber customers will see a surcharge of 45 or 55 cents each trip, and Uber Eats deliveries will include an additional charge of 35 or 45 cents on each order, depending on the location, beginning Wednesday.
Lyft has not yet specified what the surcharge will be or when it will begin charging.
