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Grubhub Driver Tips and Tricks for 2022

Grubhub doesn’t seem to quite have the allure of Uber Eats or DoorDash, neither for drivers nor customers. However, we would argue that is a good thing. Sure, there are fewer customers going through GrubHub but there are also fewer drivers. This means more of an ability to cash in on those orders. You could go for ages without being able to accept an order on Uber Eats or DoorDash, but Grubhub may have something available!

On this page, we are going to share the best Grubhub tips and tricks. Let’s help you make the most amount of money that you can on Grubhub!

Quick tip: you can get cash back every time you fill up your gas tank by using the Upside app. It's free and pays out straight to your bank.

Don’t Just Use Grubhub

Yes. It is a bit of a weird tip to start off with. However, we would tell you to do the same no matter what the app.

You cannot base your entire income potential on a single app. Customers are spread across multitudes of apps nowadays. This means that if you can’t find something on Grubhub, then feel free to hop on over to one of the other apps and start pulling yourself an income.

This isn’t to say that you can’t make a full-time income with Grubhub. It is just incredibly difficult to do. Even with fewer drivers, there is still competition.

Know The Busier Times On Grubhub

If you can grab it, then time slots that cover between 5 pm and 6 pm will often be the busiest times. This is when most people are eating dinner. At the weekends, 7 pm to midnight seems to be the most profitable time, especially since many of the drivers don’t work that late into the evening.

If you are new to Grubhub, then we actually recommend that you try and grab the early morning or lunchtime slots. They always seem to be free, and people order breakfast through Grubhub a lot more frequently than you may think.

Remember Gubhub lets you bring kids along, so that can free up time for other shifts too.

It is important to note that every town and city is different. People order at different times. It is important that you use the app at various points of the day and try and work out when the most profitable time in your area is. It may be something completely different from what we have listed here!

Even when you have found a good time on Grubhub, feel free to branch out every so often. The best time slots seem to change pretty frequently on Grubhub. They are likely to change even more as the platform becomes more popular.

Schedule Your Delivery Blocks…And Stick To Them

Once you have worked out what the best times to deliver in your area are, then you can start block booking the times that you want to work in the app. In most cases, you can’t just sign into the app and expect to deliver. If there are too many drivers, Grubhub will shut you out.

You may struggle to book some of the best delivery time slots when you are new to the Grubhub app. This is because they are often booked far up in advance by the best drivers. However, once you have reached the dizzying heights of Grubhub Premier status, then you will be able to book most blocks without any issues.

Remember, do not cancel your delivery blocks unless you absolutely have to. If you book some time blocks and cancel, then it reflects negatively on you. In fact, some people have been kicked off of GrubHub because they have canceled their scheduled blocks far too often.

Hang Around Popular Restaurants

The key to making money on Grubhub is to deliver orders quickly. The quicker you can get them done, the more money will be flowing into your bank account.

When you are using Grubhub, it is vital that you hang around the most popular restaurants in town. Most places will have a restaurant area where most of the orders come from. This will allow you to quickly accept orders, sometimes multiple ones at a time, and get them delivered for the customers.

Don’t Go Too Far Out Of Your Way For a Delivery

With Grubhub, you will have offers appear on your screen. You have 90-seconds to accept or they disappear. If they disappear, this impacts negatively on you.

This can actually pose a little bit of an issue. An order too far out of the way can cost you more money than it is worth. However, you still have to accept some of them or you run the risk of being kicked off of the platform.

Your best bet here is to accept most orders, but if something will have you driving miles for just a few dollars, then skip it. Accept the vast majority of orders that come through and you should be fine.

In our experience, Grubhub tends to be pretty good at sending your offers that you are likely going to be able to complete.

Keep Your Grubhub Rating High

Everything you do on Grubhub boosts your rating. This means accepting orders. Delivering orders on time. In fact, even tips may factor into the equation. Grubhub uses a ton of metrics to work how good you are as a driver.

Everything negative can also have an impact on your Grubhub rating. For example, if you cancel a ton of orders, or people complain about your deliveries. A couple of negative issues won’t hurt, but if you go all crazy about cancellations and late deliveries, you will suffer.

If you have a rating that ends up being too low, then Grubhub will unceremoniously kick you off of the application. They don’t want drivers that are likely to cause issues.

If you are good at what you do, then you will climb up the Grubhub rankings. Pretty fast, actually. As you climb up, you will notice that you start to unlock perks. These perks can unlock more money opportunities e.g. you will be able to book further in advance for the busiest time slots. Grubhub may even give you little cash boosts if you deliver a certain number of orders.

Basically, be as good as you can on the platform. It is your key to unlocking the maximum amount of cash through Grubhub.

Work Hard For Your Tips

There is a rather glaring issue with Grubhub. This is the fact that it pays a little bit less than the other delivery apps. Although, you do have the benefit of Grubhub not taking a commission from what they pay you.

The reason why Grubhub pays so little in comparison to other apps is that they want to keep the price low for their customers. They do, however, encourage their customers to tip their drivers. As a result, Grubhub often has the highest-paying tippers. Estimates suggest that you can earn about 18% in tips on an order. Although, do bear in mind that some people don’t tip. This can really cut into your earnings.

The absolute best that you can do is work on ensuring that those tips are as high as possible. This means putting on the best possible performance. Tips here include:

  • Ensuring that you deliver orders in a timely manner
  • Keep the customer updated on the delivery. If it is going to be late due to traffic, then say something.
  • Follow the instructions on the delivery. If the recipient wants no contact, then go no contact.
  • Always look presentable when you are delivering. You should have a smart outfit to wear. It really does help when it comes to earning money.
  • Always be polite.
  • Deal with customer complaints the best that you can. Drivers do have the ability to refund orders but do bear in mind that too many refunds could have an impact on your Grubhub ranking. It may even result in you getting kicked off of the platform.

Basically, treat people how you want to be treated when on Grubhub, and we are positive that it is going to go well for you. Although, do bear in mind that you are not always going to receive tips. You can try as much as you want, but some people are never going to tip.no matter what. Don’t let it get you down. Just move on to the next delivery.

Keep Tabs On Your Profit and Loss

Grubhub deliveries are your business. Act like it.

We have seen a lot of people just look at the Grubhub cash flowing into their bank account and think they have managed to strike it rich. You haven’t. It is vital that you consider what you are spending on driving for Grubhub e.g. fuel, insurance, vehicle repairs, parking, etc.

Deduct your expenses from your income and you now have your income before taxes (yep, you eventually have to take those off too!)

Obviously, you want your profit to be higher than your losses. It also needs to be high enough that driving for Grubhub is worth it. You don’t want to be making a couple of dollars per hour, right? You want to be making more than minimum wage, otherwise, you may as well just get yourself a minimum wage job and deal with far less hassle.

Always pay attention to your profit. This way, if you shake things up with the way that you drive (e.g. different hours or locations), you can see the impact that it is having on your average income.

You Don’t Need To Use The Grubhub Stickers And Merchandising

Once you get into the swing of delivering for Grubhub, they will likely start to send you stickers and clothing. They suggest that you use them. You do not have to.

This isn’t really a massive tip. However, we know that there are some people that use their vehicles for things other than delivering orders, and they don’t want those stickers slapped on there. Some people will also have much more comfortable clothing than anything that Grubhub sends them.

Conclusion

So, that just about wraps up our list of Github driver tips and tricks. We hope that you managed to pull something of worth from this. Actually, we hope that you were able to pick up on several cool pieces of information. Our final tip is to just have fun on Grubhub. Don’t let the bad days get you down. Everybody is going to have them on the platform. Sometimes the customers are not buying or tipping.

Save on gas & groceries: the Upside app gives you cash back when you fill up your tank, buy groceries, or eat out.

There isn’t much you can do about that. We promise you, the next day is going to be a whole lot better.

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