Should You Become a Grubhub Driver? Here Are the Pros and Cons

Working for any job within the gig economy will have its ups and downs. In order to be successful in this space, you need to roll with the good and the bad.

On-demand food delivery service gigs, like DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats, are no different, and working as a delivery driver for Grubhub has its pros and cons.

It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows. As a food delivery driver for Grubhub, you may have great days that pay hefty delivery fares, and you may have days where you’re waiting around for an elusive order to come your way.

In this article, we’re going to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of driving for Grubhub. Then you can decide if you’d like the delivery experience and if it makes sense for you to become a driver.

Pros of Working as a Grubhub Driver

Driving for Grubhub has both its perks and, like any job, its drawbacks. It’s really about what is important to you. Here are the best elements of working as a Grubhub delivery driver.

Set Your Own Schedule

Probably the most enticing aspect of driving for Grubhub is the flexible work schedule. As a Grubhub delivery driver, you have flexible hours and have nearly full control of what time of day you want to work, what days of the week you want to drive, and how many hours you want to put in.

If you think you’re not getting enough hours, your flexible schedule allows you to sign up for extra shifts or hop on the clock whenever you feel like it. If you think you’re getting burnt out or have prior obligations you can’t miss, then you can pull back on some hours.

Be Your Own Boss

Being your own boss also ranks pretty high on a driver’s list. As a Grubhub driver specialist, you won’t have a supervisor breathing down your neck.

As long as you’re following Grubhub’s general rules and guidelines, you can do things your way and answer to nobody besides yourself. The Grubhub driving experience allows you to set your own rules and make decisions on your own.

Make Extra Cash on the Side

Grubhub is an excellent way to make extra money on the side. Some drivers prefer to drive full-time and others would rather work part-time. It’s all up to you.

If you just want to pick up some hours on the side, a Grubhub paycheck is a great side hustle that can supplement your income. Maybe you already have a full-time job and just want to make an extra hundred bucks on the weekend — that’s completely doable.

Guaranteed Minimum Earnings

Grubhub promises its many of its drivers a guaranteed minimum hourly pay while they’re on the clock. This prevents drivers from making less than minimum wage if they log on and don’t receive orders because it’s slow.

There will definitely be times where you’ll be on the clock and not receiving any orders. This can be disheartening as you sit and wait, and nothing seems to be coming through. Lucky for you, you may qualify for a guaranteed hourly minimum wage.

It’s important to know that not all markets qualify for these guaranteed minimum earnings. In some cities, you won’t be able to reap this benefit. Also, even if your city does have minimum earnings levels, you’ll need to maintain a certain attendance and acceptance rate to qualify.

On top of guaranteed minimum earnings, you can access additional perks and benefits for maintaining high attendance rates, high acceptance rates, and low block drop rates. For instance, in the snapshot below, you’ll see that if you keep your driver rates high, you can climb to the Pro and Premier driver levels. These give you perks like early access to scheduling blocks.

Find New Restaurants

There’s no better way to find up-and-coming restaurants in your city than to be a Grubhub driver. Since you’ll be on the clock picking up orders from many local restaurants in town, you’ll be able to keep a running tally of all the new restaurants you want to try next. Whether you’re in San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York City, or Los Angeles, you’ll have the inside track on all the best new spots in town.

Who knows, maybe when you’re off the clock, you’ll pick up your food ordering app and place your own order at a new favorite restaurant.

You’re on Your Own

Another nice part about driving for Grubhub is that you’re alone and can deliver food from the privacy of your own vehicle. For other gig opportunities, including driving for ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, you need to hold conversations with new passengers all throughout the day.

With Grubhub, you simply drop off the order to the customer, ask them how their day is, give a pleasant smile and a thank you, and then you’re on your way. Your interaction with customers will rarely exceed 30 seconds since they’re hungry and you need to get back on the road for your next order.

Cons of Working as a Grubhub Driver

We’ve gone over the good parts of working as a Grubhub Driver. Let’s see the other side of the coin. Here are the downsides of working as a Grubhub delivery driver.

Wear and Tear on Your Vehicle

One of the biggest downfalls of working for Grubhub is that it takes a toll on your vehicle. All of the maintenance, depreciation, and auto insurance from your vehicle is your responsibility, and Grubhub will not compensate you for this.

If you put in many hours working for Grubhub, you’ll also start to accumulate many miles on your vehicle. Since you’ll be putting a ton of miles on, this means spending more on fuel, oil changes, new tires, and any other maintenance that comes along with it. All the expenses that result from this wear and tear will come straight out of your own pocket.

You’re Responsible for Your Own Taxes

On top of all the expenses you’ll be responsible for, you’ll also need to understand that you’re an independent contractor and will be responsible for your own taxes.

As a Grubhub driver, you’re not a salaried or hourly employee. Instead, you’re an independent contractor who is required to file a 1099 tax form at the end of the year. This means that you need to set some money aside to cover any income taxes you’ll be required to pay.

To help yourself out, you should always track expenses incurred while working for Grubhub. Any expenses relating to fuel, car insurance, vehicle maintenance, and mileage added to your vehicle can be written off at the end of the year.

Inconsistent Pay

Grubhub pay can fluctuate throughout the day and week. Depending on how busy it is, the current weather, or how many drivers are on the clock, your pay is vulnerable to fluctuations.

There will be slow times throughout your shifts where you’ll be sitting around twiddling your thumbs. This can be deflating knowing that time is money and you’re wasting it away without making a dime.

On the other end of the spectrum, there will also be extremely busy weeks where your paycheck will be substantially higher and you’ll make great money. But this unpredictability can be frustrating.

Penalized for Missed, Rejected, or Dropped Orders

Grubhub wants to make sure that they have a reliable workforce that rarely misses a shift or cancels an order. For this reason, they penalize drivers who don’t accept orders or who miss their shifts.

Many drivers report that the standards that Grubhub sets are nearly impossible to uphold. In order to move up to higher tier program levels with Grubhub, drivers must come as close to perfection as possible. This means a 100% acceptance rate, 100% attendance rate, and a 0% block drop rate.

Sometimes things will happen like the app glitches, you accidentally miss an order, or you get a flat tire. If this ever happens, your driver score can fall drastically, which means you’ll notice fewer orders coming your way.

Dealing With Cranky Customers

It may not happen on every order, but dealing with unhappy customers is unavoidable. At some point, you’ll see customers who are disappointed that their meal showed up late or that they didn’t receive the right items.

The only thing you can do is apologize. In many cases, the reason for an order being late is outside of your control. This could be delays at Grubhub delivery partner restaurants, inclement weather, traffic, or cases where you received the order late because another driver canceled.

It’s important to let the customer know that you did everything in your power to get their meal there on time and warm.

Customer Service Is Sometimes Difficult

Many drivers complain that Grubhub’s customer care is difficult to get in touch with. They ask you to reach out through the app, which is available for iPhone and Android. But the app doesn’t always connect you right away. This becomes a problem when you have an urgent issue that you need resolved immediately.

If you have a problem, you’ll need to get ahold of Grubhub’s driver support. But you may experience times when you’re not able to reach a customer service representative or they’re not able to solve your problem.

How to Become a Grubhub Driver

In order to start driving for Grubhub, you need to go through a quick application process, provide a valid driver’s license, pass a background check, and complete a speedy onboarding session.

Now that you know all of the ups and downs that come along with being a Grubhub driver, there’s a good chance you know if you’d like to take the plunge.

If you’d like to know if you meet the requirements of becoming a Grubhub driver, then head over to our Grubhub driver requirements article that will tell you everything you’ll need to know.

If you think driving for Grubhub is a good fit for you, then you can begin the application process at driver.grubhub.com.

Does the Shoe Fit?

Is Grubhub the perfect fit for you? If so you can download the Grubhub Driver app, apply to become a driver, hit the road, and start taking delivery requests today.

Maybe you have previous delivery experience for other delivery apps or perhaps this is your first time giving food delivery a shot. Regardless, driving for Grubhub can be a good way to make money on the side.

Just make sure you weigh the pros and cons before making your final decision.