9 Ways to Make More as an Uber Eats Driver

You’ve probably seen the blog posts, YouTube videos, and affiliate marketing sites exclaiming:

YOU CAN MAKE $1000 A WEEK WITH UBER EATS!

or

HOW I EARN $1000 A WEEK AS AN UBER DELIVERY DRIVER!

But, if you’ve spent any time at all working for Uber’s delivery service, Uber Eats, you’ve probably already realized that making a grand per week is difficult. Very difficult.

While it is hard to earn that much money delivering food, it’s not impossible to do.

But, you’ll have to work hard. And, you’ll have to work smart, too.

There are a few little tricks you can implement to earn more money as an Uber Eats driver.

And while they often involve hustling a bit harder, they’ll ultimately lead to more cash flow. We’ve outlined a few of them below.

How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make?

Before we dive into the topic of how to make more as an Uber Eats drivers, it’s worth first addressing how much Uber Eats drivers make to begin with.

According to our research, Uber Eats drivers make around $3.50 per delivery.

But, by the time you factor in delays, wait times, and the other expenses that Uber Eats drivers incur as a result of being an independent contractor, the factor breaks down to roughly minimum wage in various cities. This is similar to how much Uber drivers make.

Since this post is how to make more when driving, check out our in-depth earnings breakdown, How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make, on our sister site Ridester.com.

With those two things out of the way, let’s now dive into the post you came to read – how to make more as an Uber Eats driver.

1. Limit Your Working Area

Working within a small radius can help you earn more money as opposed to trying to cover a large area.

It not only helps you to cut down on gas but it also allows you to travel quickly from one job to another.

So, if there’s a restaurant-heavy spot in your town (like a strip mall), you should park there and wait for orders.

You’ll save a lot of time (and money on gas) if you limit yourself to orders from local restaurants in that area and return to your spot whenever things are slow.

Also, don’t be afraid to reject orders if they require too much driving. Often, taking those can be more trouble than it’s worth.

It might take you a little while to figure out where the hotspots are. But, once you do, you may find that it’s easier to accumulate cash.

2. Don’t Miss a Surge Period

Certain times of the day are busier for Uber Eats than other times of the day. Lunch and dinner time, for example, tend to bring in a lot more orders than breakfast.

Because there’s a higher demand for drivers, Uber Eats increases the pay rate to incentivize drivers to work during these times. They refer to these times as “Surge Periods.”

So, one of the best things you can do to earn more cash is to make sure you work during Surge pricing times whenever possible.

During these times, you can earn up to two or three times as much as you’d make during a regular shift. Not only are you paid more for each delivery, but you’ll also have a more significant influx of orders, too.

You can find areas with Surge pricing by looking for the highlighted areas on the map in the Uber Eats app. Typically, Surge prices occur around the same time and in the same areas every week.

So, pay close attention to when they happen so that you can build your schedule around them and maximize your income.

3. Plan for Boost Earnings Ahead of Time

Uber has another excellent incentive program to encourage drivers to work when there’s a high demand. It’s called Boost Earnings.

Whenever the company needs drivers, they’ll increase wages to ensure that they’ll have people out on the road.

Usually, they implement a Boost Earnings promotion whenever there’s a big event in town.

So, if there’s a convention or a big game, for example, they’ll increase driver rates to make sure that there are enough cars to meet the demand. Like Surge Prices, Boost Earnings are a multiplied pay rate.

For example, if the Boost Earnings multiplier is three times the average rate, they’ll multiply all of your earnings for your shift by three. So, instead of earning $5 for completing a drop-off, you’ll make $15.

Typically, the company will notify you of a Boost Earnings promotion ahead of time, so read the text messages and emails they send you!

Then, make sure that you’re available to work the entire Boost shift. That way, you can maximize the amount of money you make that day.

4. Earn Referral Bonuses By Inviting Your Friends

Uber’s delivery business depends on new drivers signing up to deliver food and complete orders.

So, they’re always looking for capable, hard-working people to join the team. They’re so eager to hire new contractors that they’ll pay you to bring your friends on board.

Here’s how it works:

When you download the app and become a driver, you can create a Referral Code. Essentially, this is a promotional link that you can use to invite your friends to become drivers.

If you send out that link to your buddies and they sign up to work as Uber Eats drivers, the company will pay you once they complete a certain number of deliveries.

The exact reward amount and the number of trips your friend has to complete vary from city to city, depending on the demand for drivers.

One driver in Providence, RI said that they received a $50 bonus for referring a friend while someone in Austin, TX claims that they got $300 for a referral.

Either way, it’s never a bad thing to make some extra money for doing very little on your end.

For more on sign-up bonuses, check out an explainer from one of our video courses:

5. Be Extra Courteous

Tips are crucial for Uber Eats delivery drivers. After all, while the company takes 25% of your income from each order, they don’t touch your tips. Those go straight to your pocket.

So, it helps to earn as many tips as possible. And the happier your customers are, the more tips you’ll make. Therefore, we recommend that you go above and beyond to ensure that they have a good experience.

It doesn’t take much to be polite (say “Thank you” and “Have a good day,” saying the customer’s name, etc.), and if it’s the difference between getting a nice tip or a few dollars, it’s worth it.

But, you can also do little things like grabbing paper plates, plastic silverware, and straws from the restaurant. If your customer doesn’t need them, they’ll probably still appreciate the kind gesture and may give you a larger tip.

Even if they don’t give you an extra tip, your thoughtfulness will garner positive reviews and can earn you more food delivery offers through the app.

It’s important to keep in mind that if you’re trying to make the most money you can as an Uber Eats driver, you must work hard for it.

Sure, you can make deliveries and do the bare minimum and get by fine, but what will set you apart and make this a successful gig is hard work.

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6. Turn Your Vehicle into an Advertisement

There are a few ways you can earn some extra money through other companies while working for Uber at the same time.

One company called Wrapify, for example, will pay you to turn your car into a moving billboard.

They offer to wrap an adhesive vinyl advertisement around your car (kind of like a NASCAR vehicle). Then, they’ll compensate you for every mile you drive.

It sounds crazy and a little odd, we know. But, according to Wrapify, it can earn you up to $500 per month.

Interestingly enough, it’s somewhat difficult to get approved for work in an area where this type of advertising will be effective.

So, before you’re able to wrap your car, you must use their app to track your would-be driving route and verify that it will be worth it.

If they find that you drive in a region where they want to advertise, they’ll reach out and schedule an appointment to get your car wrapped.

This isn’t a bad way to earn some extra cash, either, given the fact that it takes very little work on your part.

Sure, your friends may make fun of you for having a giant picture of a cheeseburger plastered on the side of your vehicle, but it’ll be worth it if you can earn extra money each month.

7. Double as an UberX Driver

One of the nice things about working for Uber is that they let you switch interchangeably from one service to another. In other words, you can drive for both Uber Eats and UberX at the same time.

If you’re already an Uber driver giving people rides around town, it’s super easy to opt-in to the Uber Eats platform.

After all, you’ve already met the driver and vehicle requirements, so Uber knows that you’re reliable and driving a decent vehicle.

If you’re an Uber Eats driver who wants to start ridesharing, the process is also pretty easy.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to call the company directly or visit your local Uber headquarters, as there’s no easy way to opt-in to becoming an UberX driver through the driver app.

But, as long as your car meets the ridesharing requirements, it should be no sweat to switch from one to the other.

In this case, it’s easier to drive for Uber instead of becoming a Lyft driver due to the ease of opting into Uber Eats as an existing Uber driver.

Driving for Lyft is a great option, but it will likely be easier to switch back and forth between Uber Eats delivery app and the Uber driver app. The best part about working for both services, of course, is that they each get busy at different times.

So, you’ll be able to earn Surge rates through Uber Eats during lunch and dinner and again during the late-night rush after the bars close with UberX.

8. Work For Other Meal Delivery Services

It’s great working as a delivery partner because you’re not tied down to any one company.

Therefore, you can drive for as many food delivery services as you’d like and minimize any long wait in between deliveries. And there’s no shortage of them.

Today, there are more than a dozen online food delivery request platforms available on the market.

Most of the top food delivery services, like Postmates, DoorDash, and Grubhub are in every major US city and some are in major Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver.

So, by driving for more than one, you’ll be able to maximize the number of orders you take on during each shift.

If Uber Eats is particularly slow on a specific day, for example, you can open up your DoorDash app and wait for orders to come through there. That should fill your time until the Uber Eats orders start coming.

This works exceptionally well in areas that have a lot of restaurants because every restaurant works with different platforms.

So, if your normal working area has 17 restaurants and ten of them work with Uber Eats, it’s likely that the other 17 work with another platform.

By signing up for those platforms, too, you can ensure that you’re never missing out on a potential order. Of course, we don’t recommend that you work for every platform all at once.

It can get challenging to multitask, and we all know how that can end up (mixed-up order numbers, forgotten items and order details, etc.).

But, by keeping a hand in each platform, it’s likely that you’ll always have something to do.

9. Treat it Like a Full-Time Job

This is the key to making the most amount of money with Uber Eats–you must work full-time.

When you work as a delivery partner, it’s easy to put off work because you want to sleep in, go to bed early, or hang out with your buddies.

But, if you had a traditional 9-5 job, you’d be responsible for being there every day.

So, you should do the same when you work for yourself.

If you treat your job as a food delivery driver like it were a 9-5, you’ll find that you’re able to earn at least $100 a day (unless it’s a particularly slow day).

And, if you hit all of the Surge and Boost times on top of that, you can earn a lot more.

Therefore, to earn the maximum amount of money possible, you should start by figuring out which times are the busiest and then build your schedule from there.

You probably won’t see too much action while people are at work during the week, because those aren’t the busiest times — except for lunchtime.

But, that’s something to consider when you work a non-traditional job — the hours are going to be non-traditional.

Once the cash starts rolling in, you’ll be happy that you put in all the hard work.

Become an Uber Eats Driver

If you’re interested in becoming an Uber Eats driver but haven’t yet signed up, there is no better time than now.

With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, demand for food delivery apps is surging through the roof, so take advantage of the demand while it is at record highs.

Becoming an Uber driver is easy, and takes very little time to apply. To learn more, we put together a comprehensive guide: How To Become an Uber Eats Driver.