Side Jobs To Make Extra Money: Pizza Delivery Driver?
Being frugal is popular again, as is making some money on the side. Yesterday, I saw what I thought was the perfect definition of “recession”. It was a current generation red Audi S4… with a Papa Johns sign on top. I wasn’t quick enough to snap a picture, but here is my artist’s rendering:
Is there any way that such a job could even cover the depreciation on this $50,000 car? I’ve worked as a restaurant cashier, host, and even drive-thru window person, but have never done pizza delivery. But my friends have, so I asked them for their experiences. I also found a few interesting discussions online about the job here and here. In fact, pizza delivery even has its own Wikipedia entry. Let’s take a peek into the lifestyle of a “food transportation engineer”…
The Pay
The compensation varies, but a ballpark number seems to be minimum hourly wage + ~$0.75 per delivery to cover car expenses + tips. You pay for your own gas. Some places can pay under minimum wage by treating you as a waitperson since you technically get tips. Other places will pay car expenses per mile. If your pizza parlor charges a delivery fee, you will probably get a cut but your tips will probably go down as well. A rough average for tips is about $2 per delivery (10-15%). However, tips can be hit and miss, and can also depend on things like the day of the week and neighborhood. Surprise! Many ex-drivers say that residents of upscale neighborhoods are the worst tippers.
Back of the envelope calculation: A busy 6 hour night shift at $7 an hour plus 6-10 deliveries/hour x $2 tip per delivery is about $115-$165 gross. (I’m leaving out the per delivery charge because it supposedly offsets car costs, though most drivers say it doesn’t cover all of it.)
(Aside: It’s funny how all my friends will probably remember their big tips until the end of time. I still remember my $20 tip from working as a parking attendant almost 10 years ago.)
Pros
Pie shops are always looking for delivery people, and the entry requirement is a car and a valid driver’s license. You can work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends in addition to your day job. You can also quit whenever you want.
Cons
Lots of short, stop ‘n go trips will kill your car and cut into your profit. Most people have beater cars, which is why the Audi was also surprising. Factor in the cost of more frequent oil changes, higher mileage bringing your car value down, replacing tires more often, and higher overall maintenance from wear and tear. Note that your personal car insurance might not cover accidents that occur while working. Also, gas prices aren’t getting any cheaper!
Drivers-sales workers, which includes taxi drivers and pizza delivery workers, are the 4th most dangerous job category in America, right up there with fishermen, timber workers, and construction laborers.
You are often expected to help out around the restaurant in between deliveries, including things like taking orders, food packaging, garbage disposal, and other tasks.
The Fringe Benefits
For some reason, pot and pizza seem to mix very well - from the managers to the workers to the people buying the pizza. I’ll leave it at that. And although illegal as well, taking in much of your income in unreported cash tips can be very tempting for tax evasion. Oh and of course… free pizza!
May 30th, 2008 at 5:19 am
I’d say either the guy driving the pizza delivery Audi is an idiot or is delivering more than pizza…
May 30th, 2008 at 6:08 am
It depends upon the area. Around here I have heard that people are crazy high tippers ($10-20 per delivery). If you have a cheap car (like you said, the Audi is a mistake), it’s a great starter job. Also, the free food is great for a high school or college student.
However, if you have a good enough job to afford an Audi, I suggest working overtime and getting a raise. It’s probably a more effective method of making money.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:25 am
The insurance part is the killer here. If you get into any sort of claim-generating accident (even if it’s not your fault) your provider can and will explode your premiums, or worse, drop you altogether.
I suppose you could come up with a risk/reward equasion for this, Jon - your frugality seems to know no bounds. Which is precisely why your site rocks
jm
May 30th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Good lord, what’s next, Maybachs delivering newspapers?!?
Perhaps the kid’s car is in the shop, and he’s borrowing Mom and Dad’s.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:50 am
sorry, Jon. there is no way that you can make this work for me conceptually. i’m with you on most things, but not this one.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:01 am
This is stupid. I can’t believe you’re actually writing this in the context of ‘financial advice’ or whatever this blog is about. Based on your calculations, a driver would have to make a delivery every 6 minutes non-stop for 6 hours straight, every night, not including trip-time back and forth to the restaurant.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:02 am
I delivered pizza during college. It was great money for a college kid. I remember quiting because my gross was hit so hard by rising gas prices, 1.30/gal to 1.60/gal, wow those were the days. I can’t imagine there is much money with gas @ 4.00+/gal. Good money back then, but I think it was responsible for the premature death of my car.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:20 am
i worked as a delivery person at a chinese restaurant in HS.
coincidently, i was driving an audi as well (a used pelican blue B5 A4, few folks thought it was a S4 cos of the color). the biggest tip i had was $20, which was from a girl who was in my HS. gotta love teens with rich parents.
it was a chill job; however, there are more practical side jobs out there given today’s gas prices and increasing auto maintenance costs. for example, i “donate” blood plasma sometimes ($40/~40 mins, up to 2x a week). a couple months ago, i earned $80 for attending a 60-min interview. and now i’m considering becoming a medical trial subject ($1.6k/not sure how long, though).
May 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I can personally, well not “personally” but through observations during college :-), attest to the pot/pizza connection. Pizza drivers, in my experience are some of the most relaxed and easy going people I’ve ever met. Almost nothing bothers them, except a bad tip or two. Wish I could go back to those days, but the mortgage payment negates such an idea, other than as a second job.
Just more proof that if you set your sights low in life, you’ll never miss.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Seems to me like it’s better to work for minimum wage at Wal-Mart than work pizza delivery. The variables can kill you or make you super …rich
May 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Pizza delivery can be a good job for a college student, or for someone looking to accelerate a debt payoff, but I can’t see it being a long term side gig. I worked for a red-roofed pizza joint in college, and made some decent spending money. Of course, I drove a 1987 Honda hatchback which got like 35mpg. As I remember it, you are pretty spot on with the pay scale. My roommate worked at the same place and drove an Audi. I think he spent all his money in the auto shop. If you buy a $500 beater and can do some maintenance yourself, it can be profitable. Insurance really isn’t an issue, although I don’t think your covered for collision while on the job (another reason to drive a beater). As for becoming a medical test subject, I think I’ll take my chances on the road
May 30th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I’ve always heard that naked girls answer the door for the pizza delivery guy :-). That’s what tempts me the most to try for this job as a side gig.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
As a former delivery driver:
- Yes the pay scale is about right. As of four years ago, The Hut paid $0.50/delivery, and drivers knew they were getting screwed. Gas had just crossed $2/gallon and drivers were ready to mutiny.
- The insurance does kill you
- Wear and tear can be pretty bad, especially when it rains. Hot Pizza + wet floor + getting in and out constantly == wet dog smell. Also getting in and out of your car can wear the edge of the seat rather quickly.
- Keep in mind pizza delivery is all stop and go, which is the worst for maintenance and gas mileage. I had a 93 honda civic, but I still got ~24mpg delivering pizza. On the highway with the same car I got 38mpg.
- $2 tip/delivery depends on the location. I delivered south of downtown LA (read: poor) and to USC. The college kids would give you $2 easy, but the people in the surrounding neighborhood wouldn’t give you much of anything.
On the plus side, it’s pretty chill while you’re at work and you get to listen to a lot of NPR (I started off listening to KROQ, but NPR has no commercials and less repitition. Very when you’re in your car for hours at a time).
May 30th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I used to order Pita Pit when I lived in a college town, there was a very attractive girl who did deliveries for them and she drove a new Audi A6. I think that she did it for one of the fringe benefits you mentioned. The guys who worked there were always as high as a kite.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:08 am
that’s not a bad way to make extra money. Sometimes I wish (not now, but before I had my daughter) that I could work at a furniture place on the weekends doing commission sales. I love looking at all the sofas/bedroom/dining room sets anyway, so even if I didn’t make any money I could just sit around and hang out there. I would be the low-pressure salesperson. If I made $50, it would be enough since it’s more like a hobby anyway.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:32 am
i suppose if you sell pot with the pizza, or to your co-workers, or if you are the TFS girl and get ridiculous tips from guys, then this is a good scheme to consider…
May 30th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I can’t believe no one’s focused on gas prices! How can you afford to be a pizza delivery guy and still pay for gas? All that low gas mileage “city” driving, stop-and-go, idling in driveways, put-put-putting around neighborhoods trying to find the right house, dude, it adds up! Gas prices!
IDEA: TANKED.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’m not a proponent or opponent of the idea, I tried to be very objective here. I just thought it’d be interesting to know what the job is like behind all of the urban myths and preconceptions. I hate driving around in traffic myself.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Ana of DebtFree-Revolution has an old beater she uses to deliver pizza as a side-job to pay down debt or save up for vacation. From what she says it’s definitely not all flowers and bunnies (especially since people are tipping less right now), but it works for her.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Unfortunately, the price of the insurance rider to cover it will probably eat up a lot of the profit. My brother found that out when he was younger.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Audi. Lexus. BMW. I’ve seen it all.
It is not your regular driver though. It is the store’s manager or owner using his personal car because they don’t have enough drivers or one of the drivers didn’t show up for work.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Rick - I think those were the delusional fantasies re-told by those pot-smoking delivery guys — who probably got the idea after one of those porno-watching sessions like in the movie “Knocked Up”.
If you ever become a pizza deliverer, PLEASE DO NOT cut out a hole in the center of any pizza boxes you deliver on any of your special deliveries!
May 30th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I delivered pizzas for 2 years as a evening/weekend part-time job shortly after graduating college and working full-time elsewhere. It was an immensely profitable gig.
I would usually average $17-22 per hour ($6/hr wage+ CASH tips), with weekends shifts accounting for the higher end of that range. Gas prices were in the $3/gallon range at the time, though I had a pretty fuel-efficient vehicle. All in all, it was definitely worth it financially, especially given the CASH tip nature of the work.
There were, in fact, several people who worked the job full time and few who did quite well at it too. Specifically, there was a guy who lived below his means, saved and invested diligently and actually had a six-figure portfolio.
Bottom-line, delivering pizzas can be quite profitable. It definitely helped me amass the beginnings of a nice nest egg.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:49 am
I have to agree with Erik C. Thauvin. I have a decent job making 6 figures in the software field. My Mom owns a Chinese food restaurant that does deliveries. I helped her out on the weekends. When there are more than 5 concurrent deliveries, I drive my BMW out to do some of them. I have learnt through the years that it is a good idea to park the car about half of a block away and walk it. Another thing is to learn where to park in a shady neighborhood.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:00 am
I have an idea. He might not be delivering any pizza. He just might sold advertising space on his car.
But it is a dangerous job, indeed. I know someone who was beaten and left for dead as a delivery pizza man. The young man survived but totally disabled and needs around the clock care.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:21 am
i am a pizza delivery guy. I average close to $200 per hour, which means I make around $400K per year. What can i do to average more per hour? I am buried in bills.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:56 am
As someone who waited tables thru college, alongside a couple of drivers at the same restaurant, I always wondered why they didn’t try to wait tables instead. I didn’t even have to do the math in a detailed way to figure it out. averaging in-season and out-of-season (S Fla), I got about netted about 15/hr. That’s based on earning a sad $9-11/hr in the summer and $18-22/hr in the winter. The 2.15/hr was just right for taxes etc, and I kept everything else at the end of the day. The delivery guys, even our best one who all the customers knew & liked (read: tipped him good!) definitely never averaged this much. There were weeknights in the summer when they would be luck to get 1-2 deliveries all night. (That would be $10 MAX if they were lucky enough to get $5 tips) Even on my worst night, I don’t think I ever walked out with less than $30. (That might be 5 early bird tables and 2-3 regular priced diners.) Granted, waiting tables means all the wear and tear is on your body and psyche (I worked in Boca Raton..enough said!), rather than your vehicle, but it seemed totally worth it to me! Especially on those few occasions when I walked out with 150-200 in one Fri or Sat shift. (A double of course)
BTW…how does xmasy make 200/hr?? Please elaborate.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:23 pm
200 per hour, 400K a year? Wow! I have never heard that either for a pizza delivery. I do make 200 per hour form time to time, as an event entertainer. But I don’t work for tips. And I don’t work 8 or 12 or 16 hour shifts and I don’t work every day, so I don’t make 400K a year, not even close. I guess, if I wanted to, I could earn 6 figure income as an event entertainer. Some of the event entertainers I work with do.
I guess I just don’t have that drive to earn all the money that I could earn. I spend my time with my husband who suffers Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and we don’t know how much time he has left, so I don’t work as much as I could. I used to be more driven in accumulating money, but I don’t really focus on it any more.
As for my husband, a Johns Hopkins University graduate, he never cared to save or earn maximum to his potential. As a psychologist by education, he made sure he enjoyed every day of his life. And sure enjoying means different for different people. For a lot of people earning and saving is what they enjoy and it is all good. But for him it meant learning and experiencing things.
I have a friend who is an 80 year old millionaire and there is nothing he enjoys more than shopping at dollar stores and picking discounts. He doesn’t have kids. He himself will never be able to spend the money he has in his lifetime. But it is besides the point. He enjoys what he enjoys, earning and saving and I totally understand it. I often roll my eyes at his ways of not wanting to spend even for his own comforts, like medical care, but I understand where he is coming from.
Enter my husband, who is completely opposit of my friend. My husband would never count pennies, it just not worth his time. And I totally understand him too. I guess, myself, I fall somewhere in between. I don’t try to accumulate as much money as I can but I do enjoy clever ways of money management.
I am now confident that as long as I have my my hands and legs and my mind, I will not be starving and I will find a way to earn money in a way that is not too boring for me.
One thing I can’t stand is being bored.
I have worked plenty jobs in my life where I was bored out of my mind. I didn’t know better at that time. I didn’t know that you can earn and enjoy yourself at the same time. It just never it didn’t occur to me. Once I discovered that there are enjoyable and pleasant ways to make money, I knew I will be alright and set for the rest of my life. LOL
May 31st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
My guess? That car is probably the property of the franchisee - the guy who likely has several such enterprises going at the same time, and who pitched in when one found himself one delivery guy short on a busy night.
Otherwise…? Beats me.
June 1st, 2008 at 8:41 am
[...] Side Jobs To Make Extra Money: Pizza Delivery Driver? That’s an IDEA, but I probably won’t try it. Not that I don’t like pizza, but I really hate driving (let alone driving and looking for house numbers). Categories : PF blogoshpere Tags : pfblogs [...]
June 1st, 2008 at 10:21 am
With the price of gas these days and people having less income for things like “tips”; I don’t see how delivering pizza for extra income could be economically feasible.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:20 am
My friend averages $5 per tip. Just last wednesday a man gave him a $76 tip because he only had a $100, and my friend didn’t have enough change on him. (But yes, I live in a wealthy portion of the country).
June 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
That was the owner of the franchise trying to help.
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 am
Why would you stick that hideous light on your if you were the owner?
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
you want to advertise for more business don’t you? come on, now, you know that jonathan!
and btw, I think papa john’s just got a big boost from the blog… hope that audi guy reads!
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Simple answer to why they would put the light on the top… I bet the cops are less likely to ticket you for parking violation if they know that car is going to move in a minute. Business liability insurance reasons might be another. Of course, rookies would ticket everything.
I think the recession has a lot of middle income folks looking at things just like this. The flexibility to do it late nights and weekends fits in with a full time job. Maybe your mortgage payment is throught he roof now and you need that extra $200 a month that a weekend work provides. With prices going up, all utilities going up, and my wages staying the same, I also have been entertaining the thought of another job. If you have a salaried possition, overtime is just not a possibility (depends on state laws of course, here no overtime for exempt workers) so you have to be thinking of a side job. Do you go out to work for someone, start your own business, or just find a better job? I haven’t found a place that will even want to pay what I make now, so staying and finding a side gig seems the best. Of course, there is always eliminating luxuries.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Wow, just yesterday I saw them same thing. In Rosemead, CA on Las Tunas there is a 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, that is delivering Pizza Hut. Of course there parents bought them the car.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 am
Tips aren’t that good. I delivered pizzas in college. I was paid cash by the owner and cash for tips. I never made more than $8 an hour, and that’s when gas was ~$1 a gallon.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 am
I’ll tell you that when I was 12 or whatever and ordering pizza without parents around I didn’t know these drivers expected tips. Actually I think my parents didn’t necessarily know either. They’re upper middle class so maybe we fit that stereotype well. Sorry! I do tip now though, actually, I pick up my pizza to avoid having to tip. But, I would.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Has anyone tried Traverus to make money? My brother just started and he was trying to get me to sign up for it.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:01 am
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June 4th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I deliver pizzas for a small business pizza store in Australia. AUS $17 an hour + $2 per delivery. Tips can be hit and miss, but they’re rarely large.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:50 am
as a pizza delivery guy for almost a year, i can say that this job is fair enough. well, if you’re after really large tips this job is a bog no for you.
I’m quite satisfied with my job.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I wash dishes at a restaurant a few nights a week. Has nothing to do with my day job as a graphic designer in advertising, however, my boyfriend is a sous chef at the restaurant, and it works out that he and I can work the same nights a week, so my working there means that I get to see him more. Not to mention the fact that I am friends with the other staff, and I get to eat free gourmet food.
I get paid hourly, as well as a cut of the tips. It’s not the most fun work, but its going to help me buy a new $3,000+ Mac computer, plus the design software. So to me, it’s worth it.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
My grandson’s 16-year-old friend has a nice car… a gift from his parents… and is now delivering pizza after school and on weekends.
We’ve had a very wet and cold spring so he hired Grandson to take the pizzas to the doors and Grandson keeps the tips. It’s worked out well for both of them.
Now the weather is getting better, the sun actually shines some days, and yesterday school let out for the summer. Grandson might soon be out of a job, but he will probably try pizza delivery when he gets his own car. In the meantime, it’s been a good experience for a kid who doesn’t mind rain.
June 15th, 2008 at 12:01 am
[...] Pizza. Jonathan at MyMoneyBlog said [...]
January 16th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
ok, all you ppl knockin pizza delivery are making me happy, i work full time as an engineer and deliver pizza just 2 nights a week and i make on average $450/MONTH! thats half my mortgage payment. its a no-brainer. you have to be calm headed 4 the job, but it is easy money-free food-hang with hot waitresses, and pass out biz cards to ur customers 4 other side jobs(snow shoveling,buying coins etc) all the drivers know-its the best kept secret around so THANK YOU PIZZA SHOP OWNERS.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I am in college and deliver pizzas at Pizza Hut. Here we make minimum wage + 1.35$ per delivery + tips. I think its a good part-time job. If you have a calm, cool attitude then this job will be rewarding, it’s the people that deliver pies full time that have problems with this job. Plus, you get alot of free food
June 29th, 2009 at 1:16 am
iv been doing pizza delivery lately, we can chose to use own car and get $2.50 extra per delivery (dose NOT work out…. petrol+strain on the car, smelly pizza etc etc) , or void the $2.50 and use the company car which is way more fun anyway!
just hop in pump up ur fave radio channel and roll out. tips are pretty shit due to dodgy neighborhood(s) and the recession, and you will face cool ppl, happy ppl, stoners, sad ppl, and full on arseholes.
im enjoying it alot so far