Gridwise blog

Amazon Flex drivers tore it up in the first quarter of 2022. Flex earnings are one of the highest among driving gigs, and they stayed strong long after the holiday peak season ended. 

Before we applaud too loudly, though, let’s take a deeper look at the Q1 numbers and study some trends that could affect the future flushness of the Amazon Flex gig. We’ll also offer suggestions for Flex drivers who are intent on fighting back against the corrosive currents of oncoming economic forces.

Here’s the way we’ll slice it up:

• First-quarter showing: how much do Amazon Flex drivers make?
• Possible obstacles: economic and social factors that could drag down earnings
• Limit your expenses: how Amazon Flex drivers can cut back on what they lay out
• Amplify your earning power: tips for making more

First quarter showing: how much do Amazon Flex drivers make?

Thus far 2022 has been a bang-up year for Amazon Flex drivers. Even though pandemic-related shutdowns have eased, and people are free to shop in stores again, there’s no sign that shoppers have stopped ordering from Amazon. Amazon Flex driver pay has continued on an upward trend. Let’s look at the numbers by first asking, how much do Amazon Flex drivers make per hour? 

Nationwide the average hourly gross earnings for Amazon Flex drivers from January–March 2021 amounted to $20.21. In the first quarter of 2022, Amazon flex pulled in hourly earnings of $22.47. That’s an 11% increase in 2022 over the same time period in 2021.

More encouraging news can be found in the fact that earnings rose steadily through Q1 of 2022. Beginning in January at $21.78, Amazon flex hourly pay went up to $22.30 in February, and ended the first quarter at $23.35. These numbers exceed those of all the rideshare and delivery companies for which Gridwise has data.

Now, how much do Amazon drivers make per order or per trip? Looking at this metric isn’t the best measure of monetary success because a “trip” or “order” for the Amazon Flex driver is the delivery of just one package. It’s not surprising to find that when it comes to this measure, Amazon Flex per trip pay is lower than that of all the other gig companies. Yet the upward trend in the earnings per trip number is consistent with the trend displayed in the hourly earnings. 

Earnings per trip began at $5.05 in January, inched up to $5.51 in February, and then rose to $6.00 in March. This steady climb is another indication that Amazon Flex drivers are on a roll in 2022. 

Average monthly earnings for the first quarter also sized up well. Amazon Flex drivers earned more than drivers for other delivery companies and were outdone by rideshare drivers at only Uber and Lyft. Monthly gross earnings began the year at $341.50 in January, then dipped down to $330.00 in February, which is a slightly shorter month. By March they rose to $419.50. The average monthly gross earnings for Amazon Flex drivers for the quarter was $363.67. 

Amazon Flex seems to be the leader in package delivery driver pay in general. When we compare Amazon Flex vs. Shipt monthly earnings, Flex looks rather fabulous. Shipt shopper average earnings for the quarter added up to just $259.22. A look at Amazon Flex vs. Instacart shows the difference to be even more drastic. Instacart shopper pay fell short with an average monthly earnings figure of just $185.58.

The year has started out well for Flex drivers, indeed, but what about the future? How will events and conditions affect Amazon Flex driver pay for the rest of 2022 and beyond?

Possible obstacles: economic and social factors that could drag down earnings

The haunting specter of high gas prices is probably the biggest concern on the minds of Amazon Flex drivers in 2022. (We will go deeper into the details surrounding this issue in the next section.) It is a big concern. Gas prices have risen much faster than earnings have, so in effect, Amazon Flex drivers are starting out with a deficit. What’s more, Amazon is just about the only gig company that hasn’t offered direct relief for drivers paying the higher prices at the pump. While they placed a surcharge on sellers due to rising fuel costs, they have yet to address the hardship their Flex drivers have had to take on.

The price of gas isn’t the only factor that could impact Amazon driver pay in the future, though. Here are a few more:

Potential unionization

Amazon’s gargantuan size suits its name perfectly, but it also brings about problems that indicate how its corporate culture might suffer from the company being too big. Warehouse workers as well as drivers have made attempts to join unions in the past. Amazon has been quite aggressive about avoiding unionization, but that hasn’t stopped their workers from continuing their efforts.

Because the COVID crisis changed the face of the labor market in general, Amazon workers believe they can use the current labor shortage as leverage to bring in unions and, they hope, improve their working conditions. There are positive aspects to unionizing, to be sure, but there are also potential concerns. 

One of these might be that Amazon is less open to allowing workers to choose their own hours, or that they would impose stricter standards and quotas that are even more difficult to meet than current ones. Worse yet they may be forced to eliminate the option to work as an Amazon Flex driver.

Inroads that are favorable to the treatment of drivers have been made in California, where Proposition 22 has taken effect. The companies defeated the state’s efforts to classify drivers as full-blown employees, but they did wind up offering drivers minimum earnings and other benefits. 

In Oregon a COVID-related sick pay policy is in effect, allowing drivers to be paid while they are ill and unable to work due to being infected. Still, companies are investing a lot of money in opposing measures like this one, as well as resisting worker efforts to unionize. 

There is plenty of room for Amazon to upgrade its working conditions and improve the way the company treats its Flex drivers. Whether unionization is the way this gets accomplished remains to be seen. If Amazon Flex drivers do become unionized, there is a real potential that the life of the average Amazon Flex driver will change, in some ways that are favorable, and in others that are not so desirable.

Inflation

Amazon Flex drivers deliver goods that are ordered online by consumers who are accustomed to having everything they want and being able to pay for it without much pain or trouble. With inflation becoming a concern in the 2022 economic picture, consumers might become more cautious about spending. If people cut back on the number of things they buy, the demand for Amazon Flex drivers would be reduced. 

Amazon Flex pay structure

The first thing that’s important to realize is that earnings with Amazon Flex vary based on location, how long it takes for you to complete your deliveries, and a few other factors, such as

• Amazon’s minimum contribution (varies by location)
• increased contribution at high demand times
• tips you may receive
• Amazon Flex rewards

Amazon’s hourly earnings contribution ranges from $15.00–$19.00. As evidenced by the figures in the previous section, drivers across the country averaged slightly higher earnings. This could be due to tips and surge pricing.

Tips are not a large portion of the typical Amazon Flex driver’s pay. Only certain deliveries leave an option for the customer to tip, and the average amount is based on what drivers have typically received for similar deliveries. Drivers keep 100% of their tips.

Amazon Flex Rewards is a way for Amazon to recognize its Flex drivers for superior service. Under the Amazon Flex Rewards program, drivers earn points, and then they receive rewards ranging from cash back on purchases to preferred scheduling. Amazon Flex drivers are independent contractors, and reimbursement for mileage, gas, and maintenance is not part of the deal. The cash back offers could be the company’s way of rewarding drivers for their hard work, and indirectly helping them to defray expenses.

There is no doubt that the costs of being a driver are substantial. There are smart ways of keeping expenses down, however, and every driver needs to be aware of them.

Limit your expenses: how Amazon Flex drivers can cut back on what they lay out

It’s true. There are ways to cut down on the amount you spend on unavoidable expenses. All you need is some information and a willingness to see your driving gig as what it is to you: your way of making money and a business geared toward turning a profit.

Keeping your overhead costs down will mean looking at what you have to spend and finding ways to limit your layout. Here are some big ones:

Gas

The price of fuel might have slowed down its steady escalation for now, but it hasn’t retreated much from where it was in March, at its peak national average of $4.23 for a gallon of regular gas. A week ago the price went down as low as $4.07, but has recently gone back up to $4.12 per gallon, according to AAA.

This time last year, prices stood at an average of $2.88 per gallon. That means that now, drivers pay nearly 47% more for gasoline. While Amazon Flex driver pay is higher than last year, this year’s pay doesn’t come close to covering that differential. To make it worse, as we mentioned earlier, Amazon has done nothing that directly benefits drivers looking to get a break from high fuel prices.

To make the cost to drivers even more of a burden, the vehicle requirements for Amazon Flexcreate the need for drivers to use vehicles that are not focused on fuel efficiency. You can read more about how to become an Amazon Flex driver here. When you do, you’ll find that in order to drive for Amazon Flex, you must use a four-door sedan, SUV, or truck with a flatbed cover. 

Unless you can afford to drive an Electric Vehicle (EV) in this size range, you’re going to get a lot less for the gallon than you would driving more fuel efficient cars. You can’t change the price of gas or the fact that you’ll have to buy more gas as an Amazon Flex driver, but you can limit the amount of financial damage you might sustain in today’s high gas price environment. Gridwise Gas will save you a lot of money!

Powered by Gas Buddy, your Gridwise Gas card is honored at 95% of service stations and will let you save up to $0.25 per gallon on fill-ups. Along with being more cautious about your driving habits, using Gridwise Gas will help you conserve on consumption and cut down costs. Sign up free for Gridwise Gas and start saving now. You’ll also want to follow Gridwise on Facebook, where you can get in on frequent gas card giveaways.

Maintenance

No one who uses a vehicle for business can afford to skimp on maintenance. Yet the price of maintaining a vehicle is also going up. This is largely due to a shortage of parts, and a shortage of qualified technicians. Those technicians who are still working are asking for higher wages, as they must develop their skills to meet the level of sophistication of modern vehicles. Inflation could also fuel demand for higher pay, and pump up the price you must pay to keep your car running.

As an Amazon Flex driver you will have to be even more vigilant than most rideshare and delivery drivers about maintaining your vehicle. When you’re carrying packages on a daily basis, the added weight creates greater wear and tear on your brakes, and could possibly place extra stress on your engine. Frequent oil changes will help, but they do add to your overhead.

On average, drivers told us that they pay about $163 per month on maintenance. This is a lot of money to spend when you’re not being reimbursed; but as we stated, you can’t afford to skimp on maintenance. What you can do is limit your maintenance costs.

Gridwise + CarAdvise helps you do exactly that. The app will allow you to scope out local car repair and maintenance shops, talk to experts, get free estimates, and find the best value for your money. Gridwise + CarAdvise is a surefire way to know you’re only trusting the care of your vehicle to professionals whose competence and integrity you can trust.

Depreciation

This cost, though you might not think about it much, could be the hardest one of all to accept. It’s a fact that your car loses about 8% of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot, which is the moment it becomes “used.” Each year the value of your vehicle goes down more. At the end of one year, you’ve lost 19%, after year two, 31%. By the end of five years, your car’s value will have depreciated some 60%, making it worth only 40% of its original value.

To put that in dollar terms, this article from Carfax tells us that a vehicle worth $30,000 will be worth only $12,000 after five years. This means that, in effect, the owner is losing $3,600 each year.

Obviously, you’re going to want to look at the real value of your vehicle before you put more money into it for major repairs or enhancements. If and when you decide it’s time to get a new car, don’t panic. Use the Gridwise Auto Buying Program to make the transition to a new vehicle a lot easier.

You’ll get as much as $3,500 off the MSRP of a new car and find the best prices on used vehicles. This program is geared for drivers like you who need to make sure they’re losing as little money as possible while making wise decisions about retiring an old vehicle and buying a new one.

There are plenty of expenses involved in driving for Amazon Flex, but don’t let them get you down. Now that you know how to minimize the biggest drains on your earnings, let’s look at how you can strategize and up your game so you can make more money.

Amplify your earning power: tips for making more

With all the rising costs and extra expenses you face, you might wonder, is driving for Amazon Flex worth it? We believe it can be, but if you want to turn up the volume on your ability to earn more as an Amazon Flex driver, you’ll have to get proactive about it. Here are some things you can do:

Increase the number of deliveries you make

When you turn on the app to choose your work for the day, you don’t have to settle for any old block. If you want to make more money, you’ll have to work in areas where Amazon Flex drivers get paid more. How would you know that? Where to Drive, a valuable Gridwise feature, shows you the places in your area where Flex drivers are pulling in the most cash. Now you can schedule your blocks in areas that will really pay off. 

Do all you can to get better tips and top customer ratings

There’s not a lot you can do to make sure your block is one that makes you eligible for tipping, but it pays to do the kinds of things that make you score high with customers in any case. These include

• protecting packages from wet weather and dirt
• using car mats or other cushioning to prevent damage
• taking a dolly along to make dropping and breakage next to impossible

Get savvy, and diligent, about tracking tax deductible expenses

Remember, Amazon won’t reimburse you for the mileage you accrue while working as a Flex driver. You need the best Amazon Flex mileage tracker—Gridwise! This trusty free app automatically tracks your mileage on every shift and separates the count from your regular driving.

Gridwise also tracks your earnings. Simply sync your Amazon Flex app with Gridwise, and your earnings will be seamlessly recorded. You can also manually enter other expenses, such as automotive equipment, food, beverages, and amenities you might purchase for your customers. Later you can see how well you’re doing with simple and informative graphs. Gridwise is a powerful tool that will help you keep earning more, even in the face of changing economic conditions. Don’t wait another minute.

Download the free Gridwise app today!

Shipt is a delivery service that’s owned by Target, but it operates as a completely separate entity. Shipt shoppers take a customer’s list, go through the stores on their behalf, then make the delivery. They might be called to deliver goods from a variety of sellers, including grocery stores, big box operations, pharmacies, and pet stores.

Being a Shipt shopper has its good and not-so-good points, but when we look at Shipt shopper earnings during the first quarter of 2022, it appears that things are looking up! In this post, we’ll delve into the details of the quarterly earnings and share some insight into how current economic conditions and Shipt’s corporate vision might affect earnings. Then, we’ll offer strategies and recommendations for pushing your earnings higher and keeping them that way.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Shipt shopper pay: facts, figures, and trends
• The bigger picture: customer demand and Shipt corporate policy
• Shipt shopper expenses: how to keep them down
• Shipt shopper earnings: how to raise them up and keep them there

Shipt shopper pay: facts, figures, and trends

Shipt shoppers have to do more than just shop and drive their deliveries to their destinations. The company is very big on customer service. That means shoppers are often asked to make extra efforts when it comes to getting customers exactly what they want, delivered promptly, courteously, and accurately.

Fortunately, it appears that Shipt shoppers were rewarded rather well for their work in the first quarter of 2022. Let’s look at the earnings data:

How much do Shipt shoppers make per hour?

Our nationwide figures show that Shipt shopper hourly pay in January was $18.51 and has gone down only slightly over the course of the first quarter. In February, gross earnings per hour amounted to $17.63, and in March the average earnings were $17.62.

While there has been a slight drop since the beginning of the year, there was only a very minor change between the second and third months of the quarter. With a quarterly average of $17.92, Shipt shoppers made about 14% more than Instacart shoppers, whose average hourly pay for the quarter was $15.78.

How much do Shipt shoppers make per order?

Gross earnings per order is an important angle to take when analyzing grocery delivery driver pay. This is a number that answers questions such as “Is driving for Shipt worth it?” From what the Q1 2022 figures indicate, the earnings per trip show a trend that’s somewhat unsettling. 

Gridwise data show that earnings per trip, or order, for Shipt shoppers dropped by 22% over the course of the quarter. January’s figure was $19.67. In February, the earnings per trip fell down to $18.87 and then took a dive to $15.30 in March. While this isn’t encouraging, Shipt shoppers still out-earned those doing similar work with Instacart. Instacart shopper earnings per trip averaged $16.06, compared with $17.95 for Shipt shoppers. This Shipt vs. Instacart comparison isn’t as dramatic as the hourly earnings, but it still shows Shipt earnings to be somewhat higher.

What about Shipt shopper monthly earnings?

Median gross monthly earnings figures for Shipt shoppers are is far more encouraging. January earnings averaged $290.50, and after going down to $203.70 in February, rebounded to $283.46 in March. 

Here, the difference between Shipt and Instacart is much more obvious. Shipt shoppers’ monthly average for Q1 2022 was $259.22, while Instacart shoppers earned an average of only $185.58. That means Shipt shoppers made 39% more than Instacart shoppers in monthly earnings during the first quarter.

The bigger picture: customer demand and Shipt corporate policy

As we look more deeply at the Q1 2022 Shipt shopper earnings trends, it’s easy to see how changing economic factors could impact both net and gross earnings. Inflation and rising gas prices have certainly given both customers and Shipt shoppers pause before creating large orders or automatically filling up the gas tank.

Customer demand and expectations

Fortunately for Shipt shoppers and the online grocery delivery business in general, customers are more eager than ever to gobble up their services. Some 71% of consumers have ordered other packaged goods online within the last quarter. While this number is down 2% from a year ago, the growth and security of online delivery work is evident when compared with the 2017 figure of 17%. 

The top reasons people give for shopping online are saving time, avoiding the inevitable impulse buys that happen at random inside the store, and personal safety. The practice of online ordering has become so common, a report from Powerreviews.com points out that 68% of all consumers have ordered online and have either picked up their items or had them delivered.

While it’s encouraging to note that customers are placing online orders as furiously as they did at the height of the pandemic, it’s important to realize that customer expectations are on the rise, too. Customers want to be able to get their goods when they want them, but they also expect personalized service.

Shipt corporate policy: service first

There’s plenty of buzz around the topic of time and delivery. Companies such as Doordash have put a huge emphasis on super-fast deliveries by launching a new New York city based Dashmart. Other, smaller, companies have invested heavily in delivering within 15–30 minute time windows and have not been terribly successful.

This scenario is what drives the corporate policy as stated by Shipt CEO, Rina Hurst, in this article from Forbes.com. Hurst is certain that while customers expect to receive deliveries on time, those small delivery windows are not what most of them really want from a service like Shipt. Hurst asserts that her research shows that Shipt customers value the quality of service, rather than speed.

While stating that only 50% of orders received by Shipt are for delivery within an hour, she emphasizes that Shipt’s practices involving the personalization of online shopping are much more widely desired by customers. These include everything from shoppers working directly with the customer when substitutions are necessary, to allowing customers to designate a “preferred” shopper with whom they can work on a regular basis.

A recent survey of online grocery shoppers conducted by Coresight.com shows that speed of delivery was sixth on the list of customer needs, behind low or no delivery fee, availability of items, and quality of service. As Shipt attempts to balance service, speed, and cost for their customers, Hurst notes that Shipt customers are likely to set up large orders, rather than send for a few simple convenience items. Most of the time, large orders don’t require quick turnover.

The company’s desire to keep service at the forefront is a long-term strategy that might well pay off. If it does, it will have a stabilizing effect on the amount of work available for Shipt shoppers. Given that orders are larger for service-minded Shipt customers, tip earnings will be higher as well.

With larger economic forces on the horizon, such as inflation and supply chain disruptions, keeping earnings high will depend on how well Shipt shoppers can minimize expenses.

Shipt shopper expenses: how to keep them down

While gross earnings might be staying high, many expenses for Shipt shoppers are increasing. This means that net earnings for Shipt shoppers could be going down, due to general inflation and intensely higher prices on essentials. Here are a few things Shipt shoppers need to do:

Out-maneuver the high price of gas

National average retail prices as of mid- to late April are hovering around $4.10 per gallon. While a huge increase over the same time in 2021, when the average price was $2.87 per gallon, it’s an improvement over mid-March of 2022, when the average price spiked at $4.26 per gallon. 

Will gas prices ever go back to where they were a year ago? Considering current global conditions, probably not now, and maybe never. Consider the fact that, while prices often rose by twenty or thirty cents per day on their way toward the $4.00 mark, they are coming down at a much slower speed. 

Shipt, like many other rideshare and delivery companies, has just announced plans to help Shipt shoppers with the extra fuel expenses. They’re offering driver discounts on gas fill ups, bonuses for the busiest of their shoppers, and the addition of in-app language to encourage customers to tip drivers generously.

This probably won’t make that much of a difference for most drivers. What Shipt shoppers need is a highly reliable way to get consistent discounts at more than 95% of available service stations. Gridwise Gas offers all that and more. Powered by Gas Buddy, Gridwise Gas sends you to the stations that have the biggest discounts and helps you save up to $0.25 per gallon. Follow Gridwise on Facebook, and get a chance to win in our frequent gas card giveaways.

Measures like these, along with changing your driving habits to avoid wasting gas, will help you keep high gas prices from eating away at your earnings.

Invest in maintenance…cautiously

Your vehicle is essential to your livelihood, so you must take good care of it. Information that Gridwise got from drivers indicates that they spend around $163 per month on maintenance. That’s pretty substantial!

There’s every reason to cut this cost down to a much smaller size, and you can do that with Gridwise + CarAdvise. This great Gridwise benefit lets you shop around for service centers in your area, talk to experts who actually know what they’re doing, and then get up to 40% off retail prices on maintenance and repairs.

Keep an eye on depreciation

That cliché about your car losing much of its value the moment you leave the lot is true. This car depreciation tool from Omnicalculator.com indicates that it goes down to 91% of its retail value as soon as your car is “used,” even for one minute.

By one year, you’re down to 81% of its original value, at two years 69%. Three years in, your car is only worth 58% of the initial price, and by year four the value goes down to 49%. In five years’ time, your car is only worth 40% of its value. These sobering numbers might push you to reconsider investing in maintenance and repair items, from brakes and tires to fuel pumps and radiators.

When you use your car to be a Shipt shopper, your worries about depreciation can become even bigger. Odometer readings and wear and tear rack up faster for delivery drivers and reduce the car’s value at even more prodigious rates. 

It pays to make sure your vehicle is still worth investing in—that is,for repairs and maintenance, and even registration. Carfax states that the owner of a $30,000 vehicle is looking at losing $18,000 over five years, or $3,600 annually. 

If you’re facing sad facts like this about your car, it could be time to get a new vehicle. Let the Gridwise Auto Buying Program help you out. You can get as much as $3,500 off MSRP and find the best prices on used vehicles. Depreciation is a fact of life, and when your car is a crucial component of your ability to make money, you can’t afford to let it wipe you out.

Now that you know how to keep costs down, let’s look at ways to drive your Shipt shopper earnings up!

Shipt shopper earnings: how to raise them up and keep them there

Maximizing earnings often means working even harder. While sweat equity certainly helps, that’s not all Shipt shoppers can do. Before looking at the ways to make even more, let’s examine the Shipt shopper pay structure and how you can make the most of it.

Know how Shipt shoppers get paid.

Shipt shoppers deliver more than groceries. They can also be called upon to deliver a whole host of items, including electronics, personal care products, and in some areas, alcohol. The Shipt app tries, to as great of an extent possible, to make customers feel as though they’re really shopping in the store, virtually going down the aisles to choose their items.

Shipt shoppers are the ones who actually choose the items, and they do so after accepting an offer. A display known as an Offer Card appears on the shopper’s screen. The shopper chooses whether to take the offer or not. If the choice is to accept the offer, the shopper heads to the store and gets to work. Once the items are selected, the shopper drives the order to its destination.

The pay per offer depends on several variables, such as the size of the store, how much driving is involved, how complex the order is, whether substitutions are likely, etc. If an order has been sitting in the system for a while and doesn’t get picked up, Shipt adds on extra money they call Promo Pay to incentivize drivers to give the customer a high-quality service experience from Shipt.

In general, drivers get a minimum pay of $5.00 per order, plus 7.5% of the total order cost. Shoppers keep 100% of their tips.

The Shipt Earnings Standard applies to every market. This is the company’s guarantee that every offer will be paid at $16 per hour or more, based on time and effort estimates. This is a part of Offer Pay, and it doesn’t count as an extra payment, the way bonuses and tips do.

If you want to learn how to become a Shipt shopper, click here to see the requirements. Note that Shipt shoppers are paid weekly on Mondays for work completed Monday–Sunday. Unlike Uber or Instacart, there are no instant or 2-hour pay windows with Shipt.

Bank on Bonuses & Referrals.

Like most gig companies, Shipt offers bonuses to shoppers that can help boost earnings. These might be based on timeliness, a specific date or time, or for specific retailers. Bonuses do not apply to Promo orders, but it’s good to know that Shipt invested a lot of money in Shipt shopper bonuses in 2021, offering them twice the amount that was doled out in the previous year.

Shipt’s shopper referral program pays $50 for each shopper that joins Shipt after being referred by the shopper, provided the new shopper completes a required number of orders. Bonuses and referrals are great ways to boost income because they don’t require any extra work. If you have a way of distributing your referral code widely, through a social media channel or newsletter, you could gather a rather respectable pile of passive income.

Increase Orders.

This requires some hustle, but it’s worth it. The more orders you deliver, the more money you make. If you can deliver just one extra order per shift, it might make up for the added costs you’re paying for gas and other items.

Know your store layout.

It’s easy to get into a zombie-like state of overstimulation while you’re shopping in a big store, but if you want to be speedy about your service, you need to learn the layout. The Shipt app will help; but if you already know where most things are kept, you won’t even have to look at a map to find your way around.

Scope out your neighborhoods.

You might stay with just one or two stores or shop around, but in every case you need to know your neighborhood. Use Gridwise to alert you to traffic delays and tip you off about events and the crowds they may create in your area.

Go where the money will be.

It helps when you’re shopping for Shipt to go to the highest paying neighborhoods. The Gridwise Where to Drive feature will show you real data on what drivers are making in various parts of town. Equipped with this kind of info, you can increase your income, and maybe not have to work so hard for it.

Hustle for higher tips.

It doesn’t take all that much to get customers to part with a few extra dollars. If you pour your heart into your job and deliver good service, they’ll gladly give you that something extra. Here are some things you can do to ensure they notice just how hard you’re trying:

• Complete orders on time. Customers love it when deliveries arrive in the first 15 minutes of the delivery time window.
• Communicate clearly, and bend over backwards to make acceptable substitutions.
  Keep working. The more experience you get, the better you’ll be at your job.
• Use sturdy bags, crates, and boxes for groceries.
• Build relationships with repeat customers—you could become their preferred shopper!
  

Maximize deductions and mind your business.

Tracking your miles is an important aspect of maximizing your tax deductions. When you let Gridwise be your mileage tracker for Shipt shopping, you’ll get plenty of additional features as part of the package. Simply sync your app to Gridwise, and your earnings will be seamlessly recorded, along with your mileage. You can enter your expenses as they arise and produce graphs that let you see all the crucial data you need to manage your business!

With all these features, plus great access to benefits, deals, and discounts, you need Gridwise!

Download the Gridwise app for free!

Rideshare driving has its challenges, and the biggest, most important one is keeping earnings high. It’s hard to control all the many factors involved in the way drivers make money, especially with inflation taking a bite out of everyone’s wallet. Even those big company bonuses don’t always help when you have no idea how much more you’ll have to pay for gas, car maintenance, or energy to charge your EV.

Meanwhile, if you’re among the drivers just getting back on the road after the pandemic, you’ll have to hustle to get back up to speed. It’s a whole new world out there, but if you play it right, you can make the money you need to make a living, even with inflation and changing passenger patterns. Your first step is to get a handle on what aspects of your earning power you can control. 

Fortunately, there are a few aspects of gig driver earnings that you can easily influence, and push your earnings skyward. The most flexible and powerful of these is tips. In this blog post, we’ll present some strategies to help you move your earnings upward with suggestions about how you can make more and get more tips. Here’s how we’ll cover the topic:

• Tips: how they factor into earnings
• Driving strategies: a road to better tips and bigger earnings
• Surefire tip getter: Play Octopus
• Get your tip-grabbing tentacles on your very own Play Octopus

Tips: how they factor into earnings

Not all rideshare customers are used to tipping their drivers. In the early days of gig driving, Lyft encouraged tipping, but Uber didn’t even offer riders an invitation or opportunity to give tips. Since then, that’s changed. Both Lyft and Uber make drivers eligible for tips. Still, when it comes to passenger behavior, evidence supports the timeworn adage: old habits die hard. In other words, drivers need to work hard at inspiring customers to give them tips.

When we leave a gratuity, say, in a restaurant, we usually plunk down at least 15% of the total. Other service providers, such as massage therapists, barbers, or hair stylists, might inspire most of us to tip around 20%. Sadly, when it comes to rideshare, drivers are not getting as much green. Anonymized data collected by Gridwise shows that tips from rideshare customers amount to just under 9% of driver earnings.

This is due in large part to the fact that not all passengers tip, and this discouraging piece of data could arise from a few factors. Companies are charging more to incentivize gig workers to come back to work and end the continuing driver shortage. Recently, they’ve added even more surcharges to cover higher gas prices. With the rising cost of rides, many customers may be more hesitant than ever to compensate drivers for all they do.

That’s why you need to work harder and put in lots of extra effort. Strive to give your passengers reasons to reach deeper into their pockets and come up with the tips you deserve.

Tip-worthy behavior for drivers begins with sending advance messages to your riders, telling them what direction you’re coming from, and while you’re at it, adding that while tips aren’t mandatory, you do appreciate them. Add to your coffers by being sensitive yet engaging with your customers, offering advice on how to have fun in your town and thanking them for riding with you. 

They’re likely to pay you extra to carry shopping bags and luggage, or for offering kindly help with a stroller or wheelchair. If you’ve already mastered these tip-grabbing techniques, that’s fabulous. But there’s even more you can do to add to your basic earnings and get even more tips.

Driving strategies: a road to better tips and bigger earnings

Because tips are a percentage of your earnings, you need to make as much money as possible on every ride. While it’s nice to get those long, juicy airport runs and intercity trips, you can’t do them all the time. A solid driving strategy is essential if you want to give yourself a good running start toward a better income. This blog post on optimizing your rideshare driving strategy lists 5 ways you can improve your earnings in general. 

We’ve established that if you want bigger tips, you’ll want to step up and be conscious of the way you interact with passengers and cater to them as much as possible. Before you can do that, though, you’ll have to know where to find passengers and how to spend as little time as possible riding around looking for them.

You need to be aware of where passengers are likely to be and at what times of day most of them will be looking for rides. You can conduct your own experiments, if you have the time, trying out different places and times of day to observe various traffic patterns. You can look at your company’s app for places where there might be high volume, but by the time you get to those surge zones, you could be out of luck.

Gridwise, the best mileage tracker app, provides solutions that put you right where the action is. Where to Drive gives you live data from fellow drivers on where the big money is in your area, while When to Drive clues you in on the times when funds are high in certain spots on your gig driving beat. Armed with this information, you can make the most of every minute you’re out there on the road.

Use Gridwise to track mileage and other expenses, too. Recording your financial transactions produces sizable returns at tax time. Those deductions add up and keep your tax bill to a minimum. As you can see, Gridwise is the best free mileage tracker app, and so much more.

Another part of a smart driving strategy is multi-apping, or moving from one service to another to take advantage of bonuses, including which company seems to attract the biggest tippers. Because Lyft has always had tips as part of the passenger routine, that might be a good place to start. There’s much to consider when it comes to driving for Uber vs. Lyft. This side-by-side comparison shows that Lyft lets drivers make more per ride overall, but that’s only part of the picture.

Much will depend on your area and how well each company has done at marketing their services to the public. Doing your own research by testing all your options is a really good way to see which company is going to bring home the most bucks for you.

No matter which company you drive for more often, you’re going to get more and bigger tips when you put together a positive rider experience.

Surefire tip getter: Play Octopus 

If you want to create a rider experience your passengers will never forget, you need Play Octopus! Play Octopus is a F R E E (yes, that’s right) tablet that you mount onto your back seat. It’s designed specifically to entertain and fascinate your passengers. They can play free games, receive special offers from top brands, and because they see some short ads…YOU get paid for having Play Octopus in your car.

Play Octopus shares ad revenue with drivers, and that can add up to as much as $100 per month. Better yet, the tablet helps you to build relationships with your passengers. Playing the games opens them up, and while they’re playing they’ll start to talk to you. Before you know it, they can’t help but like you. Not surprisingly, when people like their drivers, they’re more likely to give them big tips. Whether they get the high score of the day playing their Uber game or not, you both win. They get to have fun on their ride, and you get more tips!

Even better, you get cash rewards every time your passengers play a game. As long as you log 100 trips per month, or drive while you’re online with your driving app for 40 or more hours per month with the Octopus tablet on board, you will get paid! Add on the extra tips you’ll get, and you’ve got an inflation-beating, conversation-starting, fun and engaging feature your passengers are sure to love.

You’ll also be pretty fond of the referral cash Play Octopus has to offer. Get a $25 bonus for every driver you turn on to this amazing way to earn more money and get bigger tips. Sweet, right? Before you start to tap your list of driver friends, though, you’d best get one of your own.

Get your tip-grabbing tentacles on your very own Play Octopus

No worries, you don’t have to dive into the deep blue sea to get your hands on one of these money-making machines. All you have to do to get your Octopus tablet is apply here. 

Approval from the Octopus team will take about 3–5 days, but once you get the Octopus OK, your tablet will be mailed to you. Then, you simply mount it, let your passengers play with it, and start watching the money roll in. In case you’re wondering, the data plan you need for the tablet will be set up for you, and it too is free. 

Great news for drivers that stopped driving due to the pandemic! Reapply for Octopus as soon as you’re ready to get back on the road! Getting into the post-pandemic groove can be challenging. Play Octopus is a must-have when you’re going back out there. Why not start with not just one, but eight, legs up? The Play Octopus tablet will instantly help you make more money and bring in bigger tips. 

We can’t imagine how you could wait this long to get your own Octopus, the free tablet for Uber drivers, but in case you haven’t yet… 

Sign up now to get your free Play Octopus tablet!

For food delivery drivers, Grubhub was the biggest delivery service in the US a few years back—but things have changed.  

Grubhub conceded significant market share to DoorDash and Uber Eats, now placing third. Their reputation also suffered due to their treatment of partner restaurants. 

In 2020, Grubhub sold to Europe’s Just Eat for $7.3 billion. But that didn’t change the trajectory. Grubhub has been unable to overtake DoorDash or Uber Eats.

Still, many drivers choose to drive for Grubhub as part of their business. Is that the right choice? 

We wanted to know how much drivers are making and whether driving for Grubhub is worth it in 2022. To find the answer, we took a look at the real data from 250,000+ drivers using the Gridwise app. Here’s what we found: 

How much does Grubhub pay?

Grubhub pay is based on the distance traveled, time spent on the road, customer tips, and any special offers on the order. 

According to our data, Grubhub drivers earned an average of $10.28 per trip between January and March 2022. That’s the highest among all the food delivery apps on the list. 

However, compared to DoorDash and Uber Eats' hourly pay, Grubhub driver earnings per hour were the lowest at $15.65.

On average, Grubhub drivers received $4.92 in tips per trip, the highest among all food delivery apps.

Across all platforms, food delivery earnings were slightly better than rideshare and noticeably worse than the grocery delivery service Instacart.

The average monthly gross earnings for Grubhub drivers was $126.53 for Q1 2022. 

It’s worth noting that Grubhub driver activity was also significantly lower than other platforms, including a weekly decline in the total trip count throughout March. Could this be due to the sharp rise in gas prices around the same time? We will explore that later in the article.

So, what’s the big picture? In the Grubhub vs. DoorDash and Grubhub vs. Uber Eats comparisons, here are the three clear conclusions we can draw from this Q1 data:

What factors impact Grubhub driver earnings?

• Location: Do you drive in an area where many people order food online? Is it a city with a high population and more restaurants? Dense, urban areas typically offer the best opportunity for higher earnings.
• Driver Promotions: Grubhub runs a lot of driver promotions (called Missions) that boost earnings for completing different milestones. You can unlock these Missions in the Earnings tab of the Grubhub drivers app.
• Driver Level: Your Grubhub driver level (Partner, Pro, or Premier) affects the quantity and quality of orders you receive. Higher levels unlock more opportunities for higher earnings.
• Schedule: Food delivery demand is typically limited to a few windows throughout the day. If you can adapt your schedule to deliver orders during busy hours, you can both deliver more and earn more per order through incentives.

What are the biggest expenses for Grubhub drivers?

Most driver pay reports you find online focus on gross earnings, but what really matters is how much you take home after deducting all your expenses. 

That’s why knowing and tracking all the expenses is vital to deciding whether driving for a certain platform is worth it. Here’s a list of common expenses you should be tracking:

• Vehicle depreciation
• Fuel costs
• Maintenance and repairs
• Insurance
• Taxes

Other expenses

• Phone bill
• Self-employment tax and compliance expenses
• Medical expenses

Among these, the biggest are those related to your vehicle. According to a yearly analysis from AAA (American Automobile Association), the average annual cost of owning a new car was $9,666 in 2021. 

On average, vehicle depreciation accounts for 40% of total ownership expenses, followed by fuel at 17%, maintenance at 15%, insurance at 14%, taxes at 7%, and car financing at 7%. Since delivery drivers use their vehicles more on average than regular car owners, yearly expenses could be much higher.

Tracking and deducting all the above expenses from your gross earnings helps you to know your actual income (and save at tax time). Failing to do so can result in an inaccurate picture of your earnings, meaning you’re losing out on cash in your pocket. 

Many drivers in the gig economy don’t account adequately or at all for depreciation, resulting in vastly under estimated expenses.

Have the rising gas prices impacted driver earnings?

According to AAA, the national average price for regular gas went up from $2.863/gal a year ago to $4.073/gal in mid-April this year. 

That represents a yearly increase of 42.26%. However, the average price was $4.316/gal a month ago, so the prices seem to be easing in the last few weeks.

To address the adverse impact of gas prices on driver earnings, Grubhub announced a nationwide unspecified increase in per mile distance pay from March 9.

The company said the pay increase will be sufficient enough to offset the average cost increase per mile due to gas prices. This is a welcome change, but you can further reduce the impact of gas prices on your earnings by:

• joining the Gridwise Gas program and getting get cash back on gas from GasBuddy
• following these tips on lowering fuel costs

How can Grubhub drivers earn more?

• Multi-apping: As the earnings data shows, there is no clear winner when it comes to food delivery driver pay. It's better to use more than one app simultaneously to get a steady flow of orders with minimal waiting time.
• Rewards Programs: Grubhub runs a Driver Recognition Program to reward its best-performing drivers. Based on your attendance rate, order acceptance rate, and block drop rate, you can be placed in Partner, Pro, or Premier Grubhub driver levels. Higher levels offer more flexibility and access to larger orders.
• Drive with Gridwise: We built Gridwise to help drivers in the gig economy. Our app is filled with useful features for Grubhub drivers:
  • Earnings and performance comparisons across different apps to see what’s working best for you
  • Expense tracker and mileage tracker for Grubhub to save on taxes
  • Information about when and where to drive for the best hours and neighborhoods
  • Special discounts and offers from Gridwise partners
  • Traffic, weather, events, and other alerts

Download the free Gridwise app to boost your driver income

So, is it worth driving for Grubhub in 2022?

Grubhub is in significantly fewer US cities when compared to DoorDash and Uber Eats. While its driver earnings are mostly on par with other food delivery services, the company has a smaller market share and, meaning fewer orders overall.

However, since it has marginally better earnings per trip and tips per trip, Grubhub is a good choice for drivers who want to deliver only a few orders and make as much as they can. We’d love to hear your experience as a driver. Join and share with our driver community on Facebook!

If you’re an Instacart shopper, you already know how hard you need to work for your pay. Shopping and driving isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when you want to make the most money in the least time. Working without insight and information can be difficult and confusing.

Since you’re looking for some tips and ideas, you probably have lots of questions. We put this post together to help enlighten you about Instacart first-quarter earnings, to look at the factors that affect how much you can make, and to learn about techniques and tools that will help you make more—and hold on to it. Here are the queries we’ll cover:

• How much do Instacart shoppers make?
• What outside factors eat into Instacart shopper pay?
• What are the basic costs of being an Instacart shopper?
• How can Instacart shoppers reduce expenses and make more money? 

How much do Instacart shoppers make?

The first quarter of 2022 was good to Instacart shoppers. Even though the world has opened up more this year, there has been no discernible drop in consumer online grocery shopping activity. In fact, a study conducted by Power Reviews revealed that 71% of customers across the US ordered groceries online in the first quarter of 2022. In 2021, when people were more entrenched in the pandemic lifestyle, that figure was 72%. 

Earnings for Instacart shoppers held steady throughout the first quarter of 2022. Gross earnings per hour started at $16.28 in January and fell just a little to $15.34 in February, but showed signs of a slight rebound in March, when Instacart shopper hourly pay edged back up to $15.72.   

Earnings per trip followed this trend. Beginning at $16.67 in January, per trip earnings slid to $15.73 in February, but then crept back up to $15.79 by the end of March. This brought the average Instacart shopper earnings per trip to $16.06 for the first quarter.

The same steady trend we see in earnings per hour and earnings per trip held for tips per trip. Beginning at $6.61 in January, tip earnings fell slightly to $6.49 in February.

It follows that median monthly earnings for Instacart shoppers would form a pattern similar to the ones established by the other categories. January earnings amounted to $197.88. In February they went down to $173.02, then recovered in March rising to $186.64.

We did note, though, when we compared earnings for Instacart vs. Shipt, Instacart lags behind. Median monthly earnings for Shipt drivers averaged $259.22 over the three month period. Even Doordash monthly earnings outpaced those of Instacart shoppers. The average median earnings for Dashers in the first quarter of 2022 was $229.00. 

Instacart has some catch-up to play with the other services. As a company, though, it does offer a range of possible experiences. Pay varies for Instacart workers depending on the type of job they choose.

The three possible Instacart roles are:

Full service shoppers

These workers drive to the grocery store, select the customer’s order, and then deliver it. They are independent contractors and do not receive employee benefits. The upside about this role is that it offers a great deal of flexibility in terms of working hours. Also, these shoppers are eligible to receive tips from customers.

In-store shoppers

Instacart does employ a select number of workers as non-full-service shoppers. They are Instacart employees and receive hourly wages, but not tips. They choose items for the customers, but the orders are picked up at the curb rather than delivered to the door. The positive point here for many is that this role doesn’t require the use of a vehicle, except to get to the store where they work.

Delivery-only drivers

These workers simply gather up pre-picked orders and deliver them to the customers. They, too, are independent contractors and do not receive employee benefits. They may be able to deliver more batches per hour, but their minimum payment per batch is less than what full-service shoppers receive.

For all these roles, there are certain factors entering in to answer the question, Is driving for instacart worth it in 2022? Let’s look at those factors now.

What outside factors eat into Instacart shopper pay?

As the world goes through the process of trying to come back to what we used to call “normal,” new problems have appeared. Many of them impact grocery delivery driver pay, and of course, the earnings of all three types of Instacart workers. Here’s a short list:

Gas prices

The astronomical increase in gas prices over the last few months makes driving anywhere much more expensive than before. When a person drives for a living, the price of filling up at the pump takes a huge bite out of earnings. Read more about the impact of rising gas prices in this Gridwise blog post.

Inflation

Inflation affects everyone, but Instacart drivers might feel it more than most other gig drivers. Grocery stores have raised prices to cover the rising cost of food, and Instacart may have to raise its service charge to cover increased operating costs as well. This could result in a less robust customer demand and less work for Instacart shoppers.

As we noted earlier, there is good news in that customers are ordering their groceries online now as much as ever. They too, however, may want to cut their costs, which might mean they get less generous about tipping Instacart shoppers.

Instacart pay structure

Recent changes in Instacart’s pay structure will very likely improve earnings for shoppers and drivers. No one outside corporate management knows for sure how the payment per batch algorithm for Instacart shoppers is calculated, but it’s clear that it’s made up of several components. They include the number of items, how difficult items may be to choose or carry (think vegetables and heavy items), how far away the delivery point is, batch incentives, quality bonuses, peak boosts, and customer tips.

Obviously, it’s complicated. It used to be even more so until Instacart began using the batch incentive method of paying shoppers. This is a base pay calculation based on the factors we just listed. 

The good news for Instacart shoppers is that recent changes have yielded a much higher minimum per batch figure than there has ever been before. For example, there was a time when the minimum was $3.00. Now full-service batches have a minimum of $7.00–$10.00, which represents a hefty hike. Delivery only batches have a minimum of $5.00 each.

Another correction was made to Instacart’s payment structure when they stopped including the tips within the minimum per batch figure. Now drivers keep 100% of all tips, and they are dispersed over and above the minimum per batch figure. 

Instacart also recently added a feature that allows shoppers to cash out as soon as two hours after completing a batch. Customers have been notified to add (or subtract) their tips within that time frame, which makes this smaller cash-out window feasible. 

Gas surcharge

Instacart was slightly late to the party when it came to offering support to drivers paying way more than usual for fuel. A surcharge of $0.40 per order was announced on March 18. This is being passed on to customers in hope of helping drivers handle high gas prices. It’s hard to say whether this will provide the help needed, but the amount is in line with most other rideshare and delivery services who have passed on similar charges to their customers.

While these factors are somewhat unique to this particular moment in history, there are others that Instacart shoppers are, and always will be, faced with.

What are the basic costs of being an Instacart shopper?

No matter what’s going on in the world, there are certain operating costs that are constant in the lives of gig drivers. You simply have to deal with them if you want to do this or any driving gig. They include

Gas

We’ve already mentioned that gas prices have skyrocketed, and now they’re coming down a little. On April 13, the nationwide average price for a gallon of regular gas went down to $4.15, from a high of $4.33 in mid-March. Even if gas prices go down more, there’s no reason why Instacart shoppers should pay full price at the pump. With Gridwise Gas, you’ll always save. Sign up for free, and cash in on discounts that are available from 95% of the service stations you might visit.

Maintenance

Data we anonymously collect from Gridwise drivers show they spend an average of $163 on maintenance every month! This is a cost you can definitely cut back, and Gridwise + CarAdvise will help you do that. Sign up for free, and you’ll gain access to information about all the service centers in your area. You can talk to experts, shop around for the best prices, and benefit from 10–40% discounts on maintenance and repair costs.

Depreciation

This cost is a kind of silent killer in that it erodes your vehicle’s value despite your best efforts at driving it safely and taking good care of it. The value of the average car depreciates by 40% within five years! That will really get you wondering whether major investments in your older vehicle, in the form of replacement parts or upgrades, are worth making. The Gridwise Auto-Buying Program, powered by TrueCar, lets you browse, compare, and save big when the time comes to purchase a new vehicle.

How can Instacart shoppers reduce expenses and make more money

As you can see, there are ways to reduce your expenses and even stave off the unnerving invasion of inflation. In addition to these, there are ways to continue cutting your costs and pumping up your earnings, such as these:

Driver discounts and benefits programs

You can save on everything from equipment for your car to health coverage and life insurance. Click on the Benefits tab of your Gridwise app, and see all the great deals and discounts you can get.

Use gas rewards programs

Use Gridwise Gas, of course, and pay attention to other fuel cost-reducing prizes and perks. For example, did you know there are frequent Gridwise Gas Card Giveaways in our Facebook group? Join the Gridwise group now, and you could be our next winner!

Maximize earnings

Strive to be more than just an average Instacart shopper. When you do, you benefit through

Increasing the number of batches you process

Why wander around the store, wondering where they keep the heirloom tomatoes? Discover your store layout with this new tool Instacart has rolled out. It gives shoppers an interactive map of the store, making it much easier to find the items on your customer’s list. They’ve also added additional shopper support and safety features to the app. Don’t be bashful! Use these app enhancements to boost your earning power!

Working harder for tips

Tips might not come as easily as they used to, but if you work harder for them, you’re bound to get more. You’ll score points with your customers when you communicate with them as you shop and while you’re on the way to deliver their groceries. 

Alert them to the possibility of making swaps, or tell them there’s traffic on the road to their house that will make you a few minutes late. You’ll be amazed how generously people will respond when you treat them with extra special care.

This goes for carrying the goods to them, too. Use bags and boxes that prevent fragile items from getting crushed and help to make unpacking their orders much easier.

Scooping up bonuses and incentives

Excellent service usually gets you great reviews. That smile and the extra care you show can add up when you make top-notch performance your basic standard.

Peak boost pay can be yours for shopping during intense, high-volume time periods. You’ll be able to see the total you’ll get for an order, including the peak boost pay, when the order comes in.

Get assertive about making more by using Instacart referral codes. Depending on where you live, you and the friends you refer could each earn from $400–$750 extra! With the way the economy is changing, you probably have friends who’d like to make some extra cash like that.

Minimize your tax bill by tracking your deductions

Tax time is rarely the happiest time of year, but if you’re diligent about keeping records all year long, you can avoid paying more than you really have to. Use Gridwise to record all your deductible expenses and track your mileage. You won’t believe how fast these expenses pile up, and when you record them consistently, you can knock a tidy sum off your taxable income.

Set up Gridwise to manually record every expense as it comes along. And, as the best mileage tracker for Instacart shoppers, it logs your mileage automatically. Simply download the free app and sign on every time you’re driving for Instacart. Sync your Instacart app with Gridwise, and your earnings and tips will be tracked, too!

With all these benefits, it’s no wonder Gridwise is known as the best assistant for rideshare and delivery drivers!

Download the free Gridwise app today!

Rideshare’s reboot is well underway, and the numbers for the first quarter of 2022 are in. We’ll get granular with data in this post and cover issues that have helped to paint the Uber pay picture over the past few months. Then, we’ll explore how you can keep your earnings high, even in the face of any rough weather that might lie ahead. Here’s how we’ll do it:

• Uber driver pay: the numbers
• the gas price factor
• the impact of changing customer patterns
• maximizing your Uber driver pay

Uber driver pay: the numbers

Gross rideshare driver pay has been decent in 2022. Companies are still using incentives to coax drivers back to their rightful place behind the wheel, and passengers are showing up in greater numbers. This has led to steadily climbing gross earnings for drivers over the first few months of 2022.

How much does Uber pay an hour? The average hourly rate for the first quarter went up steadily. Hourly earnings started at $19.47 in January, rose through $22.10 in February, and wound up at $24.57 at the end of March. We see Uber vs. Lyft 2022 driver pay, thus far, being in a nose-to-nose tie. Uber pay came in at $22.04 per hour, while Lyft drivers made an average of $21.97. Literally, the average hourly gross rates are just pennies apart.

We see the same Uber vs. Lyft picture when we look at earnings per trip. Uber drivers earned an average of $13.76 per trip in the first quarter, while Lyft drivers brought in $13.03 per trip. Once again, gross earnings steadily went up over the first three months of 2022. Uber drivers earned $12.53 per trip in January, and $13.32 in February. A little jump up to $15.42 made the quarter end on a sweet spot.

Tips, as well, were up for Uber drivers as they drove their way through the first few months of the year. The average tip per trip for the first quarter amounted to $4.90. The tips per trip figure started off at $3.83 in January, then went up a little to $4.00 in February, and $4.10 in March. This isn’t a huge leap, but it does follow the general upward earnings trend.

The last number we’ll look at closely is the one that matters most, because it’s the best way to answer the question: How much does Uber pay? The monthly earnings figure is always a good indicator of the bottom line for drivers. Gridwise figures show that Uber drivers brought in an average of $449.74 per month in the first quarter of 2022. Median rates went up from $348.00 in January to $463.71 in February. Then, they rose again in March to $537.29. This looks pretty good for Uber drivers, as it represents a 54% increase from January to the end of March. 

Is this what drivers are really seeing though? Now let’s look at what’s behind these numbers to see if they’re as promising as they seem.

The gas price factor

Before getting too excited over the way earnings rose so far this year, we’ll need to take a look at the way gas prices have affected driver earnings. This time last year, the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.87. While prices peaked in mid March, gas was still priced at $4.12 just as the first quarter was ending. That means that gas prices increased by 43% year over year. A rise in gas prices like this one certainly takes a big bite out of Uber driver pay.

Drivers’ reluctance to tolerate the high gas prices shows up in the number of trips drivers took once gas prices peaked in March. Trip volume fell by 4.88% for the week ending March 21 and dipped another 5.29%, week over week, for the period ending March 28. With more countries releasing oil reserves, prices seem to be stabilizing, and in some cases are coming down a bit. Prices like these make lots of drivers question whether driving for Uber is worth it right now.

Uber is acutely aware of how gas prices affect drivers, so they did hit passengers with a gas surcharge on Uber trips. The surcharge was first applied on March 18 and will run for 60 days. The extra charge ranges from 45 to 55 cents per ride, depending on regional gas prices. Uber will also offer incentives to drivers who use EVs, in hopes of encouraging less dependence on gas-powered vehicles.

If the gas surcharge is making up for the extra expense drivers have at the pump, could it be that the decrease in trip volume is due to something else, such as passengers not wanting to pay so much? It’s hard to say, but it’s likely that both factors have played a part in the declining number of rides.

It’s evident that drivers don’t believe the surcharge is enough to cover the 43% rise in the price of gas. A survey of Gridwise drivers indicates that 70% of drivers believe that the few extra pennies per ride is not very helpful in covering their extra costs. 

Uber may have noticed a need to sweeten the pot even more for drivers by adding bonuses. Uber drivers in Pittsburgh started smiling when they got a ping telling them there was a $100 bonus for completing eight trips between March 16 and March 28. Still, there’s no doubt that the high price of gas is going to continue to be a major issue for Uber drivers and passengers.

The impact of changing customer patterns

The recent resurgence of business and social activity has brought rideshare back to life, but the playing field is different than it was back in 2019. Drivers need to study the market for rideshare and use smart strategies to make as much money as possible—and hold on to it.

Being aware of passenger patterns is a must in this environment. Let’s look at some of the activities passengers partake in, how well they’re recovering as the world regroups after the pandemic shutdowns, and the ways it affects Uber drivers.

Air travel

Airport passengers are coming back! By early April 8, the TSA reported 2,318,977 people passed through checkpoints. On that same date in 2021, only 1,549,181 went through the gates. While that’s not quite up to 2019’s number of 2,590,499, airport traffic is definitely showing promising signs of recovery. There is a change, though: in 2022, more travel is oriented toward pleasure than business. 

Companies have learned that online meetings can be highly effective and far less expensive than those cushy business trips. In fact, many believe business travel may never return to pre-pandemic levels. This means you have to adjust your mindset about airport driving and cater to the pleasure crowd rather than banking on the business traveler.

Events

Business events are coming back, but not as strongly as rideshare drivers might like. There are conferences and conventions, but many of them are either retaining an online presentation format, or creating a hybrid option, which combines live gatherings and virtual experiences. Much like business travel, corporate events may be taking on new forms that were inconceivable before the events of 2020 changed the ways people gather.

Fortunately, the picture is brighter for entertainment. According to morningconsult.com, crowds are coming back to public events, from the movies to consumer showcases and hockey games. Concerts are back in business in a big way. Live Nation stated that 2022 is on track to be a record year.  This is great news for rideshare drivers. While there will still be many virtual entertainment events, trends show that there will be crowds again—and that they will be in need of rideshare services.

Higher rideshare prices

While it’s clear that passengers are coming back, they may not be as easy to find as they have been in times past. Higher prices for rideshare will keep some of them away. If you live in a bigger city, this creates more competition among a large population of drivers for what’s bound to become fewer rides. You’ll need to be more aware than ever about where passengers might be and at what times. 

Gridwise tips

With Gridwise, you’ll be able to track airport traffic volume and get up to the minute information about all the events in your town. What’s more, Where to Drive gives you data from real drivers, showing you the locations where more money can be made. Gridwise gives you all the insight you need to keep your earnings up where you need them to be. Download Gridwise to get all these features and more.

Maximizing your Uber driver pay

Sound driving strategies include all the above tips about earning more, but there’s another side to the equation. You not only want to make as much money as possible; you also need to hold on to what you earn. The key to this is limiting your expenses. Most gig driving expenses are hard to eliminate, but they can be minimized. Here’s a short list of the major costs of driving and suggestions for how to keep them down.

Gas

The cost of gas is something you can’t control, but you can surely take advantage of effective ways to save at the pump. Gridwise Gas is an excellent way to slash your gas expenses. Sign up for free and get easy access to discounts at service stations near you. Your Gridwise Gas Card card will be accepted at 95% of the places you stop to fuel up.

Maintenance

You depend on your car to make a living, so giving it good maintenance is not an option. The problem is, upkeep isn’t cheap. You probably have found this out, especially if you drive an older car. Breakdowns and repairs become more common the longer your car is on the road, especially when you’re piling up the mles with your driving gig.

Gridwise has two ways to keep your maintenance costs down:

Gridwise + CarAdvise: Wouldn’t it be great to check out different auto shops, talk to different experts, compare prices, and schedule your car’s service appointment online? With Gridwise + CarAdvise, you get that—plus discounts of up to 40% on maintenance and repair services.

Gridwise Auto-Buying Program: Okay. You’ve had about enough of nurturing your car into its older age, and it’s time to buy a new one. You’re in luck! With the Gridwise Auto-Buying Program powered by TrueCar, you’ll search for the vehicle you want, compare prices, and save big. You could wipe off as much as $3,500 from the MSRP and find great deals on used vehicles, too.

Depreciation

This is one of these expenses you don’t necessarily notice—until you do. Depreciation slashes the value of your vehicle, just because you’re driving it. When you use your car for Uber driving, this cost can skyrocket. AAA estimates that depreciation contributes to 40% of all the costs of owning a vehicle. How can you make this hurt a little less?

Use Gridwise to treat your Uber driving gig for what it is: your business! Gridwise is a great Uber mileage tracking app, but it does so much more. With Gridwise, you can

• track all your expenses
• keep tabs on your earnings
• make note of your profits and losses
• see which routes make you the most money

See? You might have thought Gridwise was just another mileage tracker for Uber drivers, but with these and other features such as airport and event info, weather and traffic alerts, plus When to Drive and Where to Drive, you can see why Gridwise is the world’s best rideshare and delivery assistant. 

Now that you know the different things that it involves, is driving for Uber worth it in 2022? You can make sure it’s worth it when you use Gridwise.

Download the free Gridwise app now!

DoorDash undoubtedly one of the market leaders in the on-demand food delivery space in the US and is available in over 7,000 cities.  

This makes it one of the biggest players in the gig economy, providing employment to thousands of part-time and full-time Dashers—but is Dashing worth it in 2022? 

Who comes out on top in the DoorDash vs. Grubhub and DoorDash vs. Uber Eats battles for driver pay?

With Q1 in the books, we are here to answer the call for data with earnings collected from over 250,000 Gridwise drivers in the country. Plus, we’ll take a look at the costs and expenses of working as a DoorDash driver for a more comprehensive analysis. 

How much does DoorDash pay?

Let’s first look at how DoorDash driver pay is calculated. 

Your earnings from each delivery on the platform include base pay, tips from customers, and promotions such as Peak Pay and Challenges. 

So how much does DoorDash pay per hour and per trip? 

Our data shows Dashers made an average of $7.90 per trip and $15.72 per hour from January to March 2022. These numbers are lower than the rivals, with Grubhub drivers earning more per trip and Uber Eats drivers earning more per hour. 

Keeping with expectations, package delivery services and rideshare delivery drivers fared much better in terms of earnings than food delivery drivers.

Next, tips. DoorDash again failed to beat its rivals, although the differences are small. 

Tips on DoorDash hovered around the $4 mark per trip during each of the three months, netting an average of $4.12. That’s lower than Uber Eats and Grubhub but actually better than rideshare services in the same period. 

We also took a look at monthly earnings across these services. Interestingly, here DoorDash performed significantly better than Uber Eats and Grubhub, averaging monthly earnings of $229.76. 

But overall, DoorDash drivers made less per trip, less per hour, and less in tips than drivers on other services. 

What factors impact DoorDash driver earnings?

• Supply and demand - Fewer Dashers on the road means driver earnings go up. We saw this play out last year during the driver shortage. Earnings went up significantly due to more orders, higher pay per trip, and generous incentives.
• Peak Pay - This is a standard and frequent incentive used by DoorDash. Peak Pay is a bonus paid by DoorDash on each delivery during busy hours to entice more drivers to hit the road.
• Challenges - Apart from Peak Pay, DoorDash promotions also include Challenges to motivate Dashers to fulfill more orders. Challenges pay drivers extra money for delivering a certain number of orders in a specified time. Sometimes it pays to hustle.
• Top Dasher – Top Dasher is a rewards program designed to identify and reward the best Dashers on the platform. Drivers with high customer ratings, high order acceptance rate, and a high delivery completion rate qualify for this program and enjoy a host of exclusive benefits that can all improve earnings.
• Tips - As we mentioned, DoorDash drivers received an average tip of $4.12 per trip, making tips a significant component of total earnings.

What are the biggest expenses for DoorDash drivers?

To get the big picture on driver earnings, expenses need to be factored as well. Listed below are some of the biggest expenses that apply DoorDash drivers:

• Vehicle costs
  • Maintenance and repairs 
  • Depreciation - The value of your vehicle depreciates over time due to age and wear and tear. While often overlooked, this is a key expense for understanding how much of your earnings actually make it to your pocket. 
  • Recurring expenses like your phone bill, taxes, and insurance also need to be factored in and can potentially help you save come tax time. 

Have rising gas prices impacted driver earnings?

According to AAA, the national average price for regular-grade gas was $2.872/gal a year ago. As you’ve experienced, by April 2022, that price surged by a whopping 44.60% to reach $4.153/gal. 

To help weather this dramatic increase in gasoline prices, many rideshare and delivery platforms have taken steps to boost driver earnings. For example

• Grubhub increased its per mile distance pay nationwide in March
• Instacart started levying a temporary fuel surcharge of $0.40 on customer orders
• DoorDash launched a Gas Rewards Program that offers 10% cashback on gas and a weekly gas bonus
• Uber and Lyft started adding a temporary fuel surcharge to their fares

Drivers can also take advantage of our Gridwise Gas program for exclusive discounts on fuel. 

How can DoorDash drivers reduce expenses?

Unfortunately, the geopolitical and macroeconomic forces driving the gasoline prices up are beyond your control. However, you can reduce your overall expenses by following various proven cost-cutting techniques and by taking advantage of the many benefits programs available to you, such as:

• Cashback and discount offers from DoorDash on gas
• Download Gridwise to take advantage of exclusive partner offers designed for drivers
• Gridwise’s mileage tracker for DoorDash to maximize tax deductions

So is it worth driving for DoorDash in 2022?

While overall pay was lower for Dashers to start 2022, earnings still remain competitive with other apps. 

Deciding on the right platform for your business comes down to three things: 

• your location
• your vehicle
• your objectives 

At least so far, there’s no clear best delivery app to drive for in 2022 other than the one that fits your needs. 

We’d love to hear your experience as a driver! Join and share with our driver community on Facebook! 

Uber is the biggest name in rideshare, and it has a strong foothold in food delivery, too. It’s the company with the most drivers (8 million globally), and it operates in 83 countries and at least 853 cities. You could say that Uber … gets around.

Depending on your point of view, the fact that Uber has such a large presence might make you either more inclined, or less interested, in driving for this huge company. Only you know what a good fit would be for you. We'll go through the requirements, responsibilities, and pros and cons that come with driving for Uber so you can make an informed decision. We’ll cover:

• What an Uber driver’s shift is like
• What to expect as an Uber Eats driver
• What you need to qualify as a driver
• How to apply to be a driver
• Essential information for Uber drivers

What an Uber driver’s shift is like

Starting an Uber shift

Driving for Uber is fairly straightforward. You open the app, and wait for a passenger to request a ride. A map will pop up to show you where the passenger is. You can either use Uber’s navigation system, or set your app to go to another (most likely better) one, such as Waze or Google Maps. Once you arrive at the pick-up location, you’ll find out where your passenger is going. Again, the app will help you navigate to the destination. Once the passenger is dropped off, you’re done. With luck, you’ll even get a tip.

It’s common for you to get a request while you are driving with another passenger. You can accept the ride, but always be careful about using your phone while driving. Most drivers have their phones mounted, either on the dashboard or windshield, to make it easier to manage them while they’re on a shift. Check your state laws to see what types of mounting are legal. You never want to obstruct your view.

Uber driver pay (hourly and per trip)

Uber will automatically deposit your earnings in your bank account once per week. If you need the money sooner, you can cash out immediately with Uber Instant Pay for a minimal charge (about fifty cents) up to 5 times a day. Only drivers who have met certain requirements can use Instant Pay. You can learn more about becoming eligible for Uber Instant Pay here.

How much you’ll make as an Uber driver varies by location, season, time of day, available bonuses, and other factors.

In 2021, Uber drivers received an hourly pay of $20-26. Early 2021 saw the highest earnings, as Uber was offering hefty incentives to get drivers back on the road. While those incentives have decreased, late 2021 still brought drivers between $21-22 per hour.

Looking at pay per trips completed last year, Uber drivers made between $14-16. Keep in mind that when we talk about earnings, it doesn’t take into account the costs involved with doing business. 

Rides are worth more money at certain times of day and in certain parts of town. Experienced drivers refer to these as “surges.” During those times, when there are more riders than there are drivers, or when there’s a major event going on, prices will go up and you’ll get paid more.

There are also other bonuses, like goal-setting promotions known as Quests. These are times when you get extra money for completing a certain number of rides, either Monday through Thursday, or Friday through Sunday. You can also earn extra through consecutive rides promotions. At a busy time, for example, you might get $3, $7, or $9 extra for taking three rides in a row.

The amount of money you see as your earnings is only a portion of what Uber charges the passengers. Uber has what is known as a “take rate,” and it is aptly named. That’s the percentage the company retains from the full fee for bringing you and your customers together, plus everything it takes to make that happen.

Uber driver hours

As an Uber driver, your hours are totally flexible. No one tells you what time you have to be at work, or how long of a shift you have to put in. The only one you have to report to in this regard is … you. That’s great, as long as you’re disciplined about getting out to work, and staying there long enough to make the amount of money you want and/or need. 

Once you’re done with a shift, you shut down the app and your earnings will be posted to your account. Your ability to manage yourself, and of course, the level of demand for drivers in your area, will determine how much you earn.

Doing taxes as an Uber driver

As an Uber driver, you’re an independent contractor. This means you’re responsible for withholding money for taxes, as well as expenses such as fuel, depreciation, and maintenance. You’ll also have to purchase your own health and disability insurance. 

When you’re planning your shifts for the week, think about how much you need to make in order to satisfy your income requirements, taking all these expenses into consideration. While these expenses are considerable, they’re also legitimate tax deductions, so there’s something to be gained at tax time.

What should you expect as an Uber Eats driver?

We mentioned earlier that Uber drivers have the option of being Uber Eats delivery drivers. A setting in the app allows you to accept Uber Eats requests. Uber Eats driving entails taking a call from a customer, picking up the food at a restaurant or other establishment, and delivering it to the hungry person on the other end of the request. A dedicated driver will go the extra mile (sometimes literally!) to communicate with customers when delays or mistakes happen.

Uber Eats driver pay (hourly and per trip)

In 2021, Uber Eats drivers were paid an hourly rate of between $15-19.01. While Uber Eats doesn't guarantee a minimum hourly wage, its driver job postings on Indeed have claimed that drivers earn around $19.06. Uber Eats driver pay does vary from location to location, but most drivers seem to make less than the $19/hr advertised.

On a per trip basis, Uber Eats drivers were paid between $9-11 per delivery. While this may seem like a low number, remember that efficient Uber Eats drivers can make multiple trips per hour, getting them closer to that $19/hr wage we just mentioned. Additionally, this per trip wage is on par with Grubhub's pay, and is higher than DoorDash's per trip pay, according to this article on the best delivery service to work for.

While Uber Eats doesn’t always pay as much as rideshare driving for Uber, it can be a worthwhile way to make money when rider requests are hard to come by, or when you simply feel like dealing with food rather than people. The beauty of working for Uber is you can do either or both, as long as you qualify to be a rideshare driver. (Uber Eats drivers don’t always qualify for rideshare.) Let’s look at the requirements for driving now.

What you need to qualify as a driver

Here are the criteria for becoming an Uber rideshare driver.

Requirements for you: 

• Be the minimum age required to drive in your city
• Have at least one year of licensed driving experience in the U.S., or three years of licensed driving experience is you’re under 23 years old
• Pass a background check
• Have a valid U.S. driver’s license
• Present proof of residency in the state where you plan to drive
• Have proof of auto insurance, if you choose to use your own vehicle
• Have a smartphone capable of handling the Uber app (iOS 8 or higher, Android 4.0 or higher)

Requirements for your vehicle:

• Must have four doors, and able to transport a minimum of four passengers
• Can be a car, truck, SUV, or minivan
• Vehicle must be 10 to 15 years old or newer (check your city for exact requirements)

Additional vehicle requirements (can vary by city)

• Five factory-installed seats and seat belts
• Working windows and air conditioning
• No vans, box trucks, or similar vehicles
• Cannot have any cosmetic damage, missing pieces, commercial branding, or taxi paint jobs 
• No salvaged or rebuilt vehicles
• No aftermarket seating modifications, such as installed seats, seat belts, or BedRyder systems

These requirements apply mainly to UberX, which is the basic Uber service. There are higher levels of Uber services, such as Uber XL, Uber Premium, Uber Comfort, and Uber Premier. You can learn more about those levels of service here. In most cases, your vehicle will have to meet even higher standards.

For Uber Eats the requirements will be slightly different, depending on your city. If you’re in a designated area, you may be able to make Uber Eats delivery by bicycle or scooter.

If you don’t want to use your own vehicle (for rideshare or Eats), you may be able to rent a vehicle through Uber. Even though you can't drive for Uber with a car you rent on your own behalf, they will rent or lease vehicles that meet their requirements, usually through a car rental company that has an agreement with Uber. Vehicle programs vary from one city to the next. 

Check the Uber website for details about your location. You’ll get this opportunity if and when you apply to be a driver. Check on “I need a car,” and you will be sent to the appropriate web page.

Before you apply to be an Uber driver, there are a few more details you’ll want to investigate. One of them is the background check. This blog post tells you all about it, including how long it will take, and what you can do if it takes longer than you expect.

Insurance is the other item that drivers need to attend to. Uber will provide some level of protection for you, but you’re also required to have your own policy on your car. Furthermore, you need to let your insurance company know that you’re working as a rideshare driver, and pay an extra amount for a commercial rider. Don’t try to sidestep this; the risk isn’t worth it. If you don’t tell the company that you’re driving for Uber, and you have an accident, they have the right to waive your policy—which could have disastrous results.

How to apply to be an Uber/Uber Eats driver

Although the process isn’t complicated, it does take some effort. You’ll need to be at least somewhat savvy with your smartphone. Assuming that you are, the first step is to download the Uber driver app, which you’ll find in the app store on your phone.

Once you do that, you’ll need to gather the following documents:

• Driver’s license
• Vehicle registration (temporary is acceptable)
• Proof of Insurance
• Picture of you
• Permission and information for the background check

You’ll provide the documents (including your photograph) to Uber by taking screenshots and uploading them to the app. Follow the system prompts to input the background check information. 

Once you apply, it can take a day or two for all the documents to be approved, and in many cases, additional time for the background check to clear. Remember, they are checking your criminal record and your driving record. If you want to read more about Uber’s background check, here’s a previous Gridwise article about it.

Once all the documents and the picture are approved, and the background check clears, you’ll be ready to roll!

Essential information for Uber drivers

As you may already know, Uber and Uber Eats drivers aren’t employees; rather, they’re independent contractors.

As an independent contractor, you are responsible for most benefits that an employer would usually provide if you were an employee. These include:

• Health insurance
• Workers compensation insurance
• Disability insurance
• Minimum wage protection (except in a few cities)
• Paid time off (vacation, sick days, and holidays)
• Pension plan 
• Tax withholding 

There’s an ongoing struggle between the gig economy companies and government jurisdictions in the many locations where the companies operate. Government officials in some of these areas, along with many gig workers, would like to see drivers be classified as employees.

But that discussion is still ongoing, and in the meantime, rideshare and delivery drivers need benefits. If you drive for Uber or Uber Eats and lack proper coverage for things like health insurance or accident protection, read this blog post about a benefits program tailored to gig drivers' needs.

How to get ahead of other Uber or Uber Eats drivers

Whether you decide to drive with Uber, or decide to go with another rideshare or delivery company, the one thing that will consistently be a big help is Gridwise. You can track your earnings on all the platforms you use, and keep a record of your total mileage so you know how much to deduct at tax time. 

The information is presented in easy-to-read, graphic format like this: 

And that’s not all. In the Gridwise app, you’ll find deals and discounts for rideshare and delivery drivers and easy access to the Gridwise blog. You won’t want to leave home without this amazing app, so

Download the best free mileage tracker app for Uber drivers

Interested in joining a driver community to learn more tips and tricks of the trade? Join us on Facebook, where Gridwise hosts great gas card giveaways every 2 weeks! As always, if you have questions or ideas about this article or the gig economy in general, leave us your comments below.