Uber appeared in the marketplace in 2009. The company was the first to develop a workable format to bring rideshare to everyday consumers, using a simple app for riders and passengers. Uber didn’t just enable rideshare, though. It enabled a new industry: people who make their living as gig drivers—anyone with a driver's license could consider applying. You didn’t even need a car. You could rent one. More than a decade later, gig driving has spawned Uber rivals and entirely new gig sectors, notably food and package delivery. This first-to-market achievement has also earned Uber status as a crystal ball for the industry. Whatever Uber does, others will soon follow. This makes it logical to answer the burning question: How much do Uber drivers make?

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How much do Uber drivers make?

Before we answer this question, it’s essential to understand how the best gig drivers maximize their pay. They look at it from every angle possible. They don’t stop at asking, How much Uber drivers make a year? They want to know: How much do Uber drivers make in a day? How much do Uber drivers make an hour? And how much do Uber drivers make per trip? They want a breakdown of how much do Uber drivers make before tips and in bonuses. 

By understanding each earning category, strategic Uber drivers know where they earn the most. They know that they can make more by boosting their tips, or if they can squeeze in an extra ride each hour. They also know where the rides are and when they are likely to earn the most. 

These are the earning secrets we will address in this blog post. 

How much do Uber drivers make per ride?

In the world of data and statistics, rides are referred to as tasks, which is why you see them listed as such. We still call them rides. At the end of 2023, Uber rideshare drivers averaged $14.39 per ride. Smart Uber drivers often prefer this number because it tells them how much more they can make if they squeeze in another ride each hour. 

It’s handy to know your market and the extended area. Look at the destination before accepting and ask yourself how soon you’ll receive a ride from that location—or will you spend precious minutes driving to another area where you’ll get a ride? Often a handful of smaller rides in a high-traffic area will net more than one long ride that takes you to a low-traffic area. 

Also, know that you are more likely to see surge pricing in high-traffic areas or close by. If a ride takes you to the suburbs, you’re less likely to benefit from surge pricing. 

How much do Uber drivers make an hour?

In Q3 2023, Uber drivers were averaging nearly $19 an hour. Hourly earnings are heavily influenced by where and when you drive. Urban areas tend to have peak hours during morning rush hour, lunch, and throughout the evening, starting at about 4:00 pm (sometimes earlier depending on your region). Weekends tend to be the best for consistent rides, with Friday and Saturday nights the heaviest. There is also the phenomenon of Thirsty Thursdays, spurred by people who want to start the weekend early. 

How much you make an hour as an Uber driver depends on how well you know your market and how well you utilize what you’ve learned from per ride earnings.

How much do Uber drivers make before tips?

This chart shows what the average driver makes daily in tips and bonuses. Be mindful that this number represents both full- and part-time drivers. 

We can’t compare apples to apples here, but if you pencil out the numbers, you get an idea. If before tips the average driver makes $104.81 per day, based on an hourly rate of $18.99, they are working a little less than five and a half hours a day. 

Generally, rideshare drivers realize about 10% to 11% of their income in tips. If you’re averaging more, then you’re doing something right. It’s also important to realize that these tips are received through the app. Drivers also receive cash tips; others get tips through third-party cash services such as PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo. These don’t reflect in the app. As one Southern California driver points out, “During one year, the largest tips I received were off the app, which included one for $150.”

How much do Uber drivers make a day?

How much do Uber drivers make per day? At the end of 2023, Uber drivers were averaging gross daily earnings of just under $117. Based on the preceding graph, it works out to about 10.4% in tips. 

Another way to maximize daily earnings is to research events in the area. Sporting events are a no-brainer, but concerts, trade shows, and conventions are also places to find rides. Typically, passengers from the latter two events go to local hotels. This tactic will often keep you in the area so you can pick up more rides in an hour, increasing your hourly rate. The business people you pick up from trade shows and conventions are good passengers for another reason: they tip from their expense accounts, which means they’re generally higher. 

How much money do Uber drivers make a month?

Again, keep in mind these numbers combine full-time and part-time drivers. Some drivers can earn more, depending on their regions and their strategies. Last year, Business Insider profiled a full-time driver who, after deducting money spent on fuel, oil changes, and tires, made about $22 an hour. This is a strategic driver and gives us a good insight into how much full-time Uber drivers make. His monthly earnings after expenses and before taxes were about $3,500, or about $42,000 a year. 

Uber driver earnings compared to Uber Eats drivers

Many people ask, How much do Uber Eats drivers make? We can answer this by referring to a graph from a recent Gridwise article, “How Much do Uber Eats Drivers Make?” 

Uber Eats drivers averaged $13.49 per hour in Q3 2023. Although not as much as Uber rideshare, for drivers who want to pull in extra, Uber Eats offers the opportunity to make additional money, especially for drivers who multi-app (or run both apps simultaneously). Drivers can take advantage of midday opportunities with Uber Eats (a prime time for food delivery), filling the gaps in rideshare.  

How to increase Uber driver earnings

Here are some of our most useful tips for making more as an Uber driver. 

Surges

The Uber app institutes surge pricing whenever there are more passengers than drivers. Depending on the imbalance, surges will increase fares by 50%, or sometimes 100% or 200%. Surge pricing is every day when significant events are let out or when the bars close at 2:00 am. 

Driver Incentives

Most commonly seen as bonuses, these incentives encourage drivers to stay on the app. These include offers on the app for completing a certain amount of rides within a given time, such as three rides in a one- or two-hour period. If you turn off the app during this period or refuse a ride, the incentive disappears. 

When and where you drive

Look for target-rich areas where you can find lots of rides. After driving for a while, you’ll notice patterns, such as when shifts change at a hospital or when classes let out at the local college or university. Also, check the When to Drive and Where to Drive features on the Gridwise app. They come in handy and are very accurate.

Large events

Sporting events and concerts have large amounts of attendees, and at the end, they all want to go home. Look at the Events tab on the Gridwise app for current information on what’s happening in your area. 

Know your area

In large downtown areas and in the suburbs, find sources of rides that don’t show up on conventional sites. For instance, the after-hours scene in Los Angeles is often active all night on the weekends. There are many large warehouses hosting events that feature cheap liquor and decent music until dawn. Information like this can make you a lot of money when most other drivers have gone home. 

Accurate earnings records

“What gets measured, gets improved.” Peter Drucker, a famous business theorist, said that, and it’s true. Download the Gridwise earnings tracker to track your income. Look at it regularly for dates, times, and places where you’ve earned a lot. Soon you will see patterns that help you earn even more.  

Track mileage

Fuel is your biggest expense—a fact you can’t get around. You can, however, earn substantial tax write-offs at the end of the year by tracking your mileage. Don’t mess with pen-and-paper mileage logs. Download the Gridewise mileage tracker. It works passively, providing digital records you can download at tax time. Learn more with “How to Track Mileage for Taxes With Gridwise.”

Take out the family SUV

If you can seat six passengers, you can drive UberXL, increasing your rate by 50%. 

How to increase tips as an Uber driver

We mentioned earlier that rideshare drivers average about 10% in tips. You can increase that number by doing some straightforward things.

Carry charging cords

Most drivers will tell you that very few shifts pass without at least one passenger asking to use a charging cord. It’s a good idea to have all the popular ones, including an iPhone charger and a USB-C charger for Androids. 

Curate an in-demand music list

You should constantly be curating a playlist. Interestingly enough, jazz and big band are favorites. Sinatra is very popular, too. Nobody disses Frank. One driver tells how a passenger asked him to circle the block around his home twice so that he could listen to Nature Boy by Frank Sinatra. Music generates tips. 

If there is a big concert in town, make sure that artist is on your playlist. There’s no better warm-up for a musical event than listening to the artist on your way to the venue. One driver tells how he was taking a group to the concert of a popular Latin band. He found the group on his music app. The passengers were so happy they left a healthy tip. 

Stash gum, mints, candy, and water

Quite often, passengers are heading to meet friends, go on a date, or launch into a job interview. The last thing they want is the smell of their last meal on their breath. Carry some gum and mints. 

Install cash apps

We discussed this earlier. Sometimes passengers, for whatever reason, don’t want to tip you through the app. It happens more often than you think. Have a few cash apps on your phone, and put them on your Uber business card. Consider PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, and others.

Dress for success

Wear nice clothes. You’d be surprised at the drivers out there in cut-off sweats and sleeveless T-shirts. We’re not talking about a tie and button-down shirt (although we know of at least one driver whose signature move was a bow tie). People are more likely to respect you, and tip you look presentable.

Use the passenger’s name

People love to hear the sound of their name. You’ll know what it is from the app, so use it often. Make sure it’s the first thing they hear when they get in your car and the last thing when they get out. 

Have a sign-off line

Make your sign-off line simple and memorable. When you get to the destination, turn to the passenger, say their name, and then add, “It has been a pleasure having you in my car.” This is just a suggestion. Make up your own, but make it memorable.  

How Gridwise can increase Uber driver earnings

There is one more measure you can take to maximize earnings as an Uber driver, and that’s to subscribe to Gridwise. We mentioned some of the benefits earlier in this blog post, but they are worth mentioning again, along with some others:

• real-time weather, traffic, airport. and events information
• earnings insights
• deals and discounts
• tax help
• insurance and affordable health care options
• money-saving connections to automotive and financial services

Download the free Gridwise app to enjoy these benefits and features. Join Gridwise Plus for deeper discounts and more benefits!

You can also join the Gridwise community. Get support from other drivers, along with special contests, offers, and giveaways. Join our Facebook community and follow us on Instagram, and start earning more the next time you go out. 

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Check out these links to learn more about driving for Uber Eats, or to discover valuable Gridwise services. 

• How Much Do Lyft Drivers Make?
• How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make?
• Everything You Need to Know About Amazon Flex
• Walmart Spark Delivery Driver Pay: How Much Does a Walmart Spark Driver Make?
• How Much Can You Make on Instacart?
• How Much Do Shipt Shoppers Make?
• How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make?
• Increase Your Earnings in 2024! How to Make $1000 per Week With Uber
• Check out the Gridwise Job Board

About Replica

Replica, a transportation analytics company, provides data and insights to help their customers better understand the built environment. Replica continually looks for ways to make its data outputs more accurate. Their customers consist of a mix of policymakers and planners in the public sector, as well as private sector clients who want to incorporate geospatial insight into their strategic and city planning. 

High-quality data is vital to planners as they make important local policy decisions, such as how much parking they need to provide, where to put the next subway stop, or where there is demand for more housing or commercial office space. However, access to this data is usually slow, limited, and expensive.

Replica runs a seasonal, high-fidelity simulation that accurately represents the population and its travel patterns for the entire country. They collect and ingest historical and near real-time data to create sophisticated models of current and future mobility patterns. Replica’s customers rely on this information to improve the planning and monitoring of transportation and land use systems in cities nationwide.

Gridwise Analytics’ gig mobility data was chosen by Replica and integrated into their model as an additional source of ground truth in January 2023, using data from fall 2022.

Recognizing the challenge

With a focus on economics, infrastructure, and transportation, the models Replica produces require data about traffic patterns and people’s choices about how they will get around. 

The percentage of trips involving Transportation Network Companies (TNC) has propagated substantially over the last decade. These companies include app-based platforms, such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart, which move people and the items they want through independent workers known as gig drivers. While TNC growth has been substantial, it’s been hard to find data and mobility insights that effectively shed light on the new patterns of movement.

However, as the percentage of trips involving TNCs grew, more data was required to inform Replica’s models. 

Replica relies on data sets sourced from observation of traffic counts and the types of activity involved. It consists of auto and vehicle counts in aggregate and specific vehicle types. Also included are public transportation and TNC/taxi counts, and public datasets. 

While observation and public data yielded basic TNC information, Replica’s team had a desire for ground truth —namely, TNC data activity and mobility insights that could effectively capture the scale and detail required to depict the expanding TNC activity across the US accurately. This would allow Replica to more effectively address its customers’ concerns about how TNC activity affects issues such as parking, increased congestion on the streets, and how taxes for TNC services might be structured.

Replica knew that it was searching for additional data that tracked TNC activity, but sources for such data were limited. Not every city reports TNC data, making it difficult to cover Replica’s vast customer network. Thus, it was necessary to do a lot of extrapolating, which is not beneficial to the model.

The solution? Truth in data

Screenshot showing network volume by household Income

When Gridwise Analytics mobility data caught Replica’s attention, they realized they had come upon a data source that would be valuable in informing Replica’s model with more detailed TNC activity.

“Gridwise Analytics stands out because of its granularity, quality,
and scale for volume of the necessary data.”

- Replica

The data Replica uses is from several input sources. In aggregate, it is used to train and calibrate the model. Replica uses Gridwise Analytics as ground truth data to perform both of these operations. These include delivery data, rideshare data, gig driver trip and location data, TNC data, gig economy data, as well as others.

Holding out a portion of the data makes it possible to determine if the models match what is happening in real life. Gridwise Analytics offers additional ways to discern patterns and make predictions. “We always knew we needed TNC data, but before Gridwise Analytics, there were only limited sources out there,” they say.

Accurate data results in impactful models

Using Gridwise Analytics data and mobility insights, Replica can refine its perception of TNCs’ role in transportation throughout their customer population. Replica develops trip and fare models that enable their customers to estimate costs per trip and show the numbers and percentages of trips that TNCs handle. 

Screenshot showing hourly breakdown of trips by destination, filtered by TNC mode

Replica found Gridwise Analytics easy to incorporate into their simulations. The data is delivered in a ready-to-use and well-structured format.  

Replica is confident that Gridwise Analytics has helped improve what they do. Integrating Gridwise data has allowed Replica’s already powerful model to be adjusted so it more closely aligns with what they expected to see given the rise of importance of the gig mobility sector. 

What’s next for Replica?

Replica intends to continue building on the use cases for Gridwise Analytics data within their models. This includes potentially expanding into incorporating “points of interest” data sometime in the near future. Gridwise Analytics mobility data would provide further granular insight into traffic data, congestion data, and travel behavior around airports, merchant locations, events, and other important aspects of transportation analysis and planning.

The impact of delivery trips will contribute more detail into Replica’s powerful models. Delivery also affects factors that concern Replica’s customer base, such as parking and congestion. Granular data describing these trips will give Replica even more valuable information to offer regarding transportation planning.

How much can you make on Instacart? Instacart has introduced a range of new features that make increasing your earnings easier with this grocery delivery service. In this post, we'll go over these new features in detail, how much you can make doing Instacart, and share other helpful tools and strategies to maximize your Instacart earnings. We also touch on reaching a $1,000 per week milestone.

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Instacart shopper pay: How much can you make on Instacart?

How much do Instacart shoppers make? If you look this up, you’ll find a wide range of figures, depending on who’s telling you the story and how biased they might be. There are different types of Instacart shoppers, too. That’s part of the answer to the question, How much do Instacart shoppers make?

Here are the three roles that let you earn with Instacart:

1. In-store shoppers, who are employed by Instacart and simply fill the orders so they can be made ready for curbside pickup.
2. Delivery-only drivers, who are independent contractors, simply pick up completed orders and deliver them to customers.
3. Full-service shoppers, who serve both roles, go through the grocery store to fill customer orders and then deliver them. They too are independent contractors.

How much does Instacart pay in-store shoppers?

Glassdoor.com states that the average in-store shopper gets paid around $15 per hour, but pay can range from $6–$24 per hour. Hourly wages such as these, for 30 hours or less per week, appeal to some people, because these jobs come with some limited benefits.

How much does Instacart pay delivery-only drivers?

Doing delivery-only for Instacart is more flexible than working in the store. You won’t make as much as a driver who also does the shopping duties.

What about Instacart full-service shopper pay?

When you shop and deliver for Instacart, you’ll make more money than you can with the other two alternatives. Here we’re going to give you actual earnings numbers, based on data collected anonymously from Gridwise drivers. Gridwise’s figures reflect averages taken from our nationwide network of app users and are broken down into categories such as earnings per hour and per trip, and tip amounts per trip. 

Before we get to the actual numbers, it’s important to know that, despite trends that show less demand for grocery delivery in the post-pandemic market, Instacart full-service shopper pay is holding steady.

How do we know this? You can read the full details about Instacart shopper earnings in the first quarter of 2022 in this blog post from Gridwise. Here, we’ll keep it to the basics so you can get a general idea of where Instacart full-service shopper pay is currently.

1. How much does Instacart pay per hour?

Our insights show that the national average of hourly earnings for Instacart drivers was between $15 and $16 in the first three months of 2022. Notice that being a full-service shopper puts you ahead of in-store shoppers, as their actual average hourly pay is more like $14, and can be much lower than that.

2. How much does Instacart pay per trip?

Gridwise data reveals that the national average earnings per trip for Instacart shoppers is $16.06. That is rather substantial, considering that, with some hustle, it’s possible to make more than just one trip in an hour.

3. What about tip earnings for Instacart shoppers?

Gridwise drivers reported that they earned between $5 and $6 in tips per trip. At about 34%, this a rather substantial percentage of per trip earnings—way more than the 10% or 15% you might expect.

As you can see, you’re already getting close to that $1000 per week. If you make the maximum here, which would be around $16 per trip, plus $6 in tips per trip, you would make your grand by fulfilling somewhere between 45 and 46 orders per week. That’s a lot of orders, though, and a bit of a hustle. 

There are effective strategies to help you earn more money in less time with Instacart. Before we dive into those, it's important to first understand your unique circumstances, as well as the current market conditions, supply, and demand factors you're facing.

Knowing the details of your personal parameters - things like your schedule availability, access to a vehicle, and other commitments - will allow you to optimize your Instacart work. Similarly, staying informed about the broader market trends and supply/demand dynamics in your area can guide you in making smart decisions about when and where to focus your efforts.

Once you have a solid grasp of the landscape you're operating in, we can explore the specific tactics and techniques that will enable you to boost your Instacart earnings efficiently. With the right approach, tailored to your individual situation and the overall market, you can absolutely generate more income in less time through your Instacart work. Let's dive into those strategies next.Share

In a changing landscape, work sharper and be smarter than average

No one quite expected the volcanic-type growth the grocery delivery business showed during the pandemic, but it was very real. Now that pandemic restrictions are being lifted, you might think people would stop ordering their groceries online and getting them delivered. 

Lucky for the food delivery business, it seems that people have developed a liking for ordering online. There are reports of some decline in activity, but it isn’t as sharp as it could be. There is still business out there for Instacart full-service shoppers. You just have to know yourself, and be aware of your opportunities. So, go ahead and answer a few questions about yourself.

How many hours do you want to work?

The first step is to decide whether you want your Instacart gig to be a full-time or part-time endeavor. This decision will depend on factors like your other sources of income, your family situation, and access to a vehicle when needed.

Working as a full-time Instacart shopper will generally provide you with more earning opportunities. However, you can still make good money by working part-time, you'll just need to be more strategic and put in extra effort.

If you have the availability and means to work full-time with Instacart, that route will likely maximize your weekly earnings potential. But a part-time Instacart gig can also be quite lucrative, as long as you optimize your schedule and approach. Evaluate your personal circumstances and decide which option - full-time or part-time - aligns best with your goals and lifestyle.

How large is the market for Instacart shopping where you live?

There are two things to consider here. If you live in a small town or suburban location, business might not be very brisk. Urban areas usually have more batches, but there’s also the possibility that there will be a lot of shoppers ready to fill orders. You will have to compete with them. 

You can always consider working in an area that’s going to be more productive for you, whether that means driving closer to a more heavily populated area, or expanding your reach to outskirts that have lots of demand, but fewer drivers. There are shortcuts to figuring these things out, and we’ll get to that in a bit.

Once you determine your personal commitment and market factors, you should know that Instacart has done many good things to change the way shopper pay and pay structure works in 2022. Here are some highlights.

Help from Instacart

Instacart has taken steps to help shoppers make more. Here’s a “new for 2022” list of efforts the company has made to improve the shopper experience and open up new windows of opportunity.

App Updates

In-store navigation

Remember how we said that it would be easier to make more money if you could make more than one trip in an hour? That’s no easy feat when you’re running around the store, striving to find just the right jicama, or distinguish between a kumquat and a persimmon.

Now, imagine if you could just tap on an item on the shopping list, and then see a map of the store pop up, indicating exactly where you can find the item. After a recent update, the Instacart app does exactly that! This can save shoppers a whole lot of time and make it possible to take and fulfill more orders than before.

Reinstated phone support

Instacart responded to distressed shoppers who were unhappy about being unable to talk to someone when they needed to resolve certain issues. To make shoppers happy, Instacart brought back phone support. So issues such as “I can’t find the almond milk with vanilla; will plain be ok for the customer?” or “the GPS on the app isn’t taking me to the right store” can be solved by a living, breathing, and well-informed human being.

Better access to batches

If you work hard and customers love you and you have high ratings, shouldn’t you get first dibs on batches when they become available? Instacart thinks so, and they’ve adjusted their app’s algorithm to give shoppers who have a rating of 4.7 or better priority when it comes to distributing batches. 

Multi-store batching and add-ons

The Instacart app now allows for multi-store batching, so you can shop at more than one store as part of one batch. The add-ons feature lets you accept a second order in the same store while you’re shopping for another. These two features give shoppers what they really want—a chance to earn more and make a greater number of trips in a shorter period of time.

Tip protection 

Customers can be a source of endless frustration. Some even play tricks on drivers, such as taking back a tip they promised when they placed the order. Instacart will now reinstate a tip up to the amount of $10, as long as the customer doesn’t report an issue with the order. By doing this, Instacart protects drivers from the “bait and switch” game some customers play.

Better customer tip awareness

Instacart is making an effort to get customers to give shoppers better tips. When a customer gives a 5-star rating, the app automatically encourages the customer to leave a bigger tip. Instacart says this has yielded a 6% increase in tips given for eligible orders.

At the checkout, they’re reminding customers to recognize how hard shoppers work, and how much tips are appreciated. As a result of this prompting, there’s been a 12% decline in the number of customers neglecting to leave a tip.

Nano-fulfillment = more trips per hour

Instacart is making it easier for retailers to fulfill different kinds of orders, and this will mean more opportunities for Instacart shoppers. In select cities, the new Instacart Platform for retailers gives them the ability to create “Carrot Warehouses.” These are flexible, local stores and warehouses that let retailers provide 15-minute, ultra-fast delivery. These nano-fulfillment centers will be designed to fit the specifications of specific retailers and could bring a new level of opportunities to shoppers.

How to make more money with Instacart: extra steps to take and moves to make

As mentioned earlier, earning $1,000 per week with Instacart will require extra effort on your part. While Instacart has introduced new features to support its shoppers, the predicted economic downturn in the grocery delivery industry means you'll need to be strategic to achieve this earnings goal.

To maximize your weekly Instacart income, you'll need to develop a well-crafted plan that capitalizes on the most lucrative times and locations to work. Additionally, it will be important to manage your expenses effectively so you can keep more of your earnings.

With the right strategic approach, supported by helpful technologies, earning a $1,000 weekly income from Instacart is certainly an achievable goal, despite the predicted industry challenges. It will just require a bit more planning and diligence on your part.

Gridwise can help you achieve your goals

One tool that can help you with this is Gridwise. The app (available on IOS and Android) provides valuable data and insights to help you identify the optimal times and zones for completing Instacart orders. It can also assist with tracking your expenses and maximizing your mileage deductions. By using a resource like Gridwise, you'll be better equipped to navigate the changing Instacart landscape and reach your $1,000 per week target.

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We told you there are tools you can use to help you create and maintain your strategy. Now it’s time to learn more about them and see how you can put them to work for you.

1. If you haven't already, you can sign up to deliver groceries with Instacart here.
2. Track expenses and mileage. Your Instacart full-service shopping gig is a business, and you have to run it like one. That means taking advantage of tax deductions, from fuel and special equipment, to mileage on your vehicle.
3. Use Gridwise to see how much you’re earning, and maximize your tax deductions. Our free app lets you seamlessly sync your Instacart platform to an earnings, expense, and mileage tracker that gives you a ton of extra earning power.
4. Know When to Drive and Where to Drive. These Gridwise features give you the insight you need to plot out your driving strategy. You’ll see exactly how much shoppers are earning in your area, based on the times they’re shopping and where the biggest batches are to be found. Like all Gridwise data, this information comes directly from real drivers, so you can be sure that you’re not being led on a wild goose chase. Knowing when and where to drive will surely help you succeed in making $1000 a week with Instacart a lot faster!
5. Hustle for tips. Now that Instacart has a tip protection policy and is reminding customers how important tips are for you, you’ve got a leg up. But if you want to make more, you can get more tips by adding extra effort into your shopping and delivery activities. Stay in communication with customers, letting them know if you’re running late or are having trouble finding an item. Get equipment that makes it easy to deliver the packages without crushing bread or breaking eggs. If you see your customers, greet them with a cheerful attitude that will let them see how much you care about giving them what they’re paying for. 
6. Work the bonus and referral programs. Instacart offers bonuses for shoppers from time to time. You can enter contests based on the number of eligible batches you complete. Prizes can be as big as $500 added to your shopper account. The Instacart shopper referral program pays as much as $400 per new shopper, if the shopper you refer completes the required number or orders within the time limit given.
7. Cash in on shopper perks. Instacart’s adding perks into the full-service shopper package. While this program might not directly make you more money, it will help you save. You’ll get deals on entertainment, travel, restaurants, retail stores, gyms, phone plans, and even some financial services.

If you thought making $1000 a week with Instacart was out of your reach, we hope you see things differently now. With a sound strategy that incorporates new Instacart efforts to support shopper earnings, plus tools from Gridwise, you can definitely make that grand-a-week dream come true.

It costs you nothing to track your earnings and mileage, see when to drive, where to drive, and calculate your tax deductible expenses. It’s really easy, too.

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Are you looking for more Instacart resources?

• The Ultimate Guide To Being an Instacart Shopper
• Shipt vs. Instacart: Which is better for shoppers and drivers?
• Is driving for Instacart worth it?
• How to make $1000 a week with Instacart
• Check out the Gridwise Job Board
• How Much Do Uber Drivers Make?
• How Much Do Lyft Drivers Make?
• How Much Do DoorDash Drivers Make?
• Everything You Need to Know About Amazon Flex
• Walmart Spark Delivery Driver Pay: How Much Does a Walmart Spark Driver Make?
• How Much Do Shipt Shoppers Make?
• How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make?

Uber Eats is shaking up food delivery by rolling out their Uber Eats Delivery Robots in cities like Los Angeles and Miami. This tech-forward move is part of a more significant trend in the gig economy to use automation for faster, more efficient service. Partnering with Serve Robotics, Uber Eats is introducing robots that can navigate busy sidewalks to get orders straight to customers.

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What Uber Eats’ delivery robots rollout means for delivery

But what does this mean for drivers? An Uber Eats spokesperson for Euronews said in a recent article, "Because these pilots will initially be small, we do not anticipate discernible impacts to the marketplace or courier earnings, but we will be actively monitoring relevant metrics," a company spokesperson said.
Many fear what it could mean for job security. Is this a glimpse into a future where delivery jobs start to disappear? With these robots hitting the streets, it's more important than ever to understand how this shift could affect the gig economy—and how drivers can stay ahead of the curve.

How the Uber Eats delivery robot system works

The robots come from Serve Robotics, and they’re designed to make short-distance deliveries. They use AI, cameras, and sensors to avoid obstacles while cruising along sidewalks. Although mostly autonomous, human operators can take control for tricky tasks like crossing streets. Customers get live tracking and can unlock the robot’s cooler when it arrives.

Testing in Los Angeles and Miami

The rollout began in West Hollywood, where robots deliver for popular spots like Kreation Juicery. With plans to expand nationwide, Uber Eats expects to see thousands of robots operating in major cities soon.

Challenges & concerns about Uber Eats’ robot delivery

• Risk of Vandalism and Theft:
  Drivers are worried these robots could become targets for vandalism or theft, especially in cities with larger homeless populations. Some fear they could also be damaged by people who see them as toys.
• Navigation and Technical Issues:
  Real-world obstacles like crowded sidewalks, bad weather, or blocked routes could be tough for robots to handle. Deliveries to complex locations, such as gated communities or tall buildings, might also cause delays.
• Human Intervention and Regulatory Hurdles:
  Even though robots are built to be autonomous, human intervention might still be needed in some cases, which could slow down the scaling of the program. Additionally, different states have their legal requirements, making it challenging to expand robot delivery services.

Will delivery robots affect driver jobs and pay?

The arrival of robot delivery has sparked fears of job losses among drivers. Uber Eats claims that robots will only cover short, simple deliveries, freeing drivers up for more profitable trips. Still, there’s a lingering concern that the growing use of automation could gradually reduce the number of delivery jobs.

What drivers can do to stay competitive

1. Prioritize Efficiency:
   As robots handle more short trips, drivers should focus on optimizing routes for longer, high-paying deliveries. Tools like Gridwise can help pinpoint peak times and the best areas to drive.
2. Stay Informed About Local Rules:
   Cities will introduce robot deliveries at different speeds, so it’s essential to keep track of local regulations that may impact delivery zones.
3. Provide Outstanding Customer Service:
   Personal touches can set drivers apart from robots. Going the extra mile for customer satisfaction can help maintain high ratings.
4. Broaden Your Income Sources:
   Consider diversifying into other gigs, like rideshare, or learning new skills to stay financially stable.
5. Keep an Eye on Robot Issues:
   Stay updated on common robot challenges like technical malfunctions or weather-related disruptions that could affect deliveries.

Preparing for the future of delivery

The rise of delivery robots is transforming the gig economy. While they aren’t likely to fully replace human drivers, they could change how deliveries are made, especially for short and low-value trips. By taking on simpler tasks, robots might free up drivers to focus on higher-paying opportunities. Those who adapt quickly could potentially see an increase in earnings.

However, this shift comes with its own set of challenges. Drivers must stay on top of robot adoption in various cities, follow any regulatory changes, and find ways to leverage their human skills, such as personalized customer service. Upskilling, diversifying income streams, and using tools like Gridwise to optimize driving strategies will be essential for gig workers who want to thrive in an increasingly automated world.

Robots may be taking over some tasks, but human drivers still have a crucial role to play. This is especially true for complex or high-touch delivery situations where a personal touch makes a difference. By staying prepared and adapting their strategies, gig workers can continue to succeed, even as the industry evolves.

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Stay on top of the gig industry

• The Gridwise Job Board
• How To Make $1000 A Week With DoorDash
• The Best Times to DoorDash
• How to Make $1000 a Week With Uber Eats
• How Much Do Uber Eats Drivers Make in 2024?
• The Best Times to Drive for Uber Eats

For more than three years, Gridwise Analytics has been a trusted partner for stakeholders seeking deeper insights into gig mobility. Our data-driven solutions enable organizations across the gig mobility, autonomous vehicle, financial services, and retail industries to make informed decisions with comprehensive market intelligence. 

Here’s how we support each sector:

• Gig Mobility: We enable gig platforms to benchmark earnings, enhance driver loyalty, optimize operations, and improve pay structures, empowering them to remain competitive.
• Autonomous Vehicle Fleets: Our insights help autonomous vehicle companies create precise financial and operational models to more accurately predict performance and operational needs.
• Finance: Hedge funds, asset managers, and financial institutions leverage our data to forecast platform profitability, assess performance, and gain insights into the 80+ publicly traded merchants operating on these platforms.
• Quick-Service Restaurants (QSRs): Gridwise Analytics assists QSRs by benchmarking delivery performance, evaluating marketing campaigns, and identifying optimal locations for expansion.

Introducing Gridwise Reports: Simplified Access to Gig Mobility Data

While our data has already driven impactful results across various industries, we are dedicated to simplifying accessing and applying gig mobility insights.

That’s why we’re excited to introduce Gridwise Analytics Reports—a product suite consisting of 5 distinct reports designed to make gig mobility data more accessible and actionable for decision-makers. With Gridwise Reports, users can quickly gain insights without needing a dedicated data scientist or analyst, enabling faster, more efficient decision-making across teams.

The benefits of Gridwise Reports

• Comprehensive Insights: Gridwise Reports provides a complete view of market dynamics with detailed data on supply, demand, and operational trends.
• Easily Actionable: Our reports deliver clear, digestible insights that don’t require advanced data skills to interpret. This enables immediate decision-making, so customers can promptly act on timely information.
• Weekly Updates: Staying current is critical in a fast-moving industry. That’s why Gridwise Reports are updated weekly, delivering fresh data directly to users’ inboxes.
• Correlated with Public Data: Gridwise Reports are aligned with public gig mobility data so that users can trust in the accuracy and reliability of the insights provided.

Explore the Gridwise Analytics Reports Suite

The Gridwise Analytics suite features five distinct reports, each designed to help stakeholders comprehensively understand the gig economy. We’re thrilled to announce that our first two reports, the Gig Worker Pay and Engagement Report and the Rideshare Report, are available now. The Food Delivery, Grocery, and Merchant Delivery reports will be available by the end of Q4 2024.

Gig Worker Pay and Engagement Report

The Gig Worker Pay and Engagement Report helps companies benchmark competitor pay structures, analyze driver engagement, and optimize coverage across gig platforms.

Included Modules:

• Trip Pay: This module breaks down driver earnings per trip, including base pay, bonus pay, tips, and total pay, with details by time of day and day of week. These insights allow businesses to benchmark driver earnings across different conditions and periods.

• Worker Pay: Offering a holistic view of driver earnings over time, this module aggregates various pay components, including base pay, bonuses, and non-trip incentives. It helps businesses understand pay structures, assess compensation trends, and adjust to enhance driver retention.

• Retention and Engagement: This module tracks driver activity levels and engagement, measuring hours worked, active engagement, and retention rates over time. It enables companies to understand driver loyalty, which is crucial for workforce planning and improving long-term engagement.

• Multi-Apping: Focused on drivers who work across multiple platforms, this module provides insights into how drivers divide their time and earnings among different services. It helps businesses understand driver loyalty and competitive dynamics, enabling them to develop strategies to increase driver dedication to their platform.

Leveraging the Gig Worker Pay and Engagement Report allows decision-makers to visualize and better understand per trip pay, holistic worker pay, retention, and multi-apping trends.

Rideshare Report

Designed to help firms understand the rideshare sector, The Rideshare Report offers insights into driver pay, operational efficiency, and customer charges.

Included Modules:

• Pricing and Pay Metrics: This module provides detailed insights into driver earnings, customer charges, and platform take rates, broken down by time of day, trip distance, ride type, and airport-specific trips. These metrics enable businesses to analyze profitability trends and understand the financial impact of different trip conditions.

• Distance, Duration, and Operational Stats: By covering trip distances and durations and shift-level statistics like work hours and idle times, this module helps businesses evaluate worker utilization and optimize operational performance. By understanding these metrics, companies can improve efficiency and maximize driver productivity.

• Origin and Destination: This module provides insights into common origin-destination pairs within a market, helping companies understand regional demand and travel patterns. By analyzing these trends, businesses can optimize service coverage, identify high-traffic routes, and strategically plan for growth.

The Rideshare Report provides decision-makers with a comprehensive view of the rideshare sector, offering insights into key metrics such as customer charges, platform take rates, worker utilization, demand trends, travel patterns, and more.

Additional Reports 

Food Delivery Report: This report dives into the industry, focusing on driver earnings, operational efficiency, and customer pricing. It’s ideal for businesses looking to understand or optimize delivery operations.

Grocery Report: This report offers an in-depth analysis of grocery delivery, including driver pay, operational metrics, and customer costs. This report helps businesses understand the unique demands of grocery delivery and optimize their performance.

Merchant Delivery Report: Designed for both merchant partners and financial services companies, this report provides insights into order volumes, delivery trends, and overall performance. It’s a valuable resource for QSRs and similar businesses to optimize delivery strategies and enhance customer satisfaction. Financial institutions can also leverage these insights to assess merchants' performance and growth potential within the gig economy, enabling better-informed investment decisions.

Take the Next Step with Gridwise Analytics Reports

The Gridwise Reports suite empowers companies to unlock more profound insights into the gig economy, with data tailored to specific sectors and operational needs. Whether you’re interested in benchmarking pay, optimizing delivery operations, or understanding regional demand trends, our reports provide the intelligence you need to make data-driven decisions confidently.

Ready to see the power of Gridwise Reports in action? Request a sample report today and explore how our data can enhance your strategic planning and keep your business ahead of the curve.

About the collaboration

At Gridwise, our focus is, and always has been, to empower gig drivers as part of our mission of Improving the way people work and goods move. With autonomous vehicles introducing a new type of gig mobility driver, we want to ensure these vehicles can best operate alongside human drivers in our efforts to enable the most efficient mobility system. 

About the customer

In 2016, a team of Google engineers founded a top autonomous vehicle company specializing in developing and deploying self-driving vehicles for last-mile delivery, gaining recognition for its innovative approach to autonomous technology. 

The company's primary focus is creating safe and efficient solutions for transporting local goods, helping to improve the lives of all drivers. The vehicles are purpose-built to navigate urban environments and provide reliable, contactless delivery services. These compact, low-speed vehicles are explicitly designed to transport goods rather than passengers.

This company has developed advanced sensor systems, including LiDAR and cameras, to perceive and understand its surroundings, enabling the vehicles to navigate complex traffic scenarios and safely interact with pedestrians and other road users. The company also leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve its vehicles’ capabilities and decision-making processes continuously.

The company has successfully conducted autonomous delivery trials in select regions by partnering with various retailers, grocery chains, and delivery service providers. Its goal has been to streamline and enhance the delivery experience while reducing congestion, emissions, and overall transportation costs.

The company’s commitment to advancing autonomous technology and transforming the logistics industry has positioned it as a key player in the autonomous vehicle space, with the potential to revolutionize the way goods are delivered in urban environments.

The challenge

As this company built toward commercializing its fleet of autonomous vehicles, it needed to efficiently prioritize which markets it should launch in and which areas of the city it should map. This meant the company needed an in-depth understanding of the current unit economics of its non-autonomous competitors in a given market to understand what it should expect in terms of efficiency and profitability. 

As a delivery service provider, the company recognized the delivery market's complexity and rapidly changing nature. It required a more profound understanding of delivery dynamics, metrics, and market variations to scale its operations efficiently. 

Before engaging with Gridwise, the company’s data was insufficient, relying on partnerships, casual conversations, and online research. It lacked the granular insight into real-world delivery dynamics that come from aggregating actual driver activity and performance data. Metrics like miles per delivery, outbound time and demand volume by zip code were needed to accurately model unit economics.

To be confident in their go-to-market plan, this customer needed a complete data set that told the full story of delivery in multiple markets, which is why a partnership with Gridwise Analytics made sense. 

A collaborative solution

“Gridwise Analytics data is a unique dataset that enabled our team with a powerful go-to-market strategy to drive our fleet efficiency, geo-expansion strategy, and introductions in new verticals that we would otherwise have no visibility in.”

—Chief of Staff, Strategy & Business Operations Lead

As soon as this customer connected with Gridwise, the two teams closely collaborated to build a package that provided access to real-world data and analytics capabilities to address their challenges. Based on human-driven deliveries, Gridwise provided unique and reliable aggregated and anonymized data sets, supplying exclusive granular insights into the delivery market. 

The collaboration involved frequent communication, thought leadership, and feedback exchanges. Once this was defined, our analytics team did their best to go above and beyond to build and deliver the metrics this customer needed while frequently meeting to discuss strategy and data optimizations.

What are the results of our collaboration? 

Houston Food Delivery Trips O&D Points. Source: Gridwise Analytics

The customer has been thrilled with Gridwise’s Analytics capabilities. They have used our resources to effectively model out mobility patterns to drive fleet efficiency and pricing across various markets, which has helped them feel confident about their go-to-market strategy. Gridwise Analytics insights have been used to:

Support Market Expansion and Go-to-Market Strategies

• Gridwise Analytics supported market expansion plans by providing valuable insights for each new market. Through the data provided, the company could identify variations in demand volume, miles per delivery, and other metrics across 3 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), which encompassed 9 counties. This enabled it to develop targeted go-to-market strategies and prioritize its approach to different markets, resulting in more effective market entries.

Enable Fleet Efficiency and Operations Optimization

• Gridwise Analytics played a crucial role in optimizing fleet operations. By analyzing over 1.9 million aggregated trips to understand fleet efficiency, miles per day, and other relevant metrics, the company gained insights into the efficient utilization of its fleet. These insights helped it plan for delivery operations, fleet balancing, supply allocation, and other operational decisions. The company was able to visualize the distribution of metrics and perform scenario planning, enhancing its ability to optimize fleet operations and allocate resources effectively.

Enhance Planning and Decision-Making

• With Gridwise Analytics, the company gained a more accurate understanding of delivery dynamics, enabling it to make informed decisions regarding its go-to-market strategies and fleet operations. The real-world data provided by our team helped validate assumptions and build a more reliable mental model for each market. This led to improved planning, optimized resource allocation, and more efficient delivery service.

Foster Collaborative Relationships and Continuous Improvement

• A collaborative relationship with the Gridwise team proved to be valuable. Regular check-ins, feedback exchanges, and the availability of Gridwise's co-founders during meetings fostered a productive partnership. Gridwise demonstrated a commitment to addressing the company's specific needs, enhancing its product based on feedback, and continuously updating data to align with evolving requirements.

What’s next?

Partnering with Gridwise Analytics has empowered the company to make data-driven decisions, optimize their go-to-market strategies, and enhance fleet operations. By leveraging anonymized real-world data and collaborating closely with the Gridwise team, it has achieved improved market planning, and operational efficiency. The company sees tremendous potential in further leveraging Gridwise Analytics for its expansion plans and introducing new verticals. 

As the company continues expanding into new markets, Gridwise Analytics capabilities will provide crucial insights for planning and decision-making. Additionally, it looks forward to exploring more granular metrics and additional data verticals to enhance its go-to-market strategies and fleet operations further.

If you’ve been in a Walmart lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen Walmart employees poring over lists on handheld electronic devices and pushing carts loaded with bins full of groceries and other items. Welcome to Walmart Spark, Walmart’s home delivery service. And guess what? It’s a gig driving job. 

At the end of 2023, there were more than 4,600 Walmarts in the US. However, your goal in becoming a Walmart Spark driver is to narrow your focus to a few strategically located Walmart stores. This strategy reduces driving time, distance, and wear and tear on your car. You can also earn good money—higher than almost every gig driving job, except for the top rideshare companies. 

Check out this recent Gridwise blog post, How to Make $1000 a Week with Walmart Spark, to get on the road to greater earnings. You can also be more profitable by downloading the Gridwise app. It’s free and has features invaluable to all drivers.

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What is a Walmart Spark driver?

Like so many other societal changes in the last few years, you can point to the pandemic as the cause. Even though grocery delivery services were around before the pandemic, they gained lots of traction in Q1 and Q2 2020 as we all hunkered down. Walmart Spark was no different. 

The industry's growth didn’t stop with the end of the pandemic. In early 2023, Zion Market Research released a study in which they forecasted a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26% for the grocery delivery business, extending to 2030. 

Walmart had already developed a proprietary service in 2018 called Walmart Spark. They used a firm, Delivery Drivers, Inc. (DDI), to administrate the program. Walmart Spark drivers worked for DDI. There was also a relationship with DoorDash to handle some of the deliveries. In August 2022, Walmart ended its relationship with DoorDash and purchased DDI, making Walmart Spark an in-house operation. 

Walmart Spark drivers are gig drivers. They receive and accept orders through the Walmart Spark driver app, directing them to a Walmart store to pick up a delivery. In most cases, a Walmart employee has selected the items; the driver needs only to load the items into their car and deliver them to the customer's residence. 

Is being a Walmart Spark driver for you?

In deciding if Walmart Spark can be truly profitable, you should determine if you're reasonably close to a cluster of Walmarts. 

What is meant by a cluster of Walmarts? Very simply, how many Walmarts surround you within a few minutes’ drive? For instance, in a seven-square-mile area in the California suburban cities of Upland and Ontario (about 35 miles east of Los Angeles), there is a Walmart Supercenter, a Neighborhood Walmart, and a standard Walmart. The farthest distance between any of these stores is 4.4 miles, making this area heaven for a Walmart Spark driver. Three Walmarts in an area means that a Spark driver will stay busy. It is unlikely they will receive an order from a Walmart farther away. The result is that they drive less and spend less time traveling back to their home territory. 

If you live in a densely populated suburb, there is a good chance of a similar network of Walmarts in your area. This is great because you can draw from every one of them. If you live in a more rural area, you'll need to drive farther to make deliveries. 

Brenda Brown, a Walmart Spark driver in Las Cruces, NM, was highlighted in a 2020 article in Business Insider, telling how she made $113,000 in one year as a Walmart Spark driver. It wasn’t easy. Brenda says she averaged 80 hours a week and drove 48,000 miles making those deliveries. Her earnings came out to about $25 an hour, not counting fuel costs and car wear and tear. You should also note that Las Cruces, where Brenda delivered for Walmart Spark, is a town of around 113,000 people on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. That’s a far cry from the suburbs of larger cities with many Walmarts.

There are a few other details to Brenda’s story. She claimed about $95 in tips for every $100 in Walmart Spark earnings. Brenda’s territory included three Walmart stores, the farthest ones being 14 miles apart, and she said she made the trip between them several times daily. 

How to become a Walmart Spark delivery driver

Start with the Walmart Spark website. The requirements for Spark are that you have

• a registered vehicle
• a valid driver's license showing you're at least 18 years old
• a valid Social Security number 
• a smartphone
• a clean background record

You complete the application online, which takes about a week for processing, and then you get a return email. The return email comes from Walmart, but also look at anything from DDI, because they still administer the program internally. Upon being hired, you become a contract employee. You go through an orientation program and download the Walmart Spark app. 

You can check this FAQ page on the Walmart Spark site to answer additional questions. 

How much do Walmart Spark drivers make?

What do Walmart Spark drivers get paid? Spark delivery drivers receive pay on a per-delivery basis, depending on how many deliveries they make per hour. Every delivery shows your approximate earnings once you have completed it. 

Take a look at this chart recently published in the Gridwise blog, How to Make $1000 a Week with Walmart Spark.

YearAverage Gross Earnings Per Work HourAverage Gross Earnings Per Week2022$19.48$353.22023$17.81$322.5Source: Gridwise

As we have discussed before, if you find a region where several Walmart stores are clustered in a small area, you can make more and keep your expenses relatively low for a gig driver. The above are also based on averages and largely depend on the individual and orders.

Walmart Spark drivers can also earn more money through incentives, surges, and referral programs for referring other drivers. These offers are constantly changing, so check your app for the current incentives. Also, you get to keep 100% of your tips, whether they’re in cash or through the app. 

When does Walmart Spark pay? Earnings are electronically deposited into your bank account each Friday.

Perks and considerations for being a Spark driver for Walmart

Walmart Spark offers gig drivers some unique benefits, but there are also challenges to consider. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons to help you decide if Spark is the right gig for you.

Perks

1. Potential for High Earnings
   With access to a busy market and a willingness to work consistently, you can earn good money as a Walmart Spark driver. Spark pays based on distance and order size, so well-planned schedules can pay off.
2. Reduced Wear and Tear on Your Car
   If you’re in an area with several Walmart stores, you’ll be able to pick up more orders without driving excessive miles. This can save on gas, maintenance, and overall vehicle depreciation.
3. No Passengers to Deal With
   Unlike rideshare driving, you won’t have to entertain passengers or keep your car immaculate for customer satisfaction. Spark drivers only interact with store employees during pickups, making the work more low-maintenance.
4. Flexible and Daytime Hours
   Spark operates during Walmart store hours, meaning you won’t need to work late into the night like many rideshare drivers. You can maintain a better work-life balance by working mostly during the day, with evenings free for other gigs if you choose.
5. Perfect Complement to Other Gigs
   Since peak times for Spark deliveries often occur during the day, you can still take advantage of evening peak hours for other gig platforms like rideshare or food delivery.

Considerations

1. Driver Saturation and Long Waitlists
   Due to its popularity, many areas have long waitlists to become a Spark driver. Some drivers report waiting months before they can even start, making it a slow process in saturated markets. However, you can multi-app on another platform until you make it through.
2. High Demand Can Lead to Long Wait Times
   Spark’s popularity can sometimes outpace the store’s ability to fulfill orders quickly.
3. Bot Concerns in Competitive Markets
   Reports from drivers, including those on Reddit, indicate that some drivers are using bots to grab the most profitable offers quickly. Walmart has stated that bot usage violates their terms, and drivers caught using them face deactivation.
4. Contract Work Comes with Financial Responsibility
   Like all gig jobs, you’re considered a contractor, which means you’re responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and benefits. Be sure to track your expenses and set aside funds for tax payments.

By weighing these factors, you can decide if Walmart Spark is a gig that fits your driving strategy and financial goals.

How Gridwise can help

Gridwise is dedicated and committed to making all gig drivers as successful as possible, and Walmart Spark drivers are no different. The Gridwise mileage tracker is the best mileage tracker app for Walmart Spark drivers, saving you hundreds and often thousands of dollars in taxes at the end of the year. 

If you multi-app, like many other drivers, you can link all your apps to the Gridwise platform. There are invaluable tools such as Where to Drive and When to Drive. You can see these features and more when downloading the Gridwise app for free. You can also track earnings and determine the best driving times and places, all for free! 

Try the Gridwise app today to start driving smarter.

And have fun out there!

Check out these Gridwise articles to learn about Walmart Spark opportunities:

• How to Make $1000 a Week with Walmart Spark
• The Best Delivery Service to Work For.
• UPS and FedEx: Which One Should Delivery Drivers Work For? 
• Download the Gridwise app today!
• Contact Gridwise

We have just launched an update to Gridwise’s mileage tracking feature! Basic and Plus users can now assign miles driven during a specific period to specific gig services, whether it’s Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or others. Whether using manual or automatic tracking, this update makes managing your tax-deductible mileage easier and more accurate.

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Why is this feature important?

As a gig worker, you receive 1099 forms for each platform, and reporting expenses like mileage separately is crucial. By assigning miles to specific services, you can streamline this process and better understand your vehicle utilization. This means more accurate records and maximum tax deductions since only business miles are deductible.

Check out our complete guide to dive into the details of using automatic mileage tracking. 

How to categorize mileage for automatic tracking users

For automatic tracking, it’s just as easy to review and categorize:

1. Go to the Earnings tab.
2. Tap on Recently tracked mileage at the top of the screen.
3. Swipe right to mark business-related trips and left for personal trips.
4. After categorizing your mileage as “business”, select your mileage, select the service (Uber, Lyft, etc.) you drove for then.
5. Tap Done to save your entry.

You can also edit mileage entries by tapping on them and updating the details as needed. Here is the full tutorial for how to use automatic mileage tracking.

https://vimeo.com/1010716836?share=copy#t=0

How to use the shift tracker for mileage tracking

If you prefer to track mileage using our shift tracker, follow these steps: 

Tap the Arrow button at the top of your Earnings screen. The button will turn green to indicate that tracking is active.

1. Start working your shift as usual. The tracker will automatically record your mileage in the background.
2. When you’re done for the day, tap the same arrow button again. It will turn grey to show that tracking has stopped.
3. To assign services, tap on Edit at the top of the End Shift screen.
4. Tap on Purpose to assign the shift’s mileage to the appropriate service.

How to manually add mileage in Gridwise

For manual mileage entry, follow these steps:

1. Tap the black (+) button in the top right corner.
2. Select Add mileage.
3. Choose a start and end date and time.
4. Enter the mileage.
5. Select a purpose for assigning the trip to a specific service.
6. (Optional) Add a note.
7. Tap Save to finalize your entry.

Your manual entry on the earnings tab will reflect your daily totals. Again, you will find the full tutorial for how to use Gridwise manual mileage tracking here.

https://vimeo.com/1013582539?share=copy#t=0

Mileage tracking: Your key to maximum tax savings

Mileage tracking is essential for gig workers, not just for staying organized but also for maximizing your tax deductions. With the ability to accurately categorize miles for each service, you’ll:

• Ensure you're claiming all eligible tax-deductible miles.
• Keep personal and business miles clearly separated.
• Avoid overpaying during tax season by staying organized year-round.
• Gain a better understanding of your vehicle utilization.

This new feature in Gridwise makes tracking and filing taxes easier than ever. Whether you prefer automatic or manual tracking, you control your gig work miles.

Ready to get started?

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