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Roadie: Pick Up & Deliver Packages

Roadie
By Kathy Kristof • Published on December 19th, 2022 • Last updated on April 23rd, 2025

Basics:

Roadie enlists freelance drivers to make a wide array of deliveries, from groceries and appliances to lost luggage

Expected pay: $8 to $100+ per gig

Husl$core: $$$

Commissions & fees: NA

Where: Nationwide

Requirements: 18 or older; car, auto insurance, smart phone

What is Roadie?

Roadie launched as a way for drivers to make a little money with on-the-way deliveries. However, the site has morphed into a pick-up and delivery service that works with retailers, grocery stores, caterers and airlines.

(This post may contain affiliate links. You can read our full affiliate policy here.)

How it works

Signing up is easy. The site requires drivers to be over the age of 18, have a smart phone, car and insurance.

Once you’re signed up, the site can start sending you gigs that you can accept or reject.

Roadie review

Where other sites inspect your vehicle and expect it to be late-model and in good condition, Roadie doesn’t care.

There’s no background check requirement. And you will never be asked to drive people; carry packages up stairs or into houses. You also have the right to know what is the packages you’re delivering based on Roadies “open box” policy.

And Roadie drivers do everything from picking up purchased appliances from Home Depot to reuniting passengers with their lost luggage. But the variety of driving gigs here also means that it’s hard to say whether Roadie is a great side hustle or a miserable one. It largely depends on the gigs you take.

Mixed messages

Driver reviews of the app are all over the map.

Some drivers love Roadie and say they get regular pick-ups that pay well. Others maintain that the app is glitchy and descriptions of what they’re picking up are often inaccurate. Worse, some jobs are cancelled after the driver has done a considerable amount of work. It appears Roadie pays only a token cancellation fee when this happens.

Drivers also say that it can be impossible to reach customer service when things go wrong, which leaves drivers cooling their heels for extended stretches of time. That can make what seemed a reasonable pay-out look paltry given the time spent.

Pay

Each gig says what you’re picking up; where it is; where it’s going; and how much the job pays. Roadie says its average gig pays $13.

Drivers are paid once a week by direct deposit. Those who have worked with the platform for more than a week and have completed at least five gigs can also sign up for Instant Pay. But you’ll pay a $2 processing fee when you use this service.

Recommendations

Roadie may be a worthwhile side hustle. But you need to be particular about the jobs you take here. And because this app works best when you’re already on the road, the best way to use this app is in conjunction with other driving and delivery jobs. You can sign up with Roadie here.

Some good options: If you have a truck and the muscle to move heavy items, consider GoShare, which pays $30+ per hour. Amazon Flex is also a good choice for those with full-sized cars and vans, who want to deliver smaller packages.

DoorDash is our top pick for drivers interested in food delivery. (You can sign up with DoorDash here.) Uber Eats is also worth considering. (You can sign up here.)

And, of course, you can drive passengers for Uber. (You can sign up with Uber here.)

What their drivers say (from Indeed):

Jobs are few and hard to actually get and they don’t pay very much either its not horrible because it’s flexible but it doesn’t give enough stability

I like working at Roadie cause you pick the days you want to work and it’s super easy to do in your spare time. You also can do this job out of town which is nice as well .

I enjoy delivering for Roadie. I wish the jobs were more constant. But overall I make decent money. As I work for a Food Delivery service as well I just flip flop between jobs and apps to make a decent check.

Miserable

The worst job I have ever had, pay is less than minimum wage, yet because you are a contractor it is legal, if you’re thinking of doing this job don’t. Customer service is nonexistent when you need help in a gig, have been forced to wait hours for help.

Only get “selected” for like 40% of the gigs you put in for. Literally been in a warehouse and they post a gig and am not selected for it. Don’t care about drivers, customers, or environment. They’ll have 2 vans make the same trip even though only 1 is needed, this cuts pay for the driver and more fuel used.

Not enough pay

If you enjoy driving and making no money for your time, and not making enough to fix your car this is job for you. Items you pickup are unknown, support takes about a half hour, and mileage is never calculated accurately.

The compensation for gigs does not reflect the extreme gas inflation and it is becoming very difficult to actually make any money at all. Then talk about getting ahold of anyone there, especially when you need immediate assistance… Ha, what a joke! I don’t think I have ever waited less than 20 minutes for someone to answer (again, making me work for free because of the stupid timer that doesn’t allow you to move on. I don’t get paid to sit and pick my nose for 15 minutes sitting in my car because I can’t cancel it online or reach customer service). Time to get it together, Roadie!

Support can be dicey. System is slow when telling u theres a new offer. Cant schedule ahead.

Cancelled gigs

So at this point I’ve attempted to take 11 Deliveries through Roadie, and only 5 have ended up successful. No matter how far you are driving to pick up the order, expect to be compensated $8 if theres an issue with the order. I loaded up a 900-lb load into my truck and drove 20 miles with it, just to find out the gig had been cancelled. On another occasion i was in the middle of loading the order when the customer cancelled it. Also item dimensions can be inaccurate so you never really know what you are picking up. What was supposed to be a 80″ x 36″ door was suddenly 80″ x 72″ when i got there. When a gig ends up being successful its worth my time, but often i am left frustrated. Work for Roadie at your own risk.

“Roadie is designed as a “if you’re going that way” type of gigs but that’s really only towards personal deliveries. Now they have contracts with Home Depot and Walmart in some states. And the pay isn’t bad if you’re close to the gig. But if you have to drive far to the pick up, it’s not worth it. I would only pick Home Depot gigs near me or maybe a few miles away but we’re coming back my way. They paid anywhere from $10-15.”

“Roadie gigs generally pays less than $1/mile and there is no compensation for time (despite sharp time constraints on airline jobs), no benefits, no worker protection or overtime pay.”

*Updated 5/2/2024

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30 responses to “Roadie: Pick Up & Deliver Packages”

  1. Roadie Driver

    Don’t bother. When the app breaks, which is constantly, no one cares. It just continues broken until it gets fixed by accident. When gigs (their slang for jobs) come up, you wont know because you wont get notices. You’ll drive to the airport for a pick up and find out when you get there that the gig was canceled 10 minutes ago, but you didn’t get the notice..

    Senders lie about package size, so you’ll deliver a dozen 2x4s under the “fits in the backseat” price guide. (Maybe if you have a stretch limo..)

    Reply
    1. Felix Alonzo

      I don’t see why they pay so little for long distance gigs, all you did was the burn the gas and recollected the money for it LMFAO!!!

      Reply
  2. Sandra victor

    I wanted to compliment Wai Tse. He is an outstanding delivery driver. He is very professional, kind and give A++ customer service. He gets an A++ for great customer service.

    Reply
  3. Robert Schwartz

    They delay assigning gigs if they don’t like you. They pretend the gigs are assigned by computer, but twice support has told me that isn’t true. I am currently waiting for a gig that was put up an hour ago. It started at $24 and is now $37, because they refuse to give me the gig and apparently no one else is offering on it.

    Reply
    1. Robert G

      Talk about no support. This is the company for you…plus they claim right now deposit lie.. Plus cheated me out of ten dollars on a 29 dollar run.. Just took my last trip. And had a great rating.. This place does not have a chance with such poor employee relationship I would recommend uber eats

      Reply
      1. Barry

        This place sucks you are right zero help

        Reply
    2. Daniel

      I went to Angels Camp on last order. I drove to this location and waited in line like I have to. Upon getting to clerk she stated order was already picked up. Order told me to call CDS before canceling I did. She stated would call back. I sent support a text as well as called and automated system canceled order. I then got told I would be paid a courtesy payment. In the past that was half of the pay out. I got told I am being paid 4 dollars. That is not fair or right per California law we are suppose to get 30 cents per mile for the driven miles to location as well as paid 16.80 per hour from time received till time canceled in this particular incident. The app is not showing start time but I know I am at at least 30 minutes on this particular request. That would be at least 11.70 not 4 dollars. I called support to correct this issue and was told to email. Please advise and correct. This will not make drivers want to drive for you. I have been with this company for a long time. This just seems very wrong!

      Reply
    3. Robert Schwartz

      This gig went all the way to $86.00 and they canceled it.

      Reply
    4. Glinda

      The same thing happened to me. I don’t understand it it started out at $45 and went all the way up to 72 and I waited for the offer for over two hours before finally just taking myself off of it it is crazy I don’t understand it today I picked up a order it was supposed to be $16 and they only paid me for I really am done with them now I’m glad I’m not the only went out there but I’m sorry it had to happen to you

      Reply
  4. Dan Sanchez

    The business model is weighted heavily in the favor of the Roadie company app side. The driver loses everytime.
    Example: A delivery is offered for $8.00 to make a “large” delivery for 8 miles distance from Armstrong Nursery garden center.
    When you get there, you have 200 lbs. of manure and a collection of plants (that can’t be stacked in your car )to deliver. And when you see the business side, after looking at what Armstrong is charging the customer for delivery, you see that amount is $30.00. So how it breaks down is: Armstrong keeps $10, Roadie keeps $12, and the poor chap driving his car (wear and tear, tires, gas, insurance, lost opportunity to work somewhere else, only gets $8.00. And they try to warn you with pop-ups that you will never be an employee and will never qualify for company benefits. However, in California, they have to because of new legislation. These guys are walking a thin line and their lawyers are keeping their fingers crossed that they don’t see a big lawsuit that takes down the founder of this sham business.

    Reply
    1. Jaime

      Wow . I just applied and I’m currently waiting for notification on an offer I put in that has been sitting for two hours now. I put the offer in 40 minutes ago. I have never taken a gig. Your information is important and I appreciate it. Thanks for heads up. I’m not going to wait. I have money to make and maybe Roadie isn’t the place to do it

      Reply
  5. Tae Mo

    I just signed up to be a roadie driver, but don’t really understand it. Are the things I’m picking up prepaid for? And if so, how do I go about picking them up? Do I give a confirmation number to customer service to retrieve these specific items that are already purchased? Ugghhh somebody HELP ME PLEASE before I start driving! Thanks in advance☺

    Reply
  6. Joe

    If you’re looking to be discriminated against this is the place. How this company continues to go on and display this practice is beyond understanding.

    Reply
  7. STEPHEN SMITH

    I think its great i get lots of gigs love Roadie

    Reply
  8. Jamie Reeves

    I love driving for Roadie. I haven’t had any problems with pay, and the one time I needed assistance Roadie Support was responsive and helpful. It is a delivery job, so the majority of your pay comes from tips, however, I feel that roadie offers a fair base price and is competitive within their market.

    Reply
    1. Panama pancreas

      Market price is about 3 to 5 times of what roadie charge. So you’re being exploited big time. You are being ripped off, ripped of your time and ripped of your pay. Just look at UPS cost per package. Or UPSP. It’s all public information available on their website. Then look at the stuffs roadie gives you and calculate that with your pay. You are being paid 1/10th of the market price most of the time dude.

      Reply
  9. Guy

    Absolutely awful. Most gigs are 50 cents per mile from store to drop off. Comes to about 20cents per mile often times.

    Reply
  10. Betty

    I have been delivering with Roadie since June 2020. I love it! I make more with Roadie than I ever did punching a clock. I had emergency surgery in December of 2020. I was not able to work 2 months. I was still able to keep up with my bills with the money I was able to put back making deliveries. I do the majority of all my deliveries from a Walmart Super Center near me. Yes, it can be a pain when the app goes down, it doesn’t stop me from completing deliveries.

    Reply
  11. Yessenia Mena

    They deactivated me for their error. It’s been almost 2 months now. When the app asks you to return to store, Return to store ! Don’t ever Believe Roadie Support , They will screw you

    Reply
  12. Steven Hosken

    I have done a few gigs and the app says that I have been paid but I have never received a penny from Roadie in my bank account. I have double checked my bank account information with Roadie in the app and it is accurate. I have emailed Roadie multiple times and they never get back with me. They have no number to call them. This is a very bad, unethical company based on my experience

    Reply
  13. Cole

    As of August 2021 working for roadie is more solid than any other gig app. As long as you live in a high you populated area in your state you can most likely do deliveries. In Columbia SC. I’m able to clear 120+ a day working maybe 4-5 hours. I do 10+$ Walmart orders that are less than 5 miles from Walmart. And stage out of Walmart parking lot. Half of the time is spent waiting for employees to get your order to the car etc mainly queue times the other half is the amount you’re actually doing work. Sitting around for 2 hours and carrying groceries the other 2 isn’t bad for 120$. On average I would say I make 100$. But most days I try to clear more than that. If you’re looking to ditch you’re 10-12$ an hour job to chill and put groceries at someone’s front door this is the job for you.

    Reply
    1. SCV

      I lived in Columbia a year and there must be a Walmart in a magical garden. They run you to death with 6-10$ gigs wait sometimes an hour and you get $8. Don’t expect tips they are rare. Roadie sucks so bad. You will wear your car out and they get rich.

      Reply
  14. Lynn

    Please DO work for Roadie if you love ZERO support, below-minimum wage AND the bonus of using your own car to log lots of miles for which you’re not paid. I’ve done Lyft, Uber, Doordash, Postmates, and Grubhub, and Roadie is BY FAR the worst gig job out there. I don’t know how they get away with paying $5 or $8 for a gig that is 10 miles and will take half an hour. What total bullsh*t.

    Reply
  15. Lan

    Wow, thanks everybody. I am recovering from a long illness and cannot return to my regular job. I need to get out of the house and a little activity after 2 years in bed. I put up an ad on Craigslist for $5 I have been driving deliveries and moves with my van. I don’t load or unload. I get $35 an hour plus gas and tolls.
    In my first month I got 4 calls, but drove for 20 hours, put $700 minus wear on an old van in my pocket, made some people happy.
    This month I am already getting referrals from the first month and I am well over $1200 working less then 2 days a week, and there is another week in the month.
    Sounds like I am better off doing it my way then joining roadie. I was just about to complete the application but decided I should check reviews. Glad I did. Good luck everybody.

    Reply
  16. Adrian Pettijohn

    Zero advocacy for drivers. I’m a regular driver on multiple logistic accounts with 100% favorable ratings on all – including roadie. With over 50 100% favorable reviews on roadie and multiple badges it’s safe to say customer satisfaction has been stellar.

    One order I had a drop off to a secure high rise apt building with zero notes or way for me to get into the building. I called customer multiple times with no answer, so I placed the items in front of the door, took a picture at sent to recipients.

    Order must have been stolen or misplaced either way roadie blamed me and wanted me to resolve the issue days later and multiple gigs later with the recipient. As a regular drive on multiple apps doordash, ubereats etc. all of these companies will advocate for the driver and figure out a way to compensate the recipient or re deliver items. Not make the driver (who was not at fault to begin with) resolve the issue.

    Use this story as a warning with Roadie. If you drive with them regardless of your driving status they will lock your account with one incident either your fault or not, there is zero driver advocacy. I will be copying this review on multiple platforms. Hopefully Roadie corrects this policy.

    Reply
  17. JoefromGa

    Roadie does suck in a few ways but it’s good in other ways. I am convinced that they don’t use computer algorithm to select gigs. Sometimes you can click immediately and you are at the location of the pickup and you still won’t get it. Lately, I have noticed that the app photos has changed and they make you confirm the photo and the location of the items at the house so there are changes being made.

    I think this company is having regular growing pains and will get better. People will start to sue them for their low pay and their app issues and it will change.

    Their support is bad because they hire foreign support staff and they need to require better details on the customer side of orders. For example, there could be a gate or a receptionist and it’s nowhere to be found on where to leave items so you just guess. I suggest take pics from way back so you have proof of the location. Roadie uses your GPS to determine it also.

    My biggest gripe is that Walmart dominates their app and I don’t want to deliver groceries but I take what I can get. The reason they pay so low is that people take the gigs and that’s competition so it is what it is. If someone is willing to take a gig for $5 then more power to them.

    One other thing they need to fix is multiple gigs from similar area to similar area. If there are two gigs going over 20 miles to the same city then I should be able to offer on BOTH as a condition of acceptance to make it worth my while. If you offer on both you will only get one and someone else will get the other so they have 2 people driving the same route.

    I hate them but I also like the freedom of not having to clock in and put on certain hours or whatever. I wish they would give preference to better drivers with more difficult gig experience. Some gigs are in bad neighborhoods after dark and up stairs in the rain. These should pay more and the customers should have to pay more for these difficult gigs. If you live up floors or inside gates then that’s on you but currently the driver is the one who suffers.

    Lastly, they should have to pay for the full gig price when you can’t get it. For example, Walmart has one location that literally shuts the doors and stops doing orders at 8 pm. I have waited over an hour for a $49 gig that Walmart losers didn’t want to fill so it just got cancelled and I was given $4 for my time amd miles. Walmart should have to pay and roadie should cover miles.

    Nobody is “just on the way” to a 50 miles gig. Over 12 miles should pay $1.00 per mile minimum. Remember, a 50 mile gig to roadie is ONE Way. They don’t pay you to come back.

    Reply
  18. LaLa

    Roadie has been a blessing to me, I mean it’s not rocket science to follow directions, keep a good rating. I choose to do Airport, Restaurants, Bakeries, Best Buy, Tractor Supply, Yancey Cat, Pike Nursery, Medical and so many more. The key is picking more than one gig. Not leaving your destination until you have a comfortable amount for you to drive. Factor in miles, and gas. I earn no less than $200 a day and on great days $400. All under 6 hours a day of work.

    Reply
  19. Patricia Fitzgerald

    I ordered a delivery from Best Buy and it was “attempted” delivery and then returned to the store. Now I am without my package. I contacted the store since I tried 4 times being on hold for about 30 minutes each time when the recording said it was a ten minute wait. Currently I am still waiting for a callback from Roadie since there was an option to do that instead of waiting 10 minutes on hold, it has now been about 30 minutes and counting. I talked to Best Buy and after researching they told me that the Roadie driver could not find my address. Roadie obviously had my phone number since I received text messages that they were on their way. Not ONE phone call/text saying that the driver could not find my address. My address is in an apartment complex! How can you not find an apartment complex!! Then return my package to Best Buy where I now have to wait 24+ hours for a refund then I can reorder. That is completely unacceptable that Roadie did not text or call about not finding an apartment complex!! Completely unprofessional!! Very upset about that!!

    Reply
  20. Patricia Fitzgerald

    I am still waiting for the call back from Roadie. Ten minute wait is now over 2 hours. Roadie obviously does not care about the customer at all!! I will never order from any merchant that uses Roadie!!

    Reply
  21. Park

    I’ve done a number of Roadie gigs now. Most have been pretty smooth. Pay is crap, but since I use Roadie to just augment income, I can overlook the pay as long as it hits near $1/mile. Phone support is terribly lacking. I had a gig today that was accepted and it turned out the dimensions were completely wrong. I was unable to complete the delivery. I’ve been in the support queue for 3 hours now. And I can’t put in for any more gigs because the app is locked up waiting for me to finish the “current” gig, which is messed up.

    Reply

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