Waitr

What: Waitr, which operates primarily in the South, hires full-and part-time drivers to deliver food and check on their equipment in restaurants

Expected pay: $5 to $15 per hour

Husl$core: $$

Where: 17 states, including Hawaii, the Dakotas, Carolinas, Florida, Texas and Georgia

Requirements:

• 18 or older
• Valid driver’s license and insurance
• reliable car
• clean driving record
• valid insurance
• Android or iPhone
• Insulated bag

Review:

Waitr, which operates primarily in the South as well as a few other select states, enlists drivers to deliver food. When the site launched, drivers were Waitr employees, which gave it an edge over gig apps that considered everyone a freelancer.

When we reviewed the site in early 2021, we discovered that those days are long gone. Now the site uses a contractor called Delivery Logistics to process applications from new drivers. All drivers are now independent contractors. Not only do they need to use their own cars, insurance and gas, they even need to buy an insulated bag.

Pay is rotten, unless you receive good tips and tips are in no way guaranteed. 

We’ve revised our review and downgraded Waitr to a substandard option. 

Recommendations

You can find better paying driving and delivery jobs with Amazon Flex (deliver packages), Wingz (drive people to the airport) and Ride Zum (drive kids to soccer/school). 

What their drivers say (from Indeed): 

“At first it was great; W2; $5 base pay. Tips were usually good. They kept you in a small zone as to not waste your gas/money. Then things began to change. Now you’re a contractor, the base pay and tips mean nothing because you have to put money back (if you’re smart) for taxes and most nights you start in your zone and end up driving all over town, wasting gas and time.”

“It makes you some quick money, but it’s just not worth it. My overall pay is like $8-9/hour, or $5-7/order before tax and gas. Today, I got three orders, drove almost 30 miles for each order, and I only got $5 for each. It is not worth your time.”

“Worked for Waitr for over 2 years. Destroyed my car and the money tends to be feast or famine. I was almost constantly stressed about my finances and had to pay $3 a day to get access to a percentage of my tips in order to be able to put gas in my car so that I could work.”

“Horrible pay, you average about $8.00 an hour and that’s not including Wear and tear on your car and gas. So if you count the average .58 cents per mile of extra expenses your basically working for free and then you have to pay taxes on top of that.”

*Updated 3/31/2021