15 Best Tips for Uber Eats Drivers to Increase Their Earnings

Uber Eats generated over $8.3 billion in 2021 with an increase of 72% year-on-year. It offers one of the most accessible gig economy jobs for delivery drivers and is available in around 6,000 cities globally.

It provides consistent earning opportunities for its delivery drivers and offers a great platform to build a career in the delivery industry.

But being a delivery driver or an independent contractor at Uber Eats requires an extra edge to increase the pay scale and ensure that you stand out.

We have filtered the top 15 tips for Uber Eats drivers that can help you improve the quality of delivery operations and strengthen your presence in the company.

15 Tips for Uber Eats Drivers

The efficiency of an Uber Eats delivery driver can be increased by using below-mentioned multiple tips.

1. Filter the Deliveries

You should be selective in your gigs to ensure that you increase your delivery process efficiency and don’t end up with time-consuming and low payout deliveries. 

Being an independent contractor, you are in the free market that provides you the freedom to choose and filter your Uber Eats delivery orders.

Many Uber Eats delivery drivers don’t accept orders below $7, but we have finalized a few criteria for order filtration.

• Check the total delivery distance and don’t accept orders that are too far from your location.
• Avoid driving into areas with high traffic that can cause delivery delays and risk the chances of you getting good tips.
• Learn which restaurants have slow processing and pickup to avoid such food deliveries to increase your efficiency.

Make better choices with your order selection and ensure that you achieve maximum work output.

2. Mileage Tracking

Your mileage is a significant aspect of your Uber Eats delivery operations that can help you with expense tracking and tax filing.

You can claim different parts of your delivery driving expenses and save your profits during the tax filing. Uber provides tax summary information to its drivers, including the reported mileage they drove while waiting for a trip or being on a trip.

According to the IRS, the standard mileage rate set for business miles is $0.585 per mile for 2022. It can help you find some decent deductions.

3. Choosing the Right Time

The most essential approach to making money using Uber Eats is to choose the right time to drive. Because delivering at peak hours will result in a steady stream of deliveries and ensure you can earn more payouts than normal working hours.

Also, Uber Eats pays the delivery drivers bonuses for delivering the best delivery results during peak hours. It can increase your incentives and result in a higher flow of income.

The overall earning opportunities during the peak working hours increase with Uber Eats compared to other food delivery apps and ensure you make more money.

But many Uber Eats drivers, and independent contractors find it hard to spot the right time to work for the food delivery company.

Typically, the best time to work for Uber Eats is.

• Weekdays: Lunch time from 11 am to 2 pm, and dinner time from 5 pm to 11 pm.
• Weekends: During all meal time.

These timings may vary a bit based on the location, but in general, these are the best timings a Uber Eats delivery driver should operate. Choosing other timings for work is also recommendable but don’t miss out on these timings to ensure a decent earning amount.

Uber Eats also allows delivery drivers to earn more during inclement weather, like snow or rain, because people don’t prefer leaving their homes to dine at their favorite restaurants.

4. Avoid No-Parking Zones

Getting a single ticket can offset a few working hours, so focus on avoiding such situations.

• Avoid avoidable tickets and not park in the no-parking zone, which can result in you paying a fine. 
• Find a proper parking space for your Uber Eats food delivery order or be late.

5. Store Food Properly

Improve your skills in storing the food and drinks while delivering to ensure a quality customer experience and increase the chances of getting decent tips.

Get an insulated food delivery bag that helps you keep food at the right temperature. It’s also critical to keep the delivery safe. 

For example, delivering a frozen yogurt bowl in the middle of scorching summer requires a decent delivery bag that keeps the stuff safe from external weather.

6. Use Bike to Minimize Expenses

• Being an Uber Eats delivery driver, you can swap between delivering by bike or car within the app.
• Using a bike can help to deliver the order quickly and effectively within a small radius and help to save the additional expenses caused by using a car.

This way, you can minimize fuel, vehicle maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and other expenses.

Multiple Uber Eats drivers use bikes that can help them increase their savings and maintain a decent payout.

7. Focus on Customer Service

The Uber Eats delivery driver should focus on delivering a quality customer experience that can help get decent tips to transform the hourly earnings.

The basic tips that can help you in improving the customer experience are.

• If you are stuck in traffic, you can text or call the customer to inform them of the unavoidable situation during the delivery process.
• Be welcoming and friendly with your customers while completing the food delivery.
• Be patient with the customers if there’s a problem and friction between you and the clients.
• Grab some extras for your customers that can leave a quality customer experience.

These tips can help you deliver a quality customer experience and increase your tips and ratings on the platform.

8. Use Multiple Delivery Platforms

Being an independent contractor on Uber Eats, you can use different delivery apps simultaneously that can help you increase the total number of orders.

Other popular delivery apps are.

• Instacart
• Postmates
• Grubhub
• Caviar
• Cornershop

Doubling up on apps can increase the overall order deliveries and payouts for decent earnings.

9. Take Photos During Drop-Off

Due to the pandemic, contactless delivery is on the rise; the Uber delivery driver can take a photo to drop the order in front of the gate and ensure a smooth delivery process.

The delivery driver can upload the image on the Uber driver app to help the management access the successful food delivery.

It can help the company handle customer disputes and ensure you get the promised delivery payout. Follow different precautionary measures during delivering food and help your Uber Eats customers get the best customer experience.

10. Keep a Flashlight

One of the underrated Uber Eats driver tips is using a flashlight during the night can enable the delivery driver to check the house numbers and complete the final dropoff easily.

Sometimes, neighborhoods aren’t lit well by streetlights which can hinder the process of on-time food delivery services and a quality customer experience. Using a small flashlight can help in the identification process.

11. Careful Stack Order Processing

The Uber Eats app sometimes assigns multiple orders that involve pickup from the same restaurants to save money and time.

• Be careful when accepting stacked orders that can increase your delivery time but result in extra money. But if the delivery zone of the orders is far away, it can be troublesome for you.
• Ensure that the delivery destinations are somewhat close to one another, which can increase the money delivering food and avoid cold food deliveries.

12. Taking Breaks is Important

Take regular breaks during the delivery process that can increase the gig job efficiency and boost the total number of delivery partner order acceptance.

Breaks can minimize the chances of burnout and boost productivity and food delivery results. It can increase the total payouts and ensure that you can scale your career in a positive direction.

You can earn a few dollars and retain your energy after an entire day’s work. Focus on boosting your business efficiency and streamlining your delivery operations.

13. Avoid Low-Paying Fast Food Orders

Avoid accepting low-paying fast food orders because they can put you in a massive trap. For getting extra cash, avoid a huge waste of your energy and time. 

Different fast food joints ask the delivery drivers to use the drive-through and, ironically, process the deliveries slowly. The delivery drivers don’t get great tips, and the payout is fairly low compared to other delivery apps.

14. Know When to Cancel

You should be aware of when to cancel the order and don’t hesitate to make a move even if you initially accepted the order.

But don’t get into the habit of canceling delivery orders that can minimize your credibility on the platform and restrict your chances of getting decent order requests.

In the worst case, Uber Eats can deactivate your delivery driver account, and you need to look for other apps to help you build a successful delivery driver career.

15. Use Professional Delivery Route Planner

Using a professional delivery route planner can help you stand out from other drivers on the platform and boost earnings as gig workers.

A delivery route planner can help you improve the process of delivering orders and ensure that you can increase tips. It can help you escape the use of in-house maps of the Uber Eats app and get the shortest and most optimized routes for delivery processing.

You can escape the traffic congestion and reach the destinations within the estimated ETAs. The software can help you track your performance which can help in tax filing and compiling your expenses with accurate data points.

Upper Route Planner can Boost Your Delivery Performance

Upper Route Planner is the advanced route mapping software that can help track your expenses and help in tax filing.

It can help you streamline your last-mile delivery operations and ensure you get the shortest and most optimized delivery routes to increase the payouts and stand out.

You can manage stacked delivery orders by creating multiple delivery paths within a few clicks to ensure you deliver a quality customer experience and increase the overall work output.

Access the free 7 days trial to experience the transformation in the delivery process.

Summary

You can use these best 15 Uber Eats tips to boost your delivery operations and achieve the desired results with finesse.

Ensure that you scale your delivery operations and enhance your output being an independent contractor at Uber Eats.

You can automate your delivery results using Upper Route Planner, which offers quality route planning and optimization solutions.

Try a free 3-days trial and achieve the desired delivery targets.