Of course your food products should be transported professionally.

You pay a lot to have your orders delivered through app companies like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.

And the customers pay a lot to order food this way.

You and them deserve to have the delivery service you are paying for.

But what I have seen during my 2½ years of doing food delivery gig work is that almost NOBODY uses thermal bags to maintain the freshness of the food they are delivering. It’s astonishing.

###

There is a constant flow of new drivers coming into the business, because of how seasoned, experienced drivers are treated by delivery app companies.

For example, I was in the “DoorDash Large Order Program.”

It was prestigious.

I EARNED that.

The DoorDash algorithmic robot I work for knew I could be trusted with high value orders — because I always came through.

But I’m out of that program now.

Why?

Because they changed the deal.

Here is wording from a notice DoorDash emailed me:

“We created the program to recognize and reward Dashers like you with more flexibility and opportunities to earn.”

For me, those words are an outrageous lie. With the new tier program they’ve concocted I need to have an order acceptance rate of at least 50% and for the best chance of getting large orders I really need to be above a 70% acceptance rate.

(And actually in some parts of the country the requirement is an 80% acceptance rate.)

It is quite unlikely I will be above a 50% acceptance rate because I live near an impoverished, high crime city that I refuse to work in.

Since the apps are constantly sending me delivery opportunities that involve higher risk areas and since I decline nearly all of them, my acceptance rate is routinely under 30%. (As of this moment it is 20%.)

I am not going to lower my safety level so that I can get back to receiving large orders.

DoorDash also sends me TONS of “delivery opportunities” that essentially require I work for charity pay.

I am not delivering orders for $2. Real professionals don’t work that cheap.

I always refuse 100% of the clearly unfair offers, because that’s how I operate my delivery business.

The end result is one of the best Dashers in the area is no longer able to get those higher paying large orders, to the detriment of merchants and customers. And DoorDash doesn’t care. I assure you, they just don’t care.

I wrote them about about how this program would negatively impact me. Of course I never got a response. But after I wrote that piece all of my large order activity went away… for 2 months. Then I got one $29 “banger,” and that was it. Now the new tier program has been rolled out in my market.

My tenure, high standards, and dedication to the work are not at all being rewarded. In fact, I have seen a slow, stealthy worsening of pay.

What does unfair treatment and lower pay lead to?

Well, I am not the only pro who is getting burned by this new tier program. There are many of us with extensive experience who have been unfairly affected.

This is how experienced Dashers get flushed out of the business.

When app companies make it clear that our earnings have plateaued and our ability to earn is now in a state of decline, experienced Dashers become disillusioned and leave.

They are immediately replaced by rookies who are much more likely to botch their deliveries, and also more likely to accept low-paying orders, precisely because they are uninformed, unaware, and have yet to “learn the game.”

The app companies certainly need that fresh meat.

As this process repeats again and again in your local marketplace, you have to step in, make a power move, and communicate your expectations to these new drivers and everybody else who is still in the game.

This flyer is one way to tell them how you want your deliveries handled.