Gig Economy Work-Life Balance And App Metrics

Anytime you plan on leaving Amarillo to go on a vacation, there is a lot of work leading up to the scheduled trip. There is the never-ending headache of having to pack. You worry if you have everything you need, or if you have to run to the store to pick up something.

You worry about getting situated at work enough to take some time off. You want to be able to enjoy your time away without checking endless emails. You want to just turn that work brain off.

If your job includes delivering food for a company like DoorDash, you also have to plan ahead. Especially if you are a Platinum Delivery Driver and you don't want to lose that access when you get back.

The Stress of App Metrics Before a Trip

You have to keep certain stats to not lose the ability to jump on the platform and deliver whenever you want. The hardest metric to maintain during an extended absence is the rolling requirement of at least 100 deliveries completed in the last 30 days.

The Rolling 100-Delivery Quota

It's on a rolling scale, so whatever your numbers were exactly a month ago, that is what will drop off. If you delivered 5 orders last month on the same day, then 5 will go away. If that brings your numbers under 100, you then lose your Platinum status.

Before leaving, I tried doing the math, realizing I needed a specific volume of daily trips just to tread water. So that meant about 8 deliveries a day. That is sometimes easy to do, but not if you have another job and family responsibilities.

Why Dashing Out of State Doesn't Pay

Ultimately, I decided to stop stressing over the algorithm and just enjoy the trip. I mean, I will have a rental car, and I could just put miles on it. Then I realized how that could hurt me at tax time. Dealing with out-of-state mileage tracking, varying tax jurisdictions, and extra expenses simply wasn't worth the headache.

The Platinum Pass Lifesaver Solution

The good thing is that I have 3 Platinum Passes that I can fall back on. I can cash in one of those, and it will give me Platinum status for a week. In that week, I can get my numbers back up.

That was a new thing that DoorDash implemented last year, and it is a lifesaver for those who want to take a week off. So that was my plan, and I was able to enjoy my vacation and turn off all aspects of my working world.