Dashing Through Amarillo: My Experience as a Door Dasher

I have for most of my life worked more than one job. I just don't really enjoy a lot of down time. Even when I had great careers that make good money I still wanted that opportunity to make more.

I think that is why I worked for many of our sports teams over the years. I spent time with the Amarillo Sox, the Amarillo Venom and the Amarillo Bulls. When that all ended for me I was also working two full time jobs. I just like to work I guess.

So since my daughter and granddaughter moved back to Dallas I thought I had too much free time. I didn't like that at all. So I wanted a little part time job to make a little extra money and to get out of the house. I thought about going back to waiting tables. I loved that job. I also knew I wanted something that if I wanted to take a spur of the moment trip out of town I could go. I knew I would want to visit my daughter and granddaughter whenever I could.

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I didn't want to have to mess with getting shifts covered. So I thought about delivering. I could sign up for Door Dash or Uber Eats. Heck, I will sign up for both. I did. Now Door Dash had a waiting period. Too many dashers at the time. So I waited.

I got in a couple weeks later. I didn't start delivering right away. I had to get out of my comfort zone and pump myself up to try it. If I didn't like it I didn't have to keep doing it. It was going to be ok.

How is it to Door Dash or Uber Eats in Amarillo?

So I did my first dash on a Friday at lunch. My first delivery was a single acai bowl to a business. I dropped it off to the receptionist and thought ok, I can do it. Everyone I encountered was nice. I was chatting with an Uber Eats driver as I was waiting on my acai bowl and he asked about my success with Door Dash. I had to tell him that this was my absolute first delivery so I would have to let him know. He said he was waiting to be accepted into Door Dash but he was enjoying the extra money.

I was worried that there wouldn't be enough business to keep me busy. Did Amarillo utilize these services? I know my daughter uses it a lot in Dallas. So much that she pays the $9.99 per month to not have to pay the delivery fee and all of that. She still, of course, tips. Amarillo does use these services. I was kept busy. That is for sure.

Now you will not make a ton of money. You will make extra money. Now you will make more if you take it more seriously than I do. I work maybe an hour at lunch and an hour at dinner. Oh, and not every day. So the more you work of course the more money you will make.

I watched a lot of Tik Tok videos to get me ready to start delivering and the one mantra I heard over and over again is "No tip, no trip." Basically these delivery companies pay the drivers about $2.25 per delivery. The rest you make is from tips. So if you don't see a decent pay for however many miles many won't pick up your order.

I saw a delivery that they wanted me to pick up from Hook & Reel. I was to pick it up and drive 6 miles for $2.25. Now maybe they were going to tip in cash when the food was dropped off. Maybe they weren't. I didn't want to take that chance on my first weekend. So I declined it. It wasn't worth it to wait for the order, use my gas, my time and know I would for sure only make $2.25. So you need to keep that in mind.

Maybe one weekend I will try an experiment and see how Amarillo does with tipping after the fact. I will take those no-tip orders and see if they do in fact tip. That is for another weekend.

I really enjoyed my weekend of dashing. I say dashing because most of my orders came from Door Dash. I only delivered two from Uber Eats. I probably would have had more but I paused Uber when I had a Door Dash.

I had one lady apologize for ordering food. She said she was being lazy. Heck, don't apologize. I am getting paid to deliver you wings. If people wanted to get their own food I wouldn't have this extra gig.

The weekend was interesting, I drove to a lot of areas in Amarillo I don't usually go to. I found some restaurants I haven't been to before. I know I like picking up from Chuy's because they bring the order out to your car for you. I like picking up from Chili's because they have a separate door for to-go orders.

I don't necessarily like delivering to businesses unless there are clear and easy directions to where to drop off your food. I wish that these apps had a place with the address to list a business name if it is one.

I got to drop off to the Amazon Fulfillment Center. I have never been out to it. I thought that would be difficult to deliver to. Nope, they have a dedicated shelf for deliveries right up front. It was easy. I would deliver out there again. No doubt.

I have only had to deliver to one apartment so far. I had to call the resident to find where he lived in the complex. I think apartments can be confusing to find the customer. Always.

Overall I really enjoyed my time dashing and I will continue to do so and share my experiences in Amarillo. So utilize these apps. Tip and maybe I will be delivering your food soon.