10 Simple Tips to Get Your Food Faster from Doordash

Tips From a Doordash Driver (Dasher)

To help make sure you get your food faster when ordering from Doordash, here are some tips from a Dasher:

1. Include any necessary information about finding your place.

If you know it’s hard to find, give your Dasher some clues or landmarks (“by the big tree” or something like that) to help them get your food to you more quickly. If there’s a certain door to use or maybe the first building on the left (if the address is hard to find/see) Mention anything that can help them find you. This speeds things up.

→ And if your order is going to a business, say so. That’ll help!

2. If you’re ordering when it’s dark out, turn on your front lights

Sometimes GPS only gets Dashers so close. That extra 1-2 minutes trying to find your place can be eliminated by simply turning on your lights, like you’re expecting someone to find your place and arrive at your place.

3. Make sure your house number is easy to read – especially at night.

So many places have numbers that are hard to read at night and from the street. Here’s an example of what’s very bad and very good:

And if the light is behind your address, like it’s above the porch where the light doesn’t shine on it, it can also be difficult to read.

Is your house number only on one side of your mailbox? Why? Dashers often drive both ways down the street, so make sure it’s on both sides.

Consider re-doing your address plate on your house if it’s hard to read. High contrast is good. Just go out at night and take a look from the street.

4. Go above the standard tip of $3

Your order is basically “shopped” around to all the active Dashers in your area. Seeing no tip or just $3 doesn’t get anyone excited and they might pass on it.

Anything above $3 helps make it more worth it for the Dasher, which means they’ll accept your order and go pick it up right away. Sometimes food sits at the restaurant for a while, waiting to be picked up because Dashers are accepting orders with higher tips on them.

It’s kind of like an auction, so bid (tip) high!

5. Did you turn on your lights yet?

Even during the day, it can help.

6. Only include instructions related to your order

Pasting in standard text that says “Don’t forget the drinks” when there are no drinks is… very confusing. This can slow things down as the Dasher might circle back to the restaurant, looking for drinks that actually are not on your order. Give them good, accurate information.

7. Dashers dislike drinks

If you don’t need to order drinks, then don’t. It’s something that can spill in the car, you need a separate hand to hold them, they’re just.. difficult to deal with in most cases (sometimes they spill in the car, which is a mess). It’s more to manage.

Some restaurants give Dashers very flimsy drink holders. Some even cut holders made for 4 cups in half, making them very weak.

Securing drinks in the car takes more time. Skip them if you want your food delivered faster (Dashers can take the corners faster and get to you faster). Just drink what you have at home.

8. Don’t text long/confusing or too many messages to your Dasher

They’re busy driving and they might have to pull over to read your message, slowing things down. Only text them short messages if you have to.

With that said, a “Thank you” is short and is always appreciated.

Oh, and they can’t do things like remove the seasoning. They’re just picking up and delivering orders. Notes about your food should ONLY go to the restaurant in your order. Food is already made and sealed up when Dashers arrive, so at that time, it’s way too late.

9. Have them drop your food at the door

Dashers love “Leave it at the door.” Let them know if you want them to ring the bell or text you in addition to leaving it at the door.

And don’t choose the “Contactless” option. That requires they call you before going to your residence and it usually results in leaving the food at the door anyway, so what’s the point of doing that?

10. Meet your Dasher at the door

They love when you’re watching the app and meeting them at the door. It helps speed things up.

When you do this, be sure to either give them your name or their name instead of just standing there with your hand out if you live in an apartment or condo. Dashers need to make sure they’re giving the food delivery to the correct person, so help them and say something like, “Hi, Anthony. I’m Jim.” You can even do this being 6 feet apart, that’s fine.

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There you go – 10 easy tips to help you get your food faster from Doordash. Look through the list again to make sure you’ve done a few or all of these.

Remember that the app Dashers use controls a LOT of what they’re doing. They’re really just following what the app says, so many things are out of their control. They have to follow the order Doordash wants them to do things (for the most part). Sometimes they have to take two orders at once and your order might not get picked up last or delivered first.

Even with the food, since most orders are sealed by the restaurant, they can’t be opening bags to make sure everything is there or it’ll look like they went through your food, which is supposed to be sealed for your protection. Don’t blame them – they’re doing their best.

And no, they can’t make sure there’s no cilantro on your food. Contact the restaurant for those kinds of things. Dashers are just driving for the most part.

Should You Tip Your Doordash Driver?

Dashers need to pay for their own gas, insurance, vehicle, and other expenses. What they get from Doordash is around $3 per order (which may vary based on distance or demand), but it’s not much. They’re working on getting your food – dealing with the restaurant, traffic, other people on the road, weather, and other factors while you just sit comfortably at home.

Feel free to tip them more. You know, a little something for the effort. And with a tip, maybe they’ll be able to get to you faster… just sayin’.

Got any more tips? Drop them in the comments.

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