DELIVERING CASE STUDY GETTING PAID TO RIDE

Dom Junec is a 19-yearold student living in London. He’s been riding a scooter for two years and has worked as a food delivery rider since he turned 18. He says: “There are good and bad sides. The best bit is that I can fit delivering around my university work and social life. If I’m busy with one or the other, I don’t sign on to the app.

“Another upside is if I need a quick boost to my bank account, I can put in a long weekend of delivering and use the instant pay option to have the money straight away. This is really useful if my rent is due or a big bill crops up.

However, you should remember that there will be slow periods, with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday reckoned to be the quietest days. Weekends are always busiest, especially around lunchtime and the evenings. Many riders choose to work only at busy times, though it also means there’s more competition for work.

Pros And Cons

You have to bear in mind that big cities are where most of the work for food delivery riders will be. If you live in a small rural town, it could be difficult to earn enough to justify the effort. You should also think about how long it will take to deliver an order. A scooter is ideal for short and medium distance orders, but anything over five miles can make it uneconomic to accept the job through the app. Many delivery riders sign up to more than one company, maximising the number of orders they can choose to accept. However, you cannot deliver orders from different apps at the same time. Doing this can have you banned from the companies and leave you out of work.

“I love riding my scooter around London, so this is a great job. It takes me to loads of places I would never know about, though I sometimes have to keep an eye on the scooter when I’m delivering, especially at night.

“As a part-time job, delivering food by scooter is good for a student, but it would be hard to earn a proper living. Even working seven days a week, there are slow times, and you have to factor in scooter running costs.”