[OP-Matt]

The wife told me to stop taking Pax, so I did Eats only last night. I did 6 hours 4pm to 10pm. It paid (including tips) about the same as your average Tuesday or Wednesday night doing X only. And $/mile number was pretty good. Would have been better had I not taken a dumb 25min delivery from the Brickyard over to Foster/Western. I was using hand sanitizer every time I left a restaurant, and every time after I made a delivery.

Observations:
-It's a grind, but i was back-to-back just about the whole night. And getting in and out of the car a bunch of times is probably better than sitting on my ass for 6hrs straight.

-The app doesn't notify you on tips exactly the same way as regular X. The pop-up will show if you aren't on another trip, but the msg notification doesn't show, so it's hard to figure out which delivery gave the tip without pulling up the list and remembering which one already had a tip and which one is new. And if the tip comes in significantly after...very hard to remember which one. So pretty hard to guage which deliveries are more likely to tip. I'd say that generally bigger orders from more expensive places gave better tips...but it wasn't always the case. Biggest single tip was from a 1-2person order from a random mexican place. I didn't have any unicorns last night....as I kept getting pulled more into the far NW side of the city when I wanted to be more in the near NW/W burbs.

-O...M...G....Popeyes. Soooooo.....much.......Popeyes. Not sure how Burger King is doing on Grubhub, but we should all probably invest in QSR because Popeyes was killing it last night. Not sure if all the stores were staffed similarly, but at one store I counted at least 8 staff.

-It was annoying with every place having a different procedure, some go in for pickup, some wait outside, some go in and then wait outside, some drive through, some go in even if they have a drive through. Some places have a sign on the door, but you can't really read if from your car...so you gotta park, go to the door, realized it's locked, then get back in your car and go to the drive through, etc... And whatever instructions for the place that were listed in the app didn't really seem to be right most times.

-Deliveries were a strange mix of "leave it at the door" and people coming out to meet me in front of the house. (Delivered to one guy through a basement window...like I was buying drugs...) The most I think i waited was about 30 seconds after ringing a bell. It's quite amusing that people will be tracking you on the app and "toes to the curb" for their food, but when they need to go somewhere they will take 4m58sec to come out to the car!!! WHY?!?!?

So it was first night of state-wide quarantine...and also Saturday night....so I can't imagine the volume to be as high every night....but maybe?

 

[SuperStar3000]

I did it a long time ago when it was called UberRush, but it was a real grind so I opted out.
Called support today and they reactivated Eats.
Looks like it's the only thing to do right now, and it will probably be very busy in the next few months.

On the plus side - your car is all yours, and the food makes a very agreeable passenger.
You get to check out restaurants that you would not have discovered otherwise.

The weather is somewhat decent, so getting in and out of the car will not be grueling.
And all the extra exercise might even make you feel better.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, when summer arrives, it will be the Uber drivers who are in great shape, while the passengers are all fat and flabby from sitting around? :wink:

 

[New guy65]

I did it a long time ago when it was called UberRush, but it was a real grind so I opted out.
Called support today and they reactivated Eats.
Looks like it's the only thing to do right now, and it will probably be very busy in the next few months.

On the plus side - your car is all yours, and the food makes a very agreeable passenger.
You get to check out restaurants that you would not have discovered otherwise.

The weather is somewhat decent, so getting in and out of the car will not be grueling.
And all the extra exercise might even make you feel better.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, when summer arrives, it will be the Uber drivers who are in great shape, while the passengers are all fat and flabby from sitting around? :wink:

View attachment 435150

I went out for a few hours today. Like the last few days I didn't have an eats order after 10am. Maybe I'm just unlucky I drove from 4 until 730 Friday and Saturday and didn't have a single eats order which seems impossible

also the amount of people out and except using is higher than normal around Lincoln park and lakeview. Actually people out everywhere. Seems like people are telling the governor he can eat a dick and they are going about life

 

[OP-Matt]

....aaaaaannnnnnddddd the wife just banned me from going out to Uber, even on Eats only. I guess i'm stuck here for another 18 days.

awesome.

 

[BIGSHOW]

I did it a long time ago when it was called UberRush, but it was a real grind so I opted out.
Called support today and they reactivated Eats.
Looks like it's the only thing to do right now, and it will probably be very busy in the next few months.

On the plus side - your car is all yours, and the food makes a very agreeable passenger.
You get to check out restaurants that you would not have discovered otherwise.

The weather is somewhat decent, so getting in and out of the car will not be grueling.
And all the extra exercise might even make you feel better.

Wouldn't it be ironic if, when summer arrives, it will be the Uber drivers who are in great shape, while the passengers are all fat and flabby from sitting around? :wink:

View attachment 435150

I think that pic more clearly shows what boredom does to us men under isolation if we don't find something else to do lmao 🤣

....aaaaaannnnnnddddd the wife just banned me from going out to Uber, even on Eats only. I guess i'm stuck here for another 18 days.

awesome.

No offense, because I don't know you or your wife, buuut... bills don't pay themselves, so maybe she should stop wearing the pants?

 

[OP-Matt]

No offense, because I don't know you or your wife, buuut... bills don't pay themselves, so maybe she should stop wearing the pants?

Ya - she is employed and makes the overwhelming majority of our income at this point. Uber just gives us some cushion, gets me out of the house, etc.... I am basically stay at home dad, which I am fine with, but I felt I should be helping out as much as I can financially while I work on other employment related projects. So we'll see how tight things get on just her job for the next few weeks I guess.

 

[Nu1]

Stay home, not worth it. The peace of mind is more important than 10$/h. This might be once in a lifetime.....my grandparents didn’t experienced this since they were born after 1918. I don’t think people were in lockdown during second world war.....talking about civilians.

 

[Chicago-uber]

My wife also prohibited me from Uber/Lyft/flex. She also wanted me to stop going to my full time job, but that’s where I showed her who’s the boss. 😝

hopefully i won’t catch anything while delivering on average 250 packages for Amazon... I’m using hand sanitizer like crazy though

 

[DrvrChgo1]

There weren't lockdowns or travel restrictions, per se. Mandatory rationing was in effect and caused people to stay home because among other things, automobiles, tires and gasoline were rationed. So there wasn't a means to travel very much .

"American civilians first received ration books-War Ration Book Number One, or the "Sugar Book"-on 4 May 1942,[22] through more than 100,000 school teachers, PTA groups and other volunteers.[21]:137 Sugar was the first consumer commodity rationed. Bakeries, ice cream makers and other commercial users received rations of about 70% of normal usage.[22] Coffee was rationed nationally on 27 November 1942 to 1 pound (0.45 kg) every five weeks.[23] By the end of 1942, ration coupons were used for nine other items.[21]:138 Typewriters, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, silk, nylon, fuel oil, stoves, meat, lard, shorteningand oils, cheese, butter, margarine, processed foods (canned, bottled, and frozen), dried fruits, canned milk, firewood and coal, jams, jellies and fruit butter were rationed by November 1943.[24]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_War_II

 

[blackjackross]

The wife told me to stop taking Pax, so I did Eats only last night. I did 6 hours 4pm to 10pm. It paid (including tips) about the same as your average Tuesday or Wednesday night doing X only. And $/mile number was pretty good. Would have been better had I not taken a dumb 25min delivery from the Brickyard over to Foster/Western. I was using hand sanitizer every time I left a restaurant, and every time after I made a delivery.

Observations:
-It's a grind, but i was back-to-back just about the whole night. And getting in and out of the car a bunch of times is probably better than sitting on my ass for 6hrs straight.

-The app doesn't notify you on tips exactly the same way as regular X. The pop-up will show if you aren't on another trip, but the msg notification doesn't show, so it's hard to figure out which delivery gave the tip without pulling up the list and remembering which one already had a tip and which one is new. And if the tip comes in significantly after...very hard to remember which one. So pretty hard to guage which deliveries are more likely to tip. I'd say that generally bigger orders from more expensive places gave better tips...but it wasn't always the case. Biggest single tip was from a 1-2person order from a random mexican place. I didn't have any unicorns last night....as I kept getting pulled more into the far NW side of the city when I wanted to be more in the near NW/W burbs.

-O...M...G....Popeyes. Soooooo.....much.......Popeyes. Not sure how Burger King is doing on Grubhub, but we should all probably invest in QSR because Popeyes was killing it last night. Not sure if all the stores were staffed similarly, but at one store I counted at least 8 staff.

-It was annoying with every place having a different procedure, some go in for pickup, some wait outside, some go in and then wait outside, some drive through, some go in even if they have a drive through. Some places have a sign on the door, but you can't really read if from your car...so you gotta park, go to the door, realized it's locked, then get back in your car and go to the drive through, etc... And whatever instructions for the place that were listed in the app didn't really seem to be right most times.

-Deliveries were a strange mix of "leave it at the door" and people coming out to meet me in front of the house. (Delivered to one guy through a basement window...like I was buying drugs...) The most I think i waited was about 30 seconds after ringing a bell. It's quite amusing that people will be tracking you on the app and "toes to the curb" for their food, but when they need to go somewhere they will take 4m58sec to come out to the car!!! WHY?!?!?

So it was first night of state-wide quarantine...and also Saturday night....so I can't imagine the volume to be as high every night....but maybe?

Are the cops/parking violations folks leaving food delivery guys alone? I tried Eats a couple of years ago when it first came out. Got a ticket on my second day out while double parked on the Gold Coast on Dearborn with lights flashing and a sign in the front and rear saying that I was doing delivery. That ended it for me then and there. Ended up $50 net loss after paying the ticket,

Glad to see that there's an earnings alternative for folks that depend on this income to make ends meet.

 

[New guy65]

Are the cops/parking violations folks leaving food delivery guys alone? I tried Eats a couple of years ago when it first came out. Got a ticket on my second day out while double parked on the Gold Coast on Dearborn with lights flashing and a sign in the front and rear saying that I was doing delivery. That ended it for me then and there. Ended up $50 net loss after paying the ticket,

Glad to see that there's an earnings alternative for folks that depend on this income to make ends meet.

I don't think they are ticketing anything. There has been a Mercedes gwagon in the same spot in front of happy camper by Wrigley since at least Friday. Didn't see any tickets on it and I seriously doubt they are paying the meter.
Do you really want to do eats tonight it's a combo of snow and rain by me

 

[Prius13]

My wife also prohibited me from Uber/Lyft/flex. She also wanted me to stop going to my full time job, but that's where I showed her who's the boss. 😝

hopefully i won't catch anything while delivering on average 250 packages for Amazon... I'm using hand sanitizer like crazy though

The virus persists and can live on cardboard ~24 hours. More on plastic jiffies. A lot of Amazon sortation employees can be asymptomatic. We're all going to die.

 

[OP-Matt]

Are the cops/parking violations folks leaving food delivery guys alone? I tried Eats a couple of years ago when it first came out. Got a ticket on my second day out while double parked on the Gold Coast on Dearborn with lights flashing and a sign in the front and rear saying that I was doing delivery. That ended it for me then and there. Ended up $50 net loss after paying the ticket,

Glad to see that there's an earnings alternative for folks that depend on this income to make ends meet.

I never got East of Western Ave...so I wouldn't know how the more downtown areas were parking wise. I did see a steady $1-$2.50 eats surge for most of the evening across most of the downtown and near neighborhoods.

However, I also saw zero people pulled over by any cops. Though there were cops everywhere, the only flashing lights I saw where near some kind of utility work...and then by an apartment building where a full 1st alarm set of trucks was waiting for someone to clear the alarm at the building.

 

[Schmanthony]

Thanks for the detailed report. My first foray into Uber Eats was horrid... 2.5 hours, $12, no tips, 35 miles including the drive home. It was starting in the near SW burbs by my house though, and may have been at a bad time (late morning). Also it was a couple days before the stay-at-home order was given.

Right now I'm collecting gig apps. I've got UE and Postmates currently. I expect to have Instacart and possibly Shipt shortly. Once I've got 3 or 4 ready, then I'll venture out again. I was waitlisted on Amazon Flex, Doordash, and GrubHub.

 

[Prius13]

Thanks for the detailed report. My first foray into Uber Eats was horrid... 2.5 hours, $12, no tips, 35 miles including the drive home. It was starting in the near SW burbs by my house though, and may have been at a bad time (late morning). Also it was a couple days before the stay-at-home order was given.

Right now I'm collecting gig apps. I've got UE and Postmates currently. I expect to have Instacart and possibly Shipt shortly. Once I've got 3 or 4 ready, then I'll venture out again. I was waitlisted on Amazon Flex, Doordash, and GrubHub.

OH great. More competition.

 

[BeingStewie]

I have switched to eats and postmates full time, it pays a bit less than UberX for the time put in, say a 30% cut, but less miles/gas, 30% of the income on UberEats is from tips. It’s amazing to see almost 80-90% of requests tipping, it feels good to be appreciated unlike UberX. I hate Postmstes, as tips take 2-3 days to post, and it’s cumbersome, as you have to place the order sometimes, but it’s become my new Lyft.
Im driving at night still, and it’s interesting to be just one of the few people out, it’s a total ghost town 10pm onwards as most stores close by 9pm.

Ive been using vinyl disposable gloves to protect from over using the hand sanitizer, and I’m still able to use my phone while wearing it. Something people should consider. I also use Lysol spray at end of day.

I was already over hand sanitizing and disinfecting before this whole thing started. I also sanitize my keys and things that go out with me when I come home.

Gotta keep doing this till it’s not an option either, it’s going to die down soon, as people don’t have money and many join the delivery force.

 

[Pizzaguy128]

Ya - she is employed and makes the overwhelming majority of our income at this point. Uber just gives us some cushion, gets me out of the house, etc.... I am basically stay at home dad, which I am fine with, but I felt I should be helping out as much as I can financially while I work on other employment
related projects. So we'll see how tight things get on just her job for the next few weeks I guess.

I feel you my wife stays at home with my 2 girls so I am our only source of income. We live off my main job and Uber has become a 2nd fulltime job fir me. We rely on both incomes. People that judge other people don't know that persons bill situation .

 

[DrvrChgo1]

Thanks for the detailed report. My first foray into Uber Eats was horrid... 2.5 hours, $12, no tips, 35 miles including the drive home. It was starting in the near SW burbs by my house though, and may have been at a bad time (late morning). Also it was a couple days before the stay-at-home order was given.

Right now I'm collecting gig apps. I've got UE and Postmates currently. I expect to have Instacart and possibly Shipt shortly. Once I've got 3 or 4 ready, then I'll venture out again. I was waitlisted on Amazon Flex, Doordash, and GrubHub.

I've had Shipt for a year but rarely used it.. tried it again yesterday and today but it was HORRID!!!! 1) you have to really know each store layout in order to run around the store to efficiently locate and shop each item.
2) you don't know what items are on the order until after you accept an order. You only know the store location and delivery time window and estimated payout.
3) you get there and the shelves are empty... do you ende up having to text back and forth with the customer for every item to see if they want a substitute item and what they want! It can end up taking 45 minutes just to shop 15 item-20 items if a bunch of them are out of stock. Then the substitute item might not match when you scan the barcode so you might have to enter it in manually.
4) then there are different checkout procedures depending if it's a prepaid order, or an order that you have to pay using your Shipt debit card ( like Postmates) and sometimes it's a tax exempt order and then a store associate has to scan the app and receipt.
5) then there is the bagging of the items, taking them to your car. Then unloading and taking to the house.
6) after doing 3 orders this morning in Evanston/ Andersonville (Target orders) I head earnings of about $9/ hour after accounting for my drive time and shopping time.
Same results yesterday when I did it.
But there are LOTS of available orders in the Chicago Metro area... 513 orders right now that are not claimed...

 

[PeAceMaKer769]

I heard those people in Evanston are tipping $20s though

 

[Prius13]

I've had Shipt for a year but rarely used it.. tried it again yesterday and today but it was HORRID!!!! 1) you have to really know each store layout in order to run around the store to efficiently locate and shop each item.
2) you don't know what items are on the order until after you accept an order. You only know the store location and delivery time window and estimated payout.
3) you get there and the shelves are empty... do you ende up having to text back and forth with the customer for every item to see if they want a substitute item and what they want! It can end up taking 45 minutes just to shop 15 item-20 items if a bunch of them are out of stock. Then the substitute item might not match when you scan the barcode so you might have to enter it in manually.
4) then there are different checkout procedures depending if it's a prepaid order, or an order that you have to pay using your Shipt debit card ( like Postmates) and sometimes it's a tax exempt order and then a store associate has to scan the app and receipt.
5) then there is the bagging of the items, taking them to your car. Then unloading and taking to the house.
6) after doing 3 orders this morning in Evanston/ Andersonville (Target orders) I head earnings of about $9/ hour after accounting for my drive time and shopping time.
Same results yesterday when I did it.
But there are LOTS of available orders in the Chicago Metro area... 513 orders right now that are not claimed... View attachment 435483 View attachment 435484

9$ per hour was my experience as well, shopping, bagging, delivering. May try the shop only orders.