Pause for the Cause and Downtime Love
The summer season is fast approaching. In some places summer seems to have arrived early. The heat is on! The roads are settling in, and in some cases are getting paved! Good to see those potholes getting served, for a change!
Long days and nights behind the wheel have a way of stacking up. Once a courier begins a series of runs, there’s no knowing where or when the series will end. Or how long it will last.
The rush is worked while it happens, and accepting new offers is critical to keeping the shift productive and prosperous. It is possible to stack up a couple of hours worth of deliveries in minutes, depending on the offers accepted.
Once a series of runs has been secured and accomplished, it’s time for more. Except.
Except that bathroom break that was supposed to happen two hours ago. Or that stop for gas, since the tank is on dead E. Maybe there was a plan to stop and get a sandwich to stave off starvation. It’s not possible at the current time because those offers are still happening.
Couriers spend much of their driving time being available at any time for work. Staying in a zone, or covering a large area, the courier remains ready to work when the work happens. This state of readiness helps maximize earning potential.
The Queue
It is also important for a courier to remain in the queue during driving shifts. It’s possible to stop all delivery offers by logging out of the system. The process of rejoining the queue, begins again once the courier goes live again.
It changes the setup when the queue is joined then dropped then rejoined. The amount and quality of the offers will change each time the courier logs out then logs back in. Therefore it’s important to keep the same shift going while using an app for deliveries.
Much of that is in the way the app selects drivers and locations and matches them for offers. Proximity and availability are key elements, as well as position in the queue. This suggests that remaining in the queue is important for maximum earning potential.
But what about that bathroom break? And there are times when a stop for other reasons is just as important. That’s when a pause for the cause can yield some downtime love.
Recently the Uber app introduced the coffee cup. It’s right there near the bottom in the screen shot below.
Coffee break
This little coffee cup symbolizes a coffee break. Or a break from receiving new offers, while remaining in the queue. It is a very useful addition to the app, and has many benefits for a courier.
Tapping the coffee cup icon will pause the offers that are sent to the courier, until the button is tapped again. It can be tapped at any time, but doing so while on a live delivery, means the break will start after the delivery is complete.
The Doordash app also has a break feature, that is in the live delivery offer details page. It can be found by toggling the details screen, from the live delivery details screen. Both are effective for a much needed break while not losing any ground in the queue.
Being behind the wheel all day or all night is safer and more productive, when the courier is well rested, not starving to death, or out of gas on the side of the road. Taking that five or ten minute break to freshen up is a great way to stay all day.
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