Pizza Delivery The Dave Ramsey Way
So you want to be a Pizza Driver…
The first question I asked myself was, “how much can I make?” I sure as heck didn’t know. Dave Ramsey said to go out and deliver pizzas at night, so I did.
A new pizza joint just opened up down the street and had a “Hiring Drivers” sign out front. And the rest is history…
Back to the money part. You CAN make great money delivering part time. I make $1,400 to $1,800 per month working 22 hours a week. Yeah, the shifts aren’t the greatest…Friday 5-1am/Sat 5-1am/Sun 5-11…but they are the best shifts to make money on.
I’ve detailed my daily earnings so you can see what the potential is for you.
- July 2010 Deliveries
- June 2010 Deliveries
- May 2010 Deliveries
- April 2010 Deliveries
- March 2010 Deliveries
- February 2010 Deliveries
- January 2010 Deliveries
- December 2009 Deliveries
- November 2009 Deliveries
- October 2009 Deliveries
- September 2009 Deliveries
By the way, delivering is VERY fun too.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
This is awesome. I’ll be following you on Twitter. I’m @FinancialSamura too if you’re interested.
Ever thought about leasing a Porsche to deliver the pizzas?
I think maybe a Vette would be better, since I work at GM.
The winter is going to be difficult this year. With the H3 I was the fastest game in town. I even pulled people out of snow banks while on delivery last winter. I don’t think I’ll be doing that with the Cobolt.
Thanks for the follow. Jeff
maybe a scouter would be better? Peter Parker style?
dude, lovin’ these detailed reports. esp the “per hour” breakdown, very interesting stuff!
see ya back on twitterland.
Thanks J. Money
I’m starting to track miles/gas/wear and tear to get a better idea of how much I’m making. Sounds fun eh? If it looks worthwhile to post I’ll add it to the table.
Jeff
I was also wondering how much you were spending per day/week or month on gas.
Frugal Dreamer,
I spend $30 per week on gas. That gets me to and from my first job (12 miles one way) and all my deliveries. Our delivery area is not too big, my avg night is 60 miles. I drive a Chevy Cobolt and get over 30 miles per gallon. Much better than when I drove my H3
Wow that’s crazy I average around 150 miles for a typical 8-10 hour day. Our delivery area is huge. Luckily we get $1.50 for every delivery we take automatically. Unfortunately, the place where I work is not a chain so it doesn’t get very busy other than on weekends, which I usually work from 5pm-10 or 11pm. I don’t make nearly as much as you in tips. Yesterday, I worked a 10 hour day and made around $80 in tips.
Jamie98,
The first place I worked at I averaged about 125 miles a night and $70-$90 in tips, it was a chain. I now work at an independent and average 50-60 miles a night and $100 plus in tips. Usually from 8 or 9pm until 1am I’m the only driver. 90% of our business is repeat so I know everyone I deliver too.
Good luck…
I love that you are documenting this! And what a great testimony to hard work, for both you and your wife at home with the kiddos!
Yeah, it was those Kiddos that got me to make these changes in my life.
Great blog, I like the charts
@duddes02 thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked the charts.
Jeff
Who do you recommend delivering for….a brand name, or a local pizza shop? Why do you think there are such variations in tips, etc?
Dave, I like the local joints. Since every city has different one I can’t give you a name. From my experience I get many more deliveries working at the “little” pizza joint than I got working for the Chain. More deliveries = more money since you get paid per delivery as well as any tip that you receive. I have friends that work at Papa John’s and love it, having never worked their I can put my stamp on it.
The tip variation has alot to do with the area you deliver in. I’m currently in a “blue collar” area and the tip are great. I believe it’s because most of the people understand that I’m working for a living just like they are. I get many other people who also work for tips and the understand the process. Many of my customers are repeat so I generally know the amount I’m going to get. Most people usually tip the same amount. If I’m going to a “good” tipper I will usually get them their pizza as quick as I can, bypassing the “bad” tipper if I have multiple deliveries.
Delivering to apartments is never good, so avoiding locations with many apartments is another way to increase tips. The “white collar” neighborhoods are hit and miss. Many people just look at me like a servent and either don’t tip or tip very little. These are just a few things I’ve learned along the way. Also, college towns are awesome money makers. I have a very good friend who works for Papa John’s and makes a killing from 11pm to 3am in a college town. Please feel free to us my contact page if you have any specific questions.
Have a great day Dave.
Thanks for the reply Jeff. It looks like you’re doing very well and I’m impressed!
I live in what’s mostly a white collar area and my hunch is that it will be hit and miss, like you say. I’ll have to see what happens. If I have any questions, I’ll ask!
Thanks,
Dave
Good luck Dave, may the pizza gods look down on you and bring forth great tips
If you would be willing to upload them somehow, I myself have created an excel chart documenting gas, checks, and tips every day of every month for the past 2-3 months. They aren’t 100% accurate but it gives me a very good idea of my monthly income. I even include a pie chart.
Hi Jamie,
Send the file over and I’ll include it. Please give me some information about yourself you’d like included. We can include a weekly update if you like.
What about age limits? I’m 40 something and needing to pay off some debt ASAP. Think I’d make a go of it at myt age?
Pete,
I don’t think your age will be any problem at all. I’m older than you and don’t have any problems. There are people where I work that are older than me. It’s not an age thing, as much as attitude. Be friendly and a go-getter and you’ll have no problem.
With that said, the store I work at watches your hours you work very carefully. If they don’t need you, they’ll send you home if it’s not busy. I’ve made about half of what Dave Ramsey says you’ll make. And a lot of that goes for gas.
Here’s a random question I’ve always wondered —
On Friday/Saturday nights, especially late night, how often do you get orders from people who just never answer the door? Like, they ordered pizza and then fell asleep and/or left home?
Paula and Dave,
Its happened twice to me. Both times they called the next day to say they passed out.
Jeff
Paula,
I’ve been delivering pizza for a year now. I’ve not had that happen to me yet. We have the customer’s phone number, so you can always call the customer to try and get in touch. Friday nights are the busiest nights where I work.
Dave
Hi,
I was on your website and wanted to shoot you a quick note. I think I can make a few changes (aesthetically and/or SEO-wise) to make your site convert more visitors into leads and to get it placed higher in the organic search results, for a few of the select terms.
This is NOT like one of those foreign emails you probably get in your inbox every day. I’m just an individual, on your site, and I’d love to speak briefly or send you some info, if you have a few minutes.
I would just need to know which (if not both) services you’re open to checking out information about, either web design or SEO. Would you be open to seeing more brief info / quote for what I would like to accomplish?
Regards,
Rolce Joan Napoles
Web Leads Inc.
5850 Canoga Ave,
Woodland Hills, Ca, 91367
Jeffrey.
I second and third how much fun it is delivering pizza, after stressing out for 8 hours in a desk job all day. Take the delivery, happy faces- people are always happy seeing food coming in the door. So many more perks, too- friendly dogs, lovely people, lots of time to listen to good books-on-CD that I never would get to listen to, otherwise. Hearing snapshots of people’s lives and then having time to pray for them as you drive to the next delivery. Sometimes getting to listen to the DAVE-man on the radio, when I deliver after 10 PM on the weekends. Tips can be disappointing, sometimes- but how lucky can you get, in this economy. Some people dont have ONE job and I am blessed enough to have two.. Probably not too many grandmothers out there delivering pizza- but when you have a goal in mind of getting kids through college with no debt, and saving up 100% of the money for my next car (which I will wait and buy AFTER the pizza-days are over, so it won’t smell like pizza), then staying focused is easy.) And when I do buy that car – I am definitely driving it to Nashville to scream “debt-free” on-air…. with a BIG sign on my DAVE-CAR.
Pizza Delivery Grandma in Stone Mountain
is $3 per pizza under the table fair do you think? they will call me at a coffee shop when needed for 3 to 9 pizzas per day a few days a week.
I’m very curious, are deliveries ever consolidated? If so, what is the most stops you can make on one delivery trip? If a delivery order comes in do you typically wait 20 min or so to see if another order comes in to maximize the chance of delivering two orders on one trip? Or do you consider multi-order trips rare? A pain? Your blog is fascinating, thanks!
I was wondering how busy was the delivery job? Did you get paid hourly? How many driver were there?
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