delivering pizza......ever done it?

looks like i am about to start.
long story short. i got laid off a couple weeks ago. i am subject to call back i just dont know how long it will be. it was coming anyway. i worked in a pretty bad environment and have taken a couple injuries so i was looking to get away from it anyway.

so as soon as it happened my wife went and got a job at a pizza shop. she called me a little bit ago and said the manager wants to talk to me about driving.
i have never done it but he made it seem like it would not be that bad. does not matter anyway. im doing it....
my wife has been working 5-1:30 am and i hate it. i feel extremely guilty that she is doing this. we have been married 5 years and she has not had to work through any of it. my baby stepped up though. she got this job the day she sound out i lost mine.

anyway the manager said that he would schedule her on days(which is what we both wanted anyway) and he would put me on the late shift so i can drive. we have a child so we need opposite shift.
he said it is only minimum wage but he said the drivers do pretty well.
he said the one guy makes about $500 every 2 weeks on his checks but brings home about the same in tips for that 2 weeks.
that sounds good to me.

if anyone has ever done it can you tell me anything about it? positive or negative?
i dont see how hard it can be. ive lived in this area for 20 years so i know it real well. my car is good on gas and he said the delivery radius is only 3.2 miles.
im having trouble finding much of a down side to this. well scratch that. this is ohio and we are about to be in the middle of winter but thats the worst part i can think of.
my car does well in the snow. the heat works great.

the negatives i can think of is you never know exactly how much you are going to bring home and there is always a risk of getting rolled by some punks. im not too worried about though. not that im a tough guy or anything....just not worried about it.

manager dude is pretty cool. i was up front about everything and told him that i will still be looking for work and that this is only temp for me(unless my some miracle i am making great money).

so if anyone has any feedback on delivering pizza i would love to hear it.

as i said i was on my way out anyway. a month before i quit a guy got hurt bad. he was walking along the rails and tripped on his spat and when he righted himself and stepped down he stepped right into the melt. he stepped into molten copper at 2,000 degrees up to his knee. he got flown to the burn unit in cleveland and of course will never be the same.
that was when i decided i had to get out of there....even if the lay off would not have come i was looking.

i lost a finger already. i got smashed in the face with a hook and busted my front tooth out(which is why its replaced gold).
ive seen other guys get messed up bad too.

having been through and seen what i have i just need to be out of there.

the pizza delivery gig is happening...

One con ...
your gonna rack up miles on your car.

most pizza deliver doods I knew
back in the day
drove beaters, so miles weren't a concern.

I might consider Uber
if you wanna be a driver.
you don't have to get out of the car as much.
and not really under a time constraint
that may make you feel like you need to
drive faster.

or do both for a couple weeks
& see which pays more...

ive been doing a little searching and while nothing is exact what i am generally seeing is you can make pretty damn good money. it is not going to be a physically hard job thats for sure.
wear and tear on my car...not too worried about that.
the manager said that the drivers average about $14 an hour. that does not seem to bad to me for a gravy job

a reply to: TinySickTears


Do you get any form of gas/car maintenance compensation per amount of deliveries? Tips are up and down from my past experience, good weeks bad weeks.

My best and worst experiences of the job were meeting some of the crazies I delivered to. For instance, women half naked or naked and yea some men too, one time I went inside the door and a dominatrix had a long leash which she yanked on and a naked dude with a hood on his head and a collar around his neck came crawling out with her purse. You will meet ALL kinds!


Also I would make sure you have some form of protection such as mace or better. Trust your gut when you find yourself in situation you don't feel comfortable with and get in your car and call into the shop and let them know something is fishy!


I would say it is a very adventurous job!

You will do great average around here is 16.00 an hour on the busy days nights just be sure to double check to make sure everything is on the order the fist trip. My truck around town only gets about ten miles to the gallon.

Duude... all I can think about is what's gonna happen in South Africa when the locals see the gold in your grill. To the topic, I delivered pizzas after a lay-off and made about 100 per shift in tip and never got killed. You'll get to meet all the freaks in the neighborhood too.

a reply to: spoonbender

the miles was the big down side but i am not too concerned.
the radius is only 3.2 miles. i have 2 cars. both 4 bangers. one is nicer than the other obviously.

im cool on uber. i am not really into driving people around. i think i can handle pizzas though. i know the area well. i can listen to my music.
the manager said that when i am not out on a delivery i can just chill.

5-1:30 is not ideal by any means but i dont sleep much anyway. my daughter goes to be around 8. when my wife is not at work she is in bed by 10 and i usually just sit up and waste time on here or watching movies anyway. might as well get out and make some scratch

I haven't done pizza delivery but I have done similar things. My opinion of jobs in general is they are all pretty much the same in as much as they are bearable when things are going well. I have a had a lot of bad jobs in my life and let me just say I respect you for biting the bullet and doing what needs to be done. That my friend, is the behaviour of a good father and husband, and is the true mark of man.

You're clearly a good guy and things will work out for you, I feel sure of it. Also remember that good staff are hard to find and good bosses will do whatever they reasonably can to hold onto good workers. Give the pizza thing a real good shot because you never know where it might lead you. Finally hold your head up, you have earned that right.

a reply to: TinySickTears

TST-

I never delivered Za but have had Za delivered... But I just wanted to wish You "Good Luck" I was in a similar predicament when I was newly married 25 years ago but My Wife was a mailman and I stayed-at-home w/Our son and when She got home I went to My job, which was diving for golf balls and then sorting them out and then striping certain balls for the driving ranges. So there wasn't any $$$ going 'out' for childcare.

originally posted by: ezramullins
Duude... all I can think about is what's gonna happen in South Africa when the locals see the gold in your grill. To the topic, I delivered pizzas after a lay-off and made about 100 per shift in tip and never got killed. You'll get to meet all the freaks in the neighborhood too.

hell yeah.
to the protection thing.
i have pepper spry on my keys and i might carry my cudgel in the car if i have to touch someone up real fast

originally posted by: CulturalResilience
I have a had a lot of bad jobs in my life and let me just say I respect you for biting the bullet and doing what needs to be done. That my friend, is the behaviour of a good father and husband, and is the true mark of man.

.

hey thanks man. i appreciate that.

work is work you know. there are jobs i would hate to do but i would do them in an instant.
my babies are going to eat you know.
im 38 years old and i am in no way ashamed to be delivering pizza. no reason to be you know.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I do not know anything about professional driving of any kind, or anything about Italian inspired cuisine that I did not learn from eating it.

However, I highly recommend this book:

en.wikipedia.org...

It features a pizza deliveryman working for the mob, who also happens to be the worlds greatest swordsman. Its an absolute barnstormer.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I got timed out for some reason???


I'd research the tax code for Ohio and see if You can be listed as an "Independent Contractor" and file quarterly taxes. Prior to My golfball diving gig, I was a courier. I filed quarterly taxes but also got to write off gas/maintenance on a Ford™ Festiva™ which was minor.

Also keep in the back of Your mind: The guy You're delivering to 'may' need a new guy down at the plant; mill; store etc. so if You can be happy; content; capable delivering Za, then the sky is the limit...

Best of Luck...

a reply to: JimNasium

im feeling pretty good about it.
i think it 'could' work out real well. as long as we can make our bills and have a little money left each month then i am happy. my wife and i do not care about money. we do in so much as we need it to live of course but other than that we are fine. money is not everything.
we would both rather have me making less money and be safer than compared to where i was before.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Be the best damned pizza delivery driver the world has ever seen and be proud of it!

Your welcome. Let us know how you get along if you get the chance.
a reply to: TinySickTears

I have delivered pizza. Best way to get tips is to keep smiling and be friendly with the customers. You don't have to drive fast especially with a 3.5 mile area. Keep yourself presentable and clean. Watch your mileage and keep up maintenance on the car.
If any one threatens you, remind them that they called so we know where they live for the police report. That has worked with me. Most threats were guys just goofing around. I never was worried.

I done it.
Who pays for gas?
Whos vehicle?
Dont get jumped in bad neighborhoods
BEWARE NINJA TURTLES

I did it, back in the day. It was a blast, well mostly. Some of the perks:
- People are almost always happy to see you because you're showing up on their doorstep with a hot, gooey slab of goodness. (Oh dear, that sounded bad, didn't it?) LOL.
- You can listen to music or anything you like while you're working. Makes the time fly by.
- It's great exercise.
- If you like pizza, there's almost always free food around from mis-made orders, etc.

Go for it. You could do much worse in a modern job.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I had an "Epiphany" about 8 years ago when I turned My back at $$$ and I had a 'test' the very same day. I accompanied My Wife to the local Mall and after She paid for Her items We went to get a hot dog and soda. On the short way over the the ho dog stand there was a wad of $$. I picked it up and handed it to the hot dog Lady.
Now I have more $$$ then I'd ever be able to spend...

All My 'needs' are met and best of all I haven't any "wants"...