delivery driver pay

what do you pay your drivers?mine make min 7.25 plus tips and 1.00 per run,im thinking to drop them to tip wage at all times.should i drop them to tip wage? any help here would be great

Minimum Wage ($8.55 in WA), plus tips, plus $1.50 per run.

I would not do anything that constitutes a pay cut…could be bad for morale and performance.

Mine are $7.25/hr + tips + $.75/run but they also work in the kitchen.

Around August of this when I project us to have pure delivery positions on Weekends and one or two nights a week, they will make tip+ wages and I don’t feel bad about that at all. I make good money when I work as a driver and I’ve seen some of my guys make close to $20/hr.

my guys make 20 and up there duties are making boxes and dishes and they take phones calls that is about all they do this summer they will be doing door hanging and other promo stuff i just get tired of all the lazy stuff they do when everyone else bust there butts

Dash, since you asked the question and are considering doing this can you give your reasoning as to why one day you would pay drivers 7.25 then the next xxxx (whatever this lower amount is - please tell us)?

You would have to justify this to your staff so have a good on here.

I’m not commenting on whether I think this is a good or a bad thing yet but I’d like to hear your take on this first.

We are minimum plus tips + $1/run when clocked in as a “driver”. When working the store they are paid a higher rate (assuming they have such skills). I think you really just have to go by what “your” market demands.

Can’t see lowering someone’s wage going over well no matter how you explain it. Years ago when we went to split rates we gave them an “in store” raise and lowered their driving rate to minimum. For “full time” drivers, I would suggest keeping their rate the same and set new hires at minimum (or whatever you feel it needs to be).

sorry Dash I started my post and then broke off and by the time I posted it you’d popped in and posted an answer to part of my question.

Seeing as how doorhanging and other promo stuff doesn’t attract tips they ain’t gonna get 20.00 per hour then so how will you handle that?

In my area I can’t pay sub min for whatever reason but even if I could I wouldn’t. I’ve found that paying a little more tends to get a little more back. I have a very good proportion of staff who have been with me 2-3 years (i’ve been open 4 years in one shop and 3 in the other). IMO and experience if you pay the minimum you can get away with then then you will get the minimum back.

I’d still be interested in how you’d tell the existing staff about this.

I recommend that you read these:

Is your Employer breaking Federal Minimum Wage Law?

Domino’s Delivery Case Challenges Employers

For more baclground information, browse these topics:

Pizza Lawsuits

Laws and Legal Matters

As always, you should consult an attorney well versed in minimum wage laws before making any significant changes to your pay structure.

I didn’t see where you answered the question gregster. How much do you pay your drivers?

My drivers use my cars and I pay for the gas so I pay min wage + tips…besides delivery all they are responsible for is making boxes (nothing in the kitchen). I only have 3 cars so 2 of my drivers on the weekends get $1.50 per order for using their own cars. My delivery drivers average $3.50 tips per order (without the $1.50 for using their own car) so they should not complain about getting paid minimum.

I still don’t understand why you can’t pay the tipped employee minimum as such when alot of times they make more tips than my servers. I get it if they have other duties in the kitchen like prep and cleaning but so do servers durinh their down time? Can somebody explain that to me?

You’re the boss, do what you want (hopefully that will help your business). My drivers and CSRs are interchangeable (cross-trained). They work. They also make darn good money, even during slow periods.

I don’t employ any drivers, so I don’t see why I needed to provide that information.

How much do you feel drivers should be reimbursed for business use of their vehicles? The DOL advises 50 cents per mile this year.

I think what indie pizza was trying to say was that the post asked about “how much members on here pay their drivers” not about lawsuits or about starting a arguement on it.

He probably felt it was an appropriate expectation since it was the actual question dash asked to start this thread.

We pay min (7.25 hour) plus tips and 1.50 per delivery. They are responsible for washing dishes (we have dine in) while they are in between deliveries and before they leave. All of them are crossed trained and when we are busy they come help cook, host etc. as dishes become the last priority. They have there own list of “prep” which is box topping, folding boxes, menu drops, door hanging and anything else we need.

They make good money.

Some of drivers/cooks make more money than minimum because they have been there for a longer time and are great at cooking. They are paid based on performance. They don’t deliver on busy nights because I need them to be in the position they are great at.

I would imagine you are trying to save on labor. My suggestion to you is cross train like crazy. If they dont want to work then let em go somewhere they aren’t expected to do much. I expect them to work hard for me and if I need something done they need to be trained how to do it. It really helps weed out the bad apples and keeps the “eagles”.

Grester, I was a bit afraid when I so the topic here because I thought ohh Lord here we go again…but you really did tactfully give input on the thread. Believe it or not I have learned some things from you and I go to the delivery threads when I am curious about something. It works far better than the old way when I felt like any and all topics went on and on and got off topic. So I appreciate your last post and hope people lighten up a bit.

Kris

We pay $7.25 an hour and $.80 per delivery. Drivers here do prep, clean, dishes, answer phones, take orders, help cook and do some doorhanging or business visits when it’s slow.

There is a couple places around here that pay $5.50 an hour and $.70 to $1.00 per delivery. I don’t understand how they keep drivers while paying them like that. Then again, I figure these places have $800-$1,000 less to spend on labor a month which frees up some money for help wanted ads.

Thanks Kris. :smiley:

I agree with some posts above that you’re never going to be able to drop your employees pay without a revolt. That’s a bad idea. If you want to go tip credit you’ll need to do it with new hires.

If you’re drivers aren’t making at least $10-$12 per hour on their slowest night (without including mileage reimbursement) you’re probably not paying enough. It all depends on your area of course, but most drivers will be happy with that on a Tuesday night.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wow… b/c that was the question that was asked. DUH :roll:

Can’t go a week without an ‘uncalled for post’ can you steveo ?