Ok so if you read my other post you will see I had Dominos tonight. Sorry to all the Dominos owners or workers that visit here but it was really bad! This post is about the 2 min conversation I had with a nice, clean, polite, on-time, sociable delivery driver. I said I was interested in their pay, hours, working conditions and could I ask him a few things. He said sure. Here is what I learned.
He works full-time. Make $5.75 an hour…so tip based. He works 5-6 shifts a week at around 40 hours total. He gets $1 of the $2 delivery fees. Averages 125 deliveries a week and around $3 tip each. Quick math tells me he makes somewhere around $730/week or $3100/month. This works out to around $37k/year. Not bad for delivering pizza. I also asked about his car. He drives a 2009 VW Jetta and says he spends about a tank of gas a week for work… around $40. Other than that he changes his oil and rotates his tires. He also made a point that he saves $25 a week for major car expenses but in the 18 months he has been driving…hasn’t spent a dime of it yet but thinks he will need brakes in a few months. He looked around 23 or so. I asked what he did before this and he said Bestbuy for $9 an hour…then laughed…and said he makes twice the money now!!!
The one thing I forgot to ask was what his job duties were when not on the road. I get the feeling he does what needs too be done but can’t say forsure.
Now I did not post this to start a pay debate…but just to make a point that even tip-credit workers can and do make a really decent wage working on this pay system. I also understand that not all work under this environment. I tend to believe what he said since it would make no sense to lie about making good money while you wait for my tip…or with a 2-3 year old car sitting in the drive that matches your story. Take it for what it’s worth. :idea:
If you assume an average of 3 miles round trip for each of the deliveries and use the federal mileage number for those miles to calculate what should be deducted from the total cash received, the wage comes in at about $13 per hour or 26K per year. Somewhat less than my drivers make, but still close to double the minimum wage.
Not bad at all but not 37K. His gas, tires etc may not add up to the “mileage” he gets, but replacement cost for the vehicle has to be taken into account as well.
Steve I just kept it straight forward with the pay. If he used the fed mileage rates then he not only makes $27k but the mileage pays for most his car, insurance, upkeep, gas…etc. Gives hims a tax free vehicle for the most part. Either way…not bad money and someone that really seemed to like his job. I am sure there are drivers there that do better and worse. Alot has to do with the attitude they put forth and he was one that did it right. Now everyone can have an off day… even me! but we all know the type, I have had a few work for me in my days, they always are complaining about something. It is tiring and takes a toll on the others as well. He just seemed to have a great work ethic and was making the most of what he was doing.
I know not all drivers that work tip-credit do this well but not all servers do either. Customers pickup on the attitude of people around them and it will reflect on your tips. If you do your job well the owner/managers and customers will notice and you get the benefit of that in the way of higher wages and tips. Once again, for those in really poor working conditions and management that really does not care… move on. There are other options out there.
That all sounds in line with my buddy who delivers for Dominos right now.
I was out delivering for my project store yesterday (nice 15" of snow) and I took 12 deliveries and made $53 in tips and $13 in “mileage” over 3 hours.
No matter what this driver has been brainwashed to believe, he does NOT get $1 of the $2 DC. The store gets ALL the DC, which it then turns around and pays out 1/2 in mileage. So this means that…
The numbers are skewed. For the umpteenth time, mileage is NOT income.
What exactly does “good pay for a delivery driver” mean? There would be way less entitlements in this country if working people could afford to live well on wages (and not depend on the gov’t as a supplement.)
Similarly, a well-run business should not depend of the gov’t for a handout. In MY opinion, those using tip credit are no better than the banks, etc. that took stimulus/bailout money.
Best Buy apparently pays $9 per hour in that area. The employee has no extraneous vehicle expenses not covered by inadequate mileage nor are there added dangers of the job. Besides, the driver’s stores pays $5.75 per hour. Period. The customers pay the rest.
PPG the real bottom line is that at the end of the day he makes around $27k a year delivering pizzas. He also writes off around $10k a year as work related expenses that goes towards paying his vehicle expenses. He works in a tip wage field and that is how his income is aquired. Stores do not pay federal mileage rates. None of them. How can you argue what this guy makes when he does very well for what he does. I think most, other than you, will agree that $27k a year to drop off pizzas is not bad. You can argue where the money comes from all you want but in the end the DRIVER is getting it. You always comment that the customer pays the rest… well that is a pretty ignorant statement. DUH! Who else pays for any part of the price. The customer pays for it all one way or another. It is all just a juggling of the numbers. In the end…the driver makes decent money and if he/she does his taxes correctly they will be just fine. Oh…and by good pay for a delivery driver…I think $37k minus mileage is a bit high. I know people that work a lot harder and in a lot more of a dangerous field that deserve a heII of a lot more than the pizza boy does! Ben you really need to acknowledge the real world and get over the ideals that delivering pizzas is rocket science. IT IS NOT! :roll:
You’ve shown your ignorance. (In case you are too dimwitted to realize it, calling someone a Pizza BOY is considered an insult by delivery professionals). Would you walk into a restaurant and say “hey, server girl”?
Like it or not, delivery is a job. If a job cannot pay the bills, there is no point of doing it.
I agree the $2 delivery charge has zero to do with the compensation the driver gets and nor does it go to wages. But I also do not have a delivery charge.
My drivers make $10 to $20 in TIPS alone. Then they do get a paycheck at what the minimum wage was until the idiot politicians decided to screw the whole thing up. So yes they must claim tips to the payroll system All but 3 of my drivers claim the minimum of whatever their wage is less the $7.64 (most of my drivers who have been with me more than 3 months that equates to $2 per hour or less). The Mileage rate you toss around is for someone to WRITE OFF when doing their taxes, but again gase being $2.79 a gallon and me having small delivery areas the compensation I do pay does cover their fuel.
I dont know anything about a “TIP CREDIT”?
I know my guys are not brainwashed and would much rather deliver even on the slow days than be an assistant manager who gets from $9 to $10.50 an hour. Sure no wear and tear on a vehicle, but they see that as making way too little money. Not sure how some of them drive way nicer cars and have bought homes when if I believe anything you type they would nto have enough to cover gas but most of my guys make way more money than my assistant managers. This is the pizza business and pizza is “peasant food” so their is a ceiling to how much one can charge for it, thus how much one can pay people to work in it.
At the end of the day nobody makes you be a driver. Spin it how you like.
For argument’s sake (though I would love some proof) let’s say that your mileage compensation does indeed cover all gas costs. Does it also cover oil? Other fluids? Tires? Etc…you get the idea.
You are right about one thing. No one is forced to be a driver. But does that mean those that are drivers should be subject to substandard wages/mileage?
FYI: Tip credit = the abiility of an employer to pay less than minimum wage based on the magical idea that employees receive tips from customers for services rendered.
And you call me the dimwitt? These drivers are making a very reasonable wage for what they are doing. Being a delivery boy/girl is not a $100k a year job. In most cases it is also not a career. It falls in line with other fast-food, grocery stores, retail sales, etc…positions. Then why not only pay the drivers the fed mileage rate and no pay at all? Then report 100% of their tips…because we all know that they already do that…RIGHT! That way they get full mileage rate and their pay is 100% reflective to the service they provide. Stop whining about all the fluids that their POS cars leak by the gallon everyday. Those 18 tires they buy a month. Where do you dream up this stuff. Just because you and your fellow club members cant manage cash when its handed to you is not the rest of the worlds issue. This guy makes $37k a year and can deduct almost $10k of that for legit work expenses. He makes a very good wage for DELIVERING THAT BOX TO THE DOOR!
314… I must remind you of PPG’s mindset here… quote “Once a driver always a driver!” Even though he is not anymore. Also I do get a laugh about “Delivery Professionals” Kind of like the “Fryer Union” at McDonalds.
We all know this discussion goes nowhere because even if I were to have said this guy makes $100k a year but has to pay for his own vehicle expenses and was based on tip-credit pay system…PPG would still be ranting about it.
The real funny thing here is that I have personally not found one “Delivery Professional” that makes a low or bad wage and is complaining about their compensation, vehicle, tips, etc… Then again, when you look at those that make poor income in the service industry…there are always some working right next to them making great income with a positive attitude. Makes one think that the pay levels from the lowest to the highest has alot to do with how one does their job and not just how one is paid. :idea: Hmmm… no way. :roll:
Since you insist on putting drivers down like they are the scum of the earth I have some ideas for you:
Realize that whether a driver makes 10K or 100K per year it is NOT right for the stores to steal tips via tip credit. That is my fundamental point, and apparently something that we will NEVER agree upon,
You need to quit talking down to me like I am a wad of gum under your shoe.
Perhaps I would take you more seriously if:
a. You realized that “alot” is not a word.
b. You understood the difference between “to”, “too”, and “two”. :!:
You aren’t better than me or anyone else, INCLUDING ANY DELIVERY DRIVER. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE.
I have to pay for those same items on my $10 per hour job so really get a clue. I give my driver FREE oil changes because I trade with the oil change place for pizzas…but your still an ignorant ex-driver who drove for horrible company - not representive of all pizza companies and your foolish complaining has all my drivers laughing uncontrollably as I show them your ignorant posts (I hope you know the definition of Ignorance).
Blanket statements like yours are whats wrong with assuming you are some kind of expert because you read a few books. I was a driver before I was ever a manager or owner. I dispute every claim you make. I changed my oil every other week - but I made so much money!!! $20 per hour plus mileage compensation plus a paycheck, which I put in the bank.
The fact I pay LESS than the federal or state minimum wage NOW is that they have raised it so high I can not afford to pay my SBA note or hardly any of my other bills and my GM’s and Assistant Managers did not get the 33% salary increase that the stupidity in Washington and state capitals have forced upon me. Obamacare will all but shut me down as I can barely afford to pay for my own insurance.
We dont all operate in the city you have worked in and thus things are very different in my locale.
I understand it is pointless to try to have you understand my point of view even though I very much understand yours.
Maybe I am the exception but if your going to make blanket statements then I am included in your rants and thus I must defend myself against your ignorance (there’s that word again).
Well the first thing that strikes me a funny is that if you have time to show your drivers these posts, you aren’t busy enough to sustain a $20/hr. business for your drivers.
About Obamacare…I agree with you on that one. It needs to be done, but in a different way.
Does your $10/hr. job cause constant wear and tear on your car? Plus what is up with that? If you are running a successful business why are you working for $10/hr.?
And finally, if you fit minimum wages into your business model previously, you should be able to do so now. If you cannot, well, let’s just say it’s not the government’s fault.
Bill,
You really must get over your anger and aggression about your friend who did you wrong. You are accusing the whole industry of treating their drivers the way you were treated. Let it go and concentrate on your job as therapeutic staff support. You will find the release of anger quite freeing.
Oh PPG… I have never put down any delivery driver. I just think you are a nutcase! Oh, my sincere apologies if I missed a space on “a lot” every once in a while. If you want to say that drivers are scum… those are your words. Maybe if you really had a true respect for this profession you would not lable them as such. This is a tip based profession and just because you had issues making money… there are many many more that do just fine. Like 314 said…you blanket a comment to cover everyone and that alone shows your true capacity at understanding how the real business world works. I have nothing but respect for anyone that goes out there and does their best to excell at any job that is available. The smart ones know that it takes steps to get ahead… the rest… fail and then turn to a life of explaining to the world how the big bad business owner has done them wrong. Sound familiar? You offer nothing but the same old rant about how you suffered under your life working for your buddy that fired you. Look in the mirror if you want to see the real problem here.
Just another note that maybe you can talk about in “GROUP”… I am not the one that spends my days worrying about how other people see me or whos on whos high horse. You have serious issues in life that only you can get the help you need to solve them. I know what I have accomplished in this world and I know the hundreds of employees and thousands of their family members that my choices and actions have directly had a positive impact on. I know the money I have donated to help in many causes has done good. I know the hours I donate to multiple charities helps fill voids when needed. I know when people talk about me they have respect in their voice and those that really know me understand my family came from nothing and from decades of hard work built something to be very proud of. All that said… Yes, I am better than you! I won’t say that often because everyone can contribute onto society in a positive manner…but you do not. You rant and whine about a non-issue soley because someone mistreated you in the past. You are a coward hiding behind a screename all the while slandering hard working business owners because you hide from confronting the real person that all of your built-up anger is from. I am better not because of success or failure or the amount of money one makes or does not make…I am better because of my true values that I live by and not just blowing a bunch of hot air! If you are not part of the solution then you are the problem! I have a feeling I am not the first or will be the last to label you the problem. Do everyone a favor and work on your own issues before you try to solve all of ours. :!:
I don’t like tea! :x Start the morning with a stiff screwdriver! 8)
Why do we waste our time withm someone that is so far removed from reality?
Why do we care what he thinks when we know better?
Why can’t we all live in this imaginary world of free money, no work, & executive delivery positions for all? Think of the fast delivery times with all those G6’s in use! :shock:
I hooked up 3 deep cycle Optima Blue batteries out of my boat with the neg line hooked to a door mat and the positive to the doorbell. It’s SHOCKINGLY fun to watch. I am ordering pizza all this week! Who’s in for a podcast? :twisted:
but we all know the type, I have had a few work for me in my days, they always are complaining about something. It is tiring and takes a toll on the others as well. He just seemed to have a great work ethic and was making the most of what he was doing.
