DoorDash on the Rise in Excelsior Springs

DoorDash has started bridging the gap between local businesses, customers, and their couriers as the online delivery service has made its way to Excelsior Springs. 

The platform works with local restaurants and identifies popular eateries that offer takeout, helping businesses to expand their delivery services.  Those who use the DoorDash platform are also not limited to only placing orders from restaurants. As area DoorDash driver David Stephens said, the platform also allows people to make “shopping orders.” 

In turn, anyone can also become a delivery driver to make some extra cash, known as dashers. Dashers or delivery drivers are independent contractors using their vehicles and a separate app to accept and make deliveries. Drivers can then accept or decline any delivery order they are offered depending on their location relative to the order needing to be delivered.

For those interested in becoming a delivery driver, all it takes is to download the DoorDash and Dasher app to their smartphone. Daniel Shipley, another area Dasher, said, “The app works by covering a service area,” such as Excelsior Springs. He added, “This is the dash zone drivers work in.” Once an order comes in on the app, the dasher gets notified of an order to pick up and be delivered to the address associated with the customer.

Of the area businesses, the following are included in the Excelsior Springs Dash Zone area:

• Pho House Vietnamese 
• Dubious Claims Brewery 
• Laura’s Pizza Buffet 
• Golden Leaf 
• Hunan’s 
• Sonic
• Subway
• Caseys 
• Pizza Hut 
• Taco Bell/KFC 
• McDonald’s 
• Arby’s 
• Applebee’s 
• Walgreens 
• Aldi
• Dollar General 
• Tractor Supply 
• El Maguey

While working as a dasher, Stephens explained there are two ways to get paid for making deliveries. The first is pay by order, and the second is pay for active time. He mentioned being paid by active time is a base rate of pay totaling $12 an hour. Dashers are “only paid from the time they accept an order to the time it’s delivered.” Stephens said.

On the other hand, pay by order allows a customer to place an order from a business, and the order is then sent to the dasher. From there, the dasher will get notified and see the time needed to complete the delivery, the distance of travel, and the total amount they will make for accepting the order plus a tip if the consumer chooses to leave one for the dasher.  Shipley said this method of pay is “good if the dasher does a lot of quick deliveries.”

Shipley explained that dashing locally has been a positive experience overall in the area, with peak delivery hours between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. and some later deliveries being made near 11 p.m. on the weekends.  Stephens added he has had an enjoyable experience dashing in Excelsior Springs and said some of the busiest times for him were on Christmas Day and during football games. 

For Shipley, being a dasher has given him the convenience to make money on his own time. He said, “I don’t have a nine to five as I have a lawn care business to run during the spring, summer, and early fall.” So, for him, it’s a way to keep bringing in a paycheck. In turn, he has become a top priority dasher, reaching the platinum level by earning high satisfaction ratings from consumers and by completing 100 deliveries in a span of 3- days. 

As for Stephens, he and his wife like to dash to keep busy. He said they both can sit at home and watch T.V. or talk about their long-term careers, or they can both hop in the car, hang out for a few hours, and help the community by making deliveries. “We just toss our earnings in a little fund that may go toward a weekend getaway in a year or so,” Stephens said.

For additional information regarding DoorDash or if other area businesses would like to utilize the platform visit https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/products.