Using Gig Economy Drivers To Deliver: Is It The New Trend?

Freelancing has always been a trend for anyone who doesn’t like to be tied in a contract. It doesn’t just apply to clerical tasks but also to delivery services. If you’re looking for a temporary delivery driver, look no further than gig workers.

To know more about it, we listed the highlights of the essential details in using gig economy drivers to deliver.

About Using Gig Economy Drivers To Deliver

Using gig economy delivery enables companies to meet customers’ demands quickly. It helps them to stand out in a crowded logistic market.

The transition to gig economy delivery drivers has significantly affected the final mile deliveries, which can now be made more effective and adaptable than ever.

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What’s A Gig Economy Driver?

A gig driver is an independent contractor from different delivery companies. They are on-call drivers with their own vehicles and have a remote schedule.

They’re not employed by a specific company. Instead, they agreed to a delivery service partner program with various participating retailers to deliver services to clients. They can choose where companies they want to work for and can do speedy delivery.

Happy and Smiling Man Wearing a Bicycle Helmet and Thermal Insulated Bag for Food on His Back to offer food deliveries services for restaurants,
Image credit: gorodenkoff/iStockphoto.com

What’s A Gig Economy Delivery?

It is a flexible and convenient delivery option where resources and labor are exchanged through online marketplaces that actively help buyers and sellers find one another.

It allows businesses to select retailers’ websites for a faster shipment and costs customers lower delivery fees.

Who Uses This Service?

Amazon

Amazon spokesperson Lauren Samaha said most of the company’s existing partner retailers stores are using the company’s sprawling network of gig delivery. Their service relies on Amazon Flex drivers with their own vehicles to deliver packages.

The geographic range is unclear, but drivers reviewed by Bloomberg reference malls with retailers in Las Vegas and Tysons Corner, Virginia.

It’s another way to connect Amazon sellers with customers and could help Amazon expand. Instead of stopping at Amazon Delivery Stations, drivers stopped at shopping centers. It’s the latest development in Amazon’s complicated relationship with American malls.

Amazon sellers used to rely on United Parcel Service Inc for US Postal Services for their deliveries, but the gig economy changed the game.

Uber and Lyft

The two biggest freelance economy companies in the US are Uber and Lyft. Through these apps, customers can often order a ride in a matter of minutes. Riders do not need to have cash or a credit card on hand because the applications handle all payments.

DoorDash

Dasher is their term for freelance economy drivers. All you need to do is sign up for the DoorDash app and start with your own deliveries from other retailers’ stores.

Unlike Amazon, which has blue-prime branded vans and owns urban warehouses, DoorDash uses motorcycles for deliveries.

Image credit: DoorDash

Instacart

Instacart also uses freelance flex drivers and referred them as Shoppers. Like DoorDash, drivers may apply as partner delivery personnel via the delivery app and start receiving bookings with their own delivery capacity limit.

The multi-billionaire company has its own logistics operation and a handful of contract drivers during the pandemic.

Benefits of Using Gig Economy Drivers For Delivery

For Companies

Established retailers benefit from using contract drivers for delivery because they’re already experienced and trained to do the job. Hence, minimizing the costs and expenses of the outcomes.

They also do tasks faster, so businesses can focus on core operations and warehouse space and use contractors when additional services are needed.

For Consumers

Door-to-door, same-day, and fast deliveries from mall-based retailers gave consumers convenient delivery options, especially people who are busy and don’t have time to go to shopping centers.

FAQs

How do you make gig economy drivers deliver your goods?

To make gig drivers deliver your goods, you have to enroll in the market center of the delivery app so that customers can place orders on your online store.

The delivery app will also be the one to get a driver to deliver packages to the consumer that ordered goods from your online store.

How can you become a gig economy driver?

To be a gig economy driver or one of Amazon’s flex drivers, you must have a CDL, clean driving records, a registered vehicle, and a smartphone. You must complete the sign-up in the delivery app of your choice.

After agreeing to certain terms and getting verified, you’re off to connect to sellers and accept deliveries at your convenient time.

Final Say

Technology and Gig Economy made connecting employees and customers simpler than ever. While some workers favor the standard 9–5 jobs with minimum wage and benefits, others value flexibility more.

These minority workers are drawn to the gig economy, which also serves their demands. They’re delighted with their working conditions as they can spend more time with their families.

Additionally, this transition has given consumers, and retail stores access to more ideal services at lower prices.

If you want to capitalize on gig economy delivery, we suggest getting a route planning app like Route4Me. Start your free 7-day trial now and experience bulletproof route visibility.

Route4Me

Want To See For Yourself How Route4Me Can Help Use Gig Drivers Efficiently?

Whether you want to slash the time it takes you to plan routes for your gig drivers, increase the number of stops they can make, or keep your customers satisfied knowing that your drivers show up on time… Route4Me helps you achieve that!

START FREE 7 DAY TRIAL

About author: Dominic Walker

Dominic Walker works as a content marketer as part of Route4Me’s worldwide remote workforce. A teacher of over 15 years, Dom knows how to break complex ideas down to the very basics and explain them in a digestible way. He loves answering questions, so if you’re wondering about route optimization, jazz guitar, or how to land a fat bass, Dom is your guy.

Route4Me

About Route4Me

Route4Me has over 40,000 customers globally. Route4Me's Android and iPhone mobile apps have been downloaded over 2 million times since 2009. Extremely easy-to-use, Route4Me's apps create optimized routes, synchronize routes to mobile devices, enable communication with drivers and customers, offer turn-by-turn directions, delivery confirmation, and more. Behind the scenes, Route4Me's operational optimization platform combines high-performance algorithms with data science, machine learning, and big data to plan, optimize, and analyze routes of almost any size in real-time.