If the last few years have taught us anything, it's just how essential delivery drivers are. Sure, some of them refuse to take the high road and handle our parcels with complete disregard. But thousands of others do much more than just deliver goods straight to their customer's doorsteps. They go out of their way to save Friday nights, heal Monday blues, and put genuine smiles on their faces.
But even when drivers do their jobs with the utmost care, many things are out of their control. Luckily for us, though, they cause plenty of weird and funny adventures workers can’t wait to share with everyone online. So let us introduce you to two online groups, 'Postmates' and 'Couriers Of Reddit', the perfect outlets for delivery drivers to reveal the ups and downs of their professional lives.
Whether it’s to air out their grievances or give a warm round of applause, couriers set out on a mission to show everyone the wildest things they have ever dealt with on the job. From wholesome experiences to downright hilarious customer encounters, these online communities have a little bit of everything. So continue scrolling, upvote the ones that surprised you most and be sure to tell us what you think about them in the comments!
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I Can Relate
I Posted This On Another Sub This Morning, But I’ve Been Thinking About It All Day And Thought I’d Share It Here As Well
I'm A Driver For Advance Auto And Every Time I Come To This Stop I See This Little Cutie
It’s never been easier to order something online. Countless apps now let us receive bags of groceries, hot and steamy meals, and virtually any item we so desperately need in mere minutes. But sometimes, we forget about the people bringing us these goods, and all too often, we lack the understanding of what they have to endure day in and day out.
Any courier can attest that making deliveries is far from an easy job. They simply don’t have the luxury to glide through the day at their own pace and take their sweet time carrying packages and bringing them to customers’ doorsteps. Delivery drivers usually spend their working hours under pressure, driving fully-loaded vans and simultaneously juggling many duties. Plus, they then have to report their tasks to their companies that consistently rush them to transport more packages at a much faster pace.
The Best Kind Of Surprise
Actually Wouldn't Mind This
Thought You Guys Would Like This
Richard Console Jr., an attorney and founding partner at Console and Associates, P.C., explained that delivery drivers carry a great risk of getting seriously hurt. It looks like many of us don't realize that danger and delivery drivers go hand in hand. While auto accidents are one of the most obvious and dangerous hazards workers face, risks don’t end once they leave the road.
Drivers encounter an abundance of safety hazards when they step out of their vehicles, and one of the most common ones is poorly restrained pets at purchasers' residences. In 2020 alone, more than 5,800 postal workers were attacked by dogs while delivering the mail, according to the United States Postal Service (USPS). Whether they got gently nipped at their ankles, viciously bitten or even attacked, aggressive pet behavior puts many employees in danger. Any courier is at risk, Console Jr. stated, "especially to hand-deliver packages or messages to a private residence, could be bitten in the course of their work. That includes not only postal workers employed by the USPS but also employees of companies like FedEx, UPS, DHL, and smaller logistics and delivery companies."
Not Mine, Saw It On Facebook
I Started Driving For Postmates A Few Days Ago Since I Have Extra Free Time And Realized How Underpaid They Are. Had A Horrid Night Tonight So I Wanted To Do Something Nice For Somebody Delivering In The Rain. His Response Made My Night Better In Return
So This Happened To Me Today
Interestingly, Console Jr. mentioned that the most dangerous day of the week to make deliveries is Wednesday (so be careful out there today, folks!). "More than 8 times as many couriers and messengers got hurt on the job on Wednesdays than on Sundays. Monday is the second most dangerous day to make deliveries, followed by Tuesday and Thursday," he added.
Meanwhile In Australia
This Just Happened
Saw This On Fb Today, Made Me Lol
Another thing that increases the risk of danger is when companies ask too much of their employees. "Some delivery drivers feel pressured to exceed the speed limit, roll through stop signs, and otherwise pay less attention to the road and more attention to the clock and to the dispatcher constantly demanding more deliveries in less time,” the attorney noted. "All of these actions can raise drivers’ risks of being in a car accident." Moreover, the rush to deliver the goods on time can make workers skip breaks which in turn can make them lose their attention while on the road.
I Havent Been Able To Work For 5 Days Due To Personal Problems But I Was Able To Get Out And Do 1 Delivery And It Ended Up Being This One. This Person Helped Me So Much
We Have Fun Sometimes
They Had This At The Door Plus Gave Me A Cash Tip! Shoutout To The Homie Customers
The fact that some managers bend over backward to frustrate their employees and make them wonder about quitting daily is nothing new. A longtime UPS driver who preferred to stay anonymous recently told INSIDER that during their years on the job, they experienced everything from the good and the bad to the downright ugly. First, they explained that the position comes with many perks, especially for those who prefer solitude. "I'm on my own all day without any supervisors or co-workers, and that's how I prefer it," they said.
This Is My New Favorite Doormat!
Not Postmates But Lol
Got A Very Important Postmates Today. I Literally Ran Out Of My House On The Quest For The Puppy Pool
I hope they don’t mean they literally just broke their hip while their dog went into labour, because while I applaud their priorities that’d be going a bit far.
The driver has also locked in a regular route. This means they make the same trip instead of picking up new available routes every day, and it "makes a major difference as far as quality of life goes." But even after they moved up the career ladder from a cover driver (someone who shows up for their shift and hopes that the management will assign them a favorable route), they’re still unsure of when their workday will end. "Every morning when I leave the house, my wife asks what time I'll be home. All I can do is shrug my shoulders because it's definitely not a 9-to-5 job," the UPS driver explained. "Some days, you can get everything done in nine hours; other times it can take 14 hours. That kind of inconsistency makes it difficult to have a life outside of work."
I’m Extremely Sick And Ordered Some Medicine And Drinks From 7-11, Put In The Delivery Instructions To Knock And Leave At The Door As I Don’t Want To Pass It On. She Left This Little Note In The Bag. It’s The Little Things That Count
This F**king Guy
It Was Dark Out, Handed Me This As A Tip And I Tried To “Act Cool” Because I Legit Thought I Had Just Been Tipped Drugs
While the driver is overall satisfied with their route, their pay, and their job in general, one thing that grinds their gears is the management. "For example, despite our contract stipulating that we are entitled to sick and personal days — as well as bereavement time — trying to take it is a whole other story," they said and added that every time they take time off, managers are sure to make them feel guilty about it. So when it comes to unhealthy practices and treatment, UPS is no better than Amazon and FedEx which have been notoriously talked about in the news. "Somehow, they just do a better job of keeping it under wraps," the driver said. "Drivers are the reason UPS is able to run, and sometimes our bosses forget that."
If Only All Houses Were Like This Haha
There Are Good People In The World
One Of These Is A Doorway And One Is A Full Length Mirror… Guess Which One I Walked Into
That happened to me once, except I attempted to apologise to the woman coming the other way through the "doorway", only to realise it was my reflection.
A Good Boy Greeted Me During My Delivery Today
Just This. Nothing Else. Lol Loved This Order
You Sweet Dear Soul.. I Want To Sincerely Thank You From The Bottom Of My Heart
When You Get The First Hint That This Apartment Is Not Going To Be Easy To Find
Roger
Yodelayheehoo!!!
Honey, there's a loud brass band in front of our house. What does that mean? - "I don't know, turn up the TV."
Order Notes Made Me Smile! The Guy Was Really Really Hungry For His Sandwich And Lemonade
Appreciated Their Bluntness
So Done With People. Btw, The “Not Rdy Yet” Happened 5 Min After My First Text
I’d call this amazing customer service, actually. They checked your order, found it accidentally wanting, made you a new one, kept you up to date, and prioritized your “new” order. And they remained polite when you turned into a d******d - what more could you possibly want?
Just Got This And I Thought It Was The Sweetest Thing Ever Lol
Busy Sushi Restaurant Was Awesome And Gave Me A Free Roll For Patiently Waiting!!
Deliver And Treat!
Delivered To Address Provided, Tried To Contact, But I'm The A-Hole
The fact that this pesky service personnel still can't read minds is in fact appalling.
Had A Friendly Observer Through The Glass Making Sure Everything Goes Smoothly
Contactless Delivery Instructions
Ordered From Five Guys
Dios Mio! Are My Eyes Decieving Me?
To The Nurse At Hollywood Presbyterian.. I Was Having A Terrible Day. Not Only Was She Very Kind When I Dropped Off Her Food, She Complimented My Leggings And Made Me Feel Good! I Just Got An App Notification She Tipped $100. God Bless You Kind Soul. I Really Appreciate It
S/O This Customer
I can't remember which one of the delivery services it is but one of them has this pop-up window when you try to add a tip more than 50% of the bill "whoa whoa whoa that's awfully generous of you, but tip can't be more than 50% of the bill". B***h, trying to tell me how to spend my money?
Make That $0.01
Delivery Guy On Crutches. Gig Economy In Action
Wish We Had More Customers Like This
A Special Shout-Out To The Kind Lady Who Ordered 80$ Worth Of Mexican Food Only To Not Pick It Up. After Several Calls And Texts,and The 5 Minute Timer,i Now Have Enough Burritos To Feed Myself For The Next Week
It’s So Beautiful! Why Can’t Everyone Be Like This!
Creep Customer!?!?!!
My First Day As Delivery Guy At Dominos
My Instacarter This Morning, Gave Me A Giggle
What A Normal Day At My Local Chipotle Looks Like. All Delivery Drivers
Some People Are Truly Decent
I always feel so bad when the online service is a pain with the tipping. Local restaurant is still doing half their business pickup/curbside, and they get jipped all the damn time because the company’s website defaults to a tiny tip, and it’s hard to find on the screen. I thought the guy who gave me my order was going to cry when I told him there was a problem with my order and handed him a cash tip.
The Best Customer Note Oscar Goes To
$96 Worth Of Sushi In My Fridge Because The Restaurant Gave Me The Wrong Order
Restaurants, Take Note. We’re Not Just Delivery Drivers, We’re Your Customers Too
Didn’t Know Whether To Smile Or Cry When I Saw These Delivery Instructions. It Took Awhile To Find The Correct Person To Drop It Off With, But I Would Consider It Worth The Extra Time
Onion ninjas are at it again! So glad you were able to make the delivery.
A Customer Just Handed Me This While I Was Dropping Off His Food And Said “Happy 420”. Thanks Matt You’re The Man!!
I Think I’ll Take The Stairs
Guy Canceled His Order 2 Minutes After I Picked It Up
Postmates Sent Me Up A Mountain On A Bicycle In The Rain In The Middle Of The City. Portland Problems I Guess. Delivered A Berry Bowl From Psu To Apartments On Marquam Hill And It Sent Me Up A Hiking Trail
Now This Is How Everyone Should Have Their House Numbers
Shout Out To These UPS Drivers. I Should've Added My Amazon Sticker But I Was In A Hurry
Tell Me How You Really Feel
It’s Time To Move On To Another Occupation I Guess
Nice. Just Got My Card In The Mail Today And They Assigned Me The Name Mjrdck
This Is A Nightmare
So that’s why that guy in front of me was driving so excruciatingly slowly yesterday…
Delivering Hasn't Been The Most Exciting Or Nicest Thing To Do Lately, But This Lifted My Spirits
Massive Grocery Order. Had To Put Down My 2nd & 3rd Row Seats. $2.50 Tip
That’s just SO wrong. drivers should be able to leave bad reviews for customers so no one else has to go through this cr@p.
Someone Literally Tipped Me With A Bottle Of Champagne, So I Had To Share
I Hope This Guy Is Ok! 10ish This Morning With A Note Not To Ring The Bell
This Is The Walgreens I Was Supposed To Pick Up From
Respect 100
This Is A Real Conversation I Had When Delivering To Someone
Had A Pretty Amusing Delivery Last Night
He sounds like a Murakami character about to have a rude awakening.
Door Dash Employee Ordering Postmates Loll
Delivery Driver Wet Dream…. Satisfyingly Visible Housing Numbers
Best Instacart Ever
Out Here Makin Bank
Hold Up Am I Seeing Things?
Postmates Brought Me To This "Hotspot" Today
You Are Being Tracked!
Address P**n
Just Another Day On The Job
I don't see the problem here. Odd numbers to the left, even numbers to the right.
I Hate These
Thanks For Covering Your Entire Apartment Number
Grubhub Had To Cancel The Order After There Wasn't Enough Money On My Driver Card To Pay For It All? So I Got $115 Worth Of Pizza Ranch
Overly Informative, Useless Information
Self proclaims to be lazy, anti-social, and demonstrates idiocy all in one move! What a catch!
I Present The Chipotle Table Of Shame
In case anyone else wanted some more context, I think these are all orders from people who didn’t tip, so no one wants to deliver them… https://www.reddit.com/r/couriersofreddit/comments/m3rzvz/i_present_the_chipotle_table_of_shame/
I’m Beyond Broke. Saw This Order $21 Originally. Saw The Distance. I Think Gig Work Is Gonna Implode
Why would you order from a restaurant that's 36 miles (58 km) away from your house?!
Could Not Resist Accepting This Amazing Order... 30 Bucks To Go To Africa, I’m Sold!
1. Country name in N***r. Some people are just crazy about self censorship. 2. Green dot points to 0'0", 0'0" on GPS. Must be some glitch in application. What the f**k, it censored my post. This site is messed up.
Why You Should Keep Pizzas Flat
Make Up To $22 An Hour
I Guess He Didn’t Appreciate My Fast & Furious Gif
I work for Doordash to pick up the wage cut I took when I got a job with fewer hours for mental health reasons. Its a decent enough side job. I don't get many crazy orders and the few I have had at least the customers were very nice about the mix ups. But the one I will never forget was when I got lost at an apartment complex and when I finally got out of my car I heard two guys having a LITERAL pi/ssing contest. They sounded quite drunk and one guy was saying to the other guy "see, mine's going farther." and his buddy goes "because your closer to the wall. Step back." Then I dropped off the food, got into my car and decided to end the dash early.
You quit working because two dudes were pissing on the wall? Golly, I sure hope Sheriff Taylor was able to keep Mayberry safe from those thugs!
Load More Replies...My mom orders Door Dash every day, sometimes multiple times, and has been doing so for two years now. I can count on one hand the number of people who knocked or rang the doorbell. I know some people might prefer that you not for one reason or another, sleeping baby, dogs that bark, whatever. But I feel like the DEFAULT should be to notify people that their food is at the door. My phone might be dead or in another room or on silent. The doorbell is right next to you, it takes no more time to ring it.
The app will notify her, but if she's not in the habit of having the volume on or listening for her notifications, she might miss it. However, I would suggest delivery people ring the bell in preference to knocking. Some hearing impaired people have special doorbells that do things like flash lights. There are some things that might help your mom, though. If you set up a different notification tone for the DoorDash app, that might help her realize it's not just a text. I have a smart doorbell with a camera and I gave it a different notification tone on my phone so I know if someone's been to the door even if they don't press the doorbell button and I don't tune it out like I do other notifications. You could even use a notification tone that sounds like a doorbell.
Load More Replies...I usually ask the Shipt drivers to put a few lightweight items in plastic bags because my service dog likes to help carry things in but can't carry a heavy paper bag. I get so many comments about how that request made their day or was their favorite request they'd seen. The other day the heavy paper bag had my name on it in Sharpie, and the lightweight plastic bag said "service dog" on it in Sharpie. 😂If possible I try to tell them my dog appreciated the lightweight bags, and send a picture if the app allows for that.
Early on in first lock down my mum sent me flowers. People in them days were not knocking, and it took a few knocks before I registered. Guy was really apologetic but someone had packed the clearly labelled 'this way up' the wrong way and it was a mess. He was worried I would report him. It was a very hot day so I asked him if he needed water but he said it would just make him need the toilet. I told him we didn't use the toilet by front door these days so go on in while I go sterilise a bottle for you. The whole thing was done masked up and at distance but when I waved at him as he drove off I could see he had had a good cry while in toilet. Oh, the flowers recovered with a little care..
A sandwich shop employee called to say I made his day because of how I ordered. "Add as much lettuce as is physically possible. When you think how could I possibly add more lettuce to this?! Add another handful. Thank you very much"
I work for Doordash to pick up the wage cut I took when I got a job with fewer hours for mental health reasons. Its a decent enough side job. I don't get many crazy orders and the few I have had at least the customers were very nice about the mix ups. But the one I will never forget was when I got lost at an apartment complex and when I finally got out of my car I heard two guys having a LITERAL pi/ssing contest. They sounded quite drunk and one guy was saying to the other guy "see, mine's going farther." and his buddy goes "because your closer to the wall. Step back." Then I dropped off the food, got into my car and decided to end the dash early.
You quit working because two dudes were pissing on the wall? Golly, I sure hope Sheriff Taylor was able to keep Mayberry safe from those thugs!
Load More Replies...My mom orders Door Dash every day, sometimes multiple times, and has been doing so for two years now. I can count on one hand the number of people who knocked or rang the doorbell. I know some people might prefer that you not for one reason or another, sleeping baby, dogs that bark, whatever. But I feel like the DEFAULT should be to notify people that their food is at the door. My phone might be dead or in another room or on silent. The doorbell is right next to you, it takes no more time to ring it.
The app will notify her, but if she's not in the habit of having the volume on or listening for her notifications, she might miss it. However, I would suggest delivery people ring the bell in preference to knocking. Some hearing impaired people have special doorbells that do things like flash lights. There are some things that might help your mom, though. If you set up a different notification tone for the DoorDash app, that might help her realize it's not just a text. I have a smart doorbell with a camera and I gave it a different notification tone on my phone so I know if someone's been to the door even if they don't press the doorbell button and I don't tune it out like I do other notifications. You could even use a notification tone that sounds like a doorbell.
Load More Replies...I usually ask the Shipt drivers to put a few lightweight items in plastic bags because my service dog likes to help carry things in but can't carry a heavy paper bag. I get so many comments about how that request made their day or was their favorite request they'd seen. The other day the heavy paper bag had my name on it in Sharpie, and the lightweight plastic bag said "service dog" on it in Sharpie. 😂If possible I try to tell them my dog appreciated the lightweight bags, and send a picture if the app allows for that.
Early on in first lock down my mum sent me flowers. People in them days were not knocking, and it took a few knocks before I registered. Guy was really apologetic but someone had packed the clearly labelled 'this way up' the wrong way and it was a mess. He was worried I would report him. It was a very hot day so I asked him if he needed water but he said it would just make him need the toilet. I told him we didn't use the toilet by front door these days so go on in while I go sterilise a bottle for you. The whole thing was done masked up and at distance but when I waved at him as he drove off I could see he had had a good cry while in toilet. Oh, the flowers recovered with a little care..
A sandwich shop employee called to say I made his day because of how I ordered. "Add as much lettuce as is physically possible. When you think how could I possibly add more lettuce to this?! Add another handful. Thank you very much"