Photo courtesy of Dashed
How many Friday nights in the past year have you settled for pizza because your favorite burger joint doesn’t offer delivery services? Five? Ten? Well, if you live in Boston, you can have that burger brought right to your door. For the past four years, Boston-based company Dashed has been connecting self-employed drivers with local restaurants to deliver takeout orders. Up until this month, drivers have used their own vehicles but now Dashed is giving them another option. A recent article in The Boston Globe helped to break it all down:
How It Works
For $15 a night, approved drivers can rent one of 12 SmartCars from Dashed to make deliveries for area restaurants. The company covers the gas and pays each driver – who also earns tips from customers – a commission of about $4 on each delivery. To generate revenue, Dashed charges restaurants a 30 percent commission on orders. In all, the company has contracts with nearly 500 restaurants and 100 couriers in five cities spread out along the East Coast. Boston is the first and only city at this time with a rental fleet.
The Reviews Are In
Drivers who have participated in the rental program rave about the maneuverability and fun factor of the SmartCars and some claim the cars have enabled them to add more deliveries to their shift. Restaurants are also big fans of Dashed. The service provides them with an additional revenue stream and helps them maintain volume on bad weather days. Restaurants also have the option of advertising on the new vehicles in Dashed’s rental fleet.
Would you like to see this service in your city? Let us know in the comments section below!
