A TikTok video posted by @joelhustle documenting a single night of Uber Eats deliveries has drawn social media attention for revealing how much delivery driving pays once gas costs are factored in.
"I just spent $116 on gas," he said at the start of the video. "Now I'm doing Uber Eats until I make it all back."
He then kept a log of accepted and declined deliveries, recording each payout and the mileage involved. The first offer he accepted was $13.23 for 6.2 miles. The second one, $7.45 for 15.9 miles, he declined, and so on.
Not all deliveries went smoothly. He had to deal with navigation errors that left him circling the same spot, and even cancellations. One order that he accepted at $11.55 for 11.4 miles was canceled by the customer while he was already halfway there on the highway.
"That was halfway to my next delivery on the highway, and they canceled the delivery," he said. The cancellation cost him both the mileage and the time, without any pay.
By the time he reached his last stop, a double pickup requiring an in-person trip into the restaurant lobby, the clock read 1 a.m. "Assuming everything goes as planned, this should be the last order I have to do to reach my goal of $116," he said.
He cleared that goal, finishing the night with a total of $122.25.
He drove for six hours and 21 minutes across 10 trips, covering 97 miles based on his odometer reading. At an estimated 25 miles per gallon and $3.96 per gallon, he calculated spending roughly $15.36 in gas over the course of the deliveries themselves.
That put his hourly wage at $19.25 per hour before gas costs, dropping to $16.83 per hour after accounting for fuel.
The comment section seemed more concerned about the cancellations. "Its [sic] crazy that a customer can cancel an order whenever they want and you don't get anything," one commenter wrote.
The TikToker had faced another cancellation that day, which was an order from Taco Bell. "I was literally next in line pulling up to the window and they canceled the order," he said. "So now I have to wait for a new one."
Others focused on the gas prices, and some went far beyond the USA. "In my country a liter of gas is 1.85 dollars and a liter of diesel is 2.10dollars [sic], the average salary is 900-1000 USD a month, try living here 😂," one commenter wrote.
One commenter, who had tried other gig platforms, didn't think of the delivery earnings as a viable option. "I really don't think it's worth it," the commenter wrote. "You should try Instacart or spark driving. I do spark driving for a living because of the flexibility & it's truly worth it in my opinion."
The Daily Dot could not independently verify the claims, earnings, mileage, expenses, or events depicted in the TikTok video. This article reflects the creator's account and publicly available comments as presented on the platform.
