The best time to DoorDash is usually during the meal rushes. DoorDash points to lunch from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner from about 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and late nights on weekends. Treat those as starting points, not guarantees: your best hours depend on your market, how many other Dashers are out and where drop-offs leave you, so test them.
The usual busy times
DoorDash’s new Dasher guide calls lunch, about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner, about 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., often the busiest times to dash. Its Dasher blog lists late nights on weekends, about 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., as another busy window.
Between the rushes, DoorDash suggests Shop & Deliver orders from grocery, convenience and retail stores. Those can fill a quiet afternoon, but they take longer, so judge them on pay per hour.
Day-of-week patterns are worth testing rather than trusting. Some common starting points:
- Friday and Saturday evenings can run later than weekday dinners, especially near nightlife.
- Sunday dinner is worth a test, especially in residential areas.
- Weekday lunch tends to be short and concentrated around offices and campuses.
- Weekday mid-afternoons and late evenings can be slow, so test them before you commit hours.
Bad weather, game days and holidays
DoorDash’s Dasher blog says major sporting events, bad weather and holiday weekends push order volume up. During certain storms and other weather events, DoorDash may fund Peak Pay partly or wholly with a temporary fee on customer orders, so check the Promotions tab in the side menu.
On game days, try neighborhoods with homes and restaurants close together before kickoff and at halftime, rather than the streets around the stadium, where traffic can cost more time than the orders pay. Holidays are harder to call, so note what you see this year and you’ll have your own record next year.
DoorDash also says Dasher safety comes first and that it may suspend operations if conditions become hazardous. Only drive in weather you’re comfortable with; no Peak Pay is worth a crash.
How to read DoorDash’s busy signals
Open the Dash tab before you leave home. On the Dash Now map, red areas marked busy or very busy show high customer demand. Grey means Dash Now isn’t available there, and you may see a Schedule button instead. If a busy area is nearby, Dash Along the Way lets you get offers on the way there. Peak Pay also shows on the Dash tab.
Hotspots are flame-marked areas within your starting point. Dynamic hotspots show where a restaurant or area has many orders right now, and historical hotspots show places that are usually busy at that time. DoorDash refreshes them every 10 minutes and says they don’t guarantee orders.
Busy also depends on how many Dashers are out. DoorDash says Dash Now availability depends on the number of Dashers in your area, so a red map at 6 p.m. can fill up fast.
Schedule the hours you want to test
In the Schedule tab, pick a day, a starting point and the times you want. Scheduling generally opens five days ahead, beginning at midnight, and some Dasher Rewards levels can schedule further ahead. If the time you want isn’t shown, that slot has reached its scheduled Dasher capacity. You also can’t schedule a new dash within 30 minutes of its start.
DoorDash says there’s no penalty for ending a dash early or missing a scheduled slot. That makes it easy to book the rush slots you want to test early in the week and drop the ones you don’t need.
Test your hours over two weeks
National patterns are only a guess about your market, and two weeks of your own numbers are better. Try several time blocks, keep everything else the same, and compare what each block paid per hour and per mile.
Pick five or six blocks
Choose a mix, such as weekday lunch, weekday dinner, Friday late night, Saturday dinner, Sunday dinner and one slow afternoon.
Keep the rest the same
Use the same starting point and the same offer minimums in every block, so the hour is the only thing you’re testing.
Record every shift
Write down the time from going online to ending your dash, total pay from the Earnings tab, and odometer miles, including the drive to your zone and back home.
Repeat each block
Work each block at least twice over the two weeks, since one shift can be unusual. Check pay again a day later to catch tips added after delivery.
Compare and adjust
Rank the blocks by pay per hour and pay per mile, drop the weakest, and try a new block in its place.
A hypothetical comparison of test shifts
Here’s what a few test shifts might look like in your notes. The numbers are invented to show the comparison. They’re gross pay before expenses, with the time and miles for the whole shift.
| Shift | Hours | Pay | Miles | Pay per hour | Pay per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday lunch, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | 2.5 | $48 | 30 | $19.20 | $1.60 |
| Wednesday afternoon, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. | 2 | $26 | 24 | $13.00 | $1.08 |
| Thursday dinner, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. | 3 | $69 | 41 | $23.00 | $1.68 |
| Friday late night, 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. | 3 | $78 | 52 | $26.00 | $1.50 |
| Sunday dinner, 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. | 3.5 | $84 | 44 | $24.00 | $1.91 |
Reading your results
In the example, Friday late night pays the most per hour, but it also uses the most miles. If your car cost a hypothetical $0.30 per mile to run, Friday would drop to about $20.80 an hour after that cost and Sunday dinner to about $20.23, nearly a tie. Wednesday afternoon is the clear one to drop. Use your own cost per mile, not this one.
Recheck every few months. School terms, weather, new restaurants and the number of Dashers in your zone all shift the pattern.
Giga Driver keeps a history of the DoorDash offers you saw, with each offer’s pay per mile and per hour, so after a test shift you can see what each block offered, not just what you accepted.
Key takeaways
- DoorDash points to lunch, dinner and weekend late nights as the usual busy times.
- Weather, big games and holiday weekends can add orders, but safety comes first.
- Red areas and hotspots on the Dash Now map show demand, not guaranteed orders.
- Scheduling generally opens five days ahead, and DoorDash says there’s no penalty for missing a slot.
- Test five or six time blocks over two weeks and compare pay per hour and per mile after costs.
Common questions
What is the best time to DoorDash on Sunday?
Sunday dinner is a sensible first block to test, along with Sunday lunch. Compare them with a weekday dinner from the same starting point, and let your own pay per hour settle it.
What is the best time to DoorDash on Saturday?
Start with Saturday dinner and, if you’re comfortable driving late, the late-night window DoorDash lists for weekends, about 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Late-night trips can run longer, so check pay per mile as well as per hour.
Is it worth doing DoorDash in the morning?
DoorDash says mornings can add earnings, for example breakfast orders for offices. Whether mornings are steady enough is different in every market, so try a morning block once or twice before building your week around it.
What is the best time to DoorDash on Monday or Tuesday?
Weekday lunch and dinner are the usual blocks to try. Early-week evenings can be quieter, but there may be fewer Dashers out too, so the result can surprise you. Track them like any other block.
How do I find the best time to DoorDash in my area?
Check the Dash Now map and hotspots at different times for a week, then run the two-week test with the same starting point and minimums. National lists can’t see your market, but your records can.
