The hidden cost in every delivery offer: the drive to pickup
Spark offers list the distance from the store to the customer. The drive from where you are to the store isn’t in that number, and you aren’t paid for it. On a busy day it can be a third of your driving.
How much does it change an offer?
Take a $16.10 offer for 5.3 km and 27 minutes, at a car cost of $0.10 per km and 15 minutes of extra time per trip:
| You are… | Drive to pickup | Net $/h |
|---|---|---|
| At the store | 0 km · 0 min | $22.24 |
| 5 km away (straight line) | ~6.8 km · 12 min | $16.54 |
| 11 km away (straight line) | ~14.9 km · 19 min | $13.85 |
Same offer, same pay. Depending on where you are, it’s either a good hour or a poor one.
Estimating it without a map
Roads rarely go straight. A simple estimate that works well in most cities:
- Road distance ≈ straight-line distance × 1.35
- Drive time ≈ 7 minutes + 0.8 minutes per km of road distance
We tuned these against real road routes to 13 stores in Calgary. On average they were within about 9% on distance and 9% on time. TripEye uses this free estimate for every offer, and Pro measures the real road route from where you are.
Three ways drivers use this
- Wait near busy stores. A short drive to pickup makes more offers clear your goal.
- Turn down far pickups that only look good. High pay with a long empty drive is often average per hour.
- Plan your way home. Late in a shift, an offer heading toward home can be worth more than its $/h shows. That’s your call; the number just makes it a clear one.
Next: dollars per mile vs dollars per hour.
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