Do you need a car for Instacart? The short answer is that technically, yes, you do need a car to deliver for Instacart. This makes some logical sense, as carrying large amounts of groceries may require you to have a car.
However, from a practical standpoint, it is possible to deliver for Instacart without using a car. While I signed up to deliver for Instacart with a car, I’ve always done my Instacart deliveries using a bike (primarily an electric cargo bike). I’ve never had any issues with delivering using a bike and I find it’s a more fun and better way to deliver Instacart deliveries.
That being said, You’ll still need a valid driver’s license to sign up as an Instacart driver, but you can still deliver Instacart even without a car, so long as you can logistically carry all the groceries and complete the delivery on time.
In this post, I’ll go over what you need to deliver for Instacart, as well as share how I deliver for Instacart without using a car.
Do You Need A Car For Instacart?
To begin, here are the official requirements to become an Instacart shopper (source: Instacart Full Service Shopper Requirements)
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be eligible to work in the U.S.
- Have a bank account
- Have consistent access to a vehicle and a recent smartphone
- Be able to lift 40 lb with or without accommodation
Instacart further clarifies in their FAQ section that you need to have “regular access to a reliable car and a smartphone capable of running the Instacart Shopper app.”
That being said, while Instacart technically requires a car, you can deliver using a bike so long as you’re still shopping and delivering orders on time.
If you do not have a driver’s license, however, you won’t be able to sign up for Instacart, so signing up for Instacart does mean you need to have a driver’s license. You don’t technically need to own your own car though, as Instacart’s requirements only require you to have access to a car, not own your own car. So, as long as you have a car that you are able to use, you’ll be able to sign up.
How To Deliver For Instacart Without A Car
Instacart deliveries are different from traditional food delivery with apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats because of the types of things you’re delivering. Regular food orders are typically easy to carry without a car – all you need is a way to carry the food while you’re biking, such as using a food delivery backpack or even just carrying a bag on your shoulder.
Instacart orders, on the other hand, are mainly going to be groceries, and most of the time, people will order several items. This means you’re going to need a way to carry potentially a lot of grocery items if you’re going to deliver for Instacart without a car.
Fortunately, carrying groceries doesn’t have to be a problem. Contrary to popular belief, it’s quite doable to carry groceries using a bike – and in fact, with the right equipment, you can even carry a lot of groceries.
That being said, here’s what I do to deliver Instacart deliveries without a car.
1. Use A Cargo Bike
The most obvious way to deliver Instacart groceries using a bike is to use a cargo bike, specifically an electric cargo bike. The best type is a Bakfiets-style bike. This type of bike is characterized by a large front bucket, which allows you to hold a lot of cargo.
For example, I have an Urban Arrow, which is an electric cargo bike that I use as my primary car replacement vehicle. I got it specifically to carry my two kids around, but I also use it for Costco trips and when I need to carry other large items.
Here’s my Urban Arrow loaded with $200 worth of groceries from Costco:
And here’s my Urban Arrow carrying a 55-inch TV:
My Urban Arrow is not a cheap bike by any means, so it’s not going to be the solution for most people, but with this bike, I can deliver pretty much any grocery order with no issues. And if you do the math and use this bike like a car, you will get your money back just on the savings you get from using a bike rather than a car.
2. Use A Bike Trailer
A cheaper and more accessible way to carry groceries is with a bike trailer. Before I got a cargo bike, I used a Burley trailer to carry groceries. The trailer attaches to my bike and gives me a good amount of cargo space that can hold several bags of groceries.
Another interesting trailer is the Burley Travoy, which is a more portable way to carry groceries. My friend uses this as his bike trailer and he gets his groceries using it. Here’s a video from YouTube of someone picking up their groceries using a Burley Travoy.
A decently good bike trailer will cost you about $300 new, although you can often find used bike trailer for much less.
The main takeaway is that you can deliver groceries using a bike – you just need the right bike or the right cargo trailers for your bike. Even better is if you use an ebike, which will make it easier to carry cargo and let you bike faster without breaking a sweat.
3. Only Accept Smaller Orders
An important consideration when delivering Instacart orders without a car is to accept orders that you know you can carry. That means sticking to smaller orders that you’ll be able to carry, either with a regular bag or with a cargo bike or bike trailer.
Luckily, with Instacart, you can see what the orders are and not all customers are ordering huge amounts of groceries at once. Indeed, you’ll find that many customers only order a few things when using Instacart. I often find that large orders aren’t very good either because they take me too long to shop and don’t pay enough for how long they take me to complete.
If you stick to smaller orders that you know you can carry, you’ll be able to deliver your Instacart orders without a car.
4. Keep Distances Short
Finally, when using a bike, it’s important to keep the distances you travel manageable. Instacart tells you where orders are going and where you’ll be picking up from, so you can look at the request and see if it works for you.
When I’m using a bike, I try to keep my distances to just a few miles. That way, I know I can get my order delivered on time. If I see an order going far away, I’ll reject those orders since it’s not worth doing and I can’t complete them in a timely manner.
So long as you complete orders on time, Instacart won’t care what vehicle you’re using to deliver and customers shouldn’t care either. In fact, I’ve found many of my Instacart customers are impressed when they see me roll up to their house on my cargo bike.
Final Thoughts
While Instacart does technically require you to have access to a car to deliver for them, on a practical level, you can deliver for Instacart without a car. You just need the right tools to do it and you need to be strategic with the orders you accept.
If you have a cargo bike or a bike trailer, you’ll likely be able to carry most orders. You should also be strategic and only accept smaller orders or orders that you know you’ll be able to carry. And finally, make sure you only accept orders that are going within a bikeable distance so you can deliver orders on time.
If you do all these things, you shouldn’t have a problem delivering Instacart orders without a car.
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