When does DoorDash start delivering? It’s a good question to ask if you wake up one morning and need to get food delivered to you. Or maybe you’re a Dasher working with DoorDash and you want to get your day started early.
The short answer is that DoorDash starts delivering at all hours – DoorDash does not have any set hours. The only limitation is whether there are restaurants open. If there are restaurants open on the DoorDash platform, then DoorDash starts delivering as soon as those restaurants are open.
In this post, we’ll take a deeper look at the question of when does DoorDash start delivering. If you’re a Dasher, we’ll also discuss the problems with delivering for DoorDash in the early morning (and why I usually opt not to do DoorDash in the morning).
When Does DoorDash Start Delivering
As noted at the beginning of this post, DoorDash does not have set operating hours. Whether you can order on DoorDash depends instead on whether restaurants are open on the DoorDash platform. If a restaurant is open and accepts orders on DoorDash, then you can order anytime.
To find out when DoorDash starts delivering, go to any restaurant in the DoorDash app to see their operating hours. If it’s the morning, you’ll find that most restaurants open in the morning are breakfast places or coffee shops.
One thing to note is that many restaurants limit their operating hours on DoorDash. So, even though the restaurant might be open, it might not open on the DoorDash app until later in the day.
For example, below is a restaurant near me that opens at 8 am for walk-in customers, but doesn’t open until 10 am on the DoorDash app.
That means I could order food directly from the restaurant as early as 8 am. But if I want to order food using the DoorDash app, I’d have to wait until 10 am. I’m not sure why restaurants do this. Maybe they’re too busy in the morning to deal with DoorDash orders. Or maybe they have issues with orders not getting picked up by Dashers early in the morning since many Dashers might opt not to work in the morning.
Problems With Ordering DoorDash In The Morning
Beyond the issues of whether or not restaurants are open in the morning on DoorDash, another factor to consider if you’re ordering DoorDash in the morning is whether there are delivery people available to deliver your order.
DoorDash uses independent contractors to deliver orders, which means there isn’t a set number of people working at any time. Instead, Dashers can work whenever they want.
Most Dashers opt to Dash during lunch and dinner hours when customers are more likely to be ordering food through the DoorDash app. As a result, fewer Dashers will choose to work during the early morning hours. So, even if a restaurant is open early in the DoorDash app, you might have trouble finding a Dasher to deliver your order.
That being said, you’ll probably only have an issue finding a Dasher if you live in more suburban or rural areas. If you live in a city, you’ll probably always find someone able to deliver your order (assuming you tip appropriately and make your order attractive to Dashers).
Should You Deliver For DoorDash In The Morning?
One question you may have if you’re working as a Dasher is whether it’s worth delivering for DoorDash in the morning. For many people, it’d be nice to start the day while you’re fresh and put some money in your pocket early.
Based on my experience, working in the morning on DoorDash usually isn’t as good as working later in the day. The demand is usually lower, so you end up waiting for orders most of the time. I’ve rarely gotten more than a few orders when I work in the morning.
That being said, if you do want to work in the morning, my advice is to go to downtown areas where workers may be ordering coffee or breakfast. Weekend mornings in dense neighborhoods with a lot of young people can also work out.
But in general, I recommend waiting until later in the day to start Dashing, when demand is usually higher. Starting at 11 am or later is usually your best bet.
Final Thoughts
DoorDash doesn’t have any set operating hours and DoorDash starts delivering as soon as restaurants are open. So long as restaurants are open, you can start ordering food with the DoorDash app.
Remember that many restaurants use different operating hours on the DoorDash app, so just because a restaurant is open doesn’t mean it’s open in the DoorDash app. For the most part though, if you want to order food with DoorDash in the morning, you’ll be able to do so.
Leave a Reply