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Careers / Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other |
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| Happiness Index |
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| Users in this Career Group |
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| There are 136 users in this career group. They represent 9 different countries. You can see the list of users in this career group by clicking on one of the links below. You can also join this career group simply by selecting your current status and clicking "Add Me." |
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98 users are currently in this career. |
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0 users are considering this career. |
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35 users left or retired from this career. |
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3 users have hidden memberships. |
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| (Hidden users have added this career to their portfolios, but have not indicated a publicly visible status.) |
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| Reviews |
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| There
is 1 review of this career. |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this career with others! |
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Author: |
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Anonymous |
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Date: |
July 07, 2009 |
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I am a delivery driver, and I am a self-employed independent contractor. I work part time delivering food for a local upscale catering company. I have been doing this for four years.
I got into this because I lost my office job in my early 50's and after being out of work for over a year, this was the only job I could get. Four years later, I am still unable to get any other kind of job. I never really chose to go into this career, it was just something I got lucky enough to get hired for and needed to pay the bills.
I have found to my surprise that I really enjoy driving much more than I ever thought I would. I don't have to be couped up in some building and I get to enjoy the changes of nature and the scenery. Most of the time my deliveries are at lunchtime, so the traffic isn't really that heavy. I have regular co-workers I get to see every day (the other drivers and kitchen staff), but I also see new people every day (the people I'm delivering to). Yet most of the time I'm alone in my car and can have the radio, cd player, or ipod on to whatever I want. I can even listen to a story or a book, since it's not unusual for it to take 45 minutes to drive to a delivery location. When we get back, there is often something there for lunch: a cancelled order, an overrun, leftovers from yesterday, or something the owner had the staff throw together for everybody. Or it could be a new dish they're testing, or an occasional item that didn't come out right. Our food is always fresh and good, except for that occasional overseasoned 'oops'.
On the negative side, I have to use my own vehicle. This job puts alot of wear and tear on your car. In a good year I put on about 25,000 miles in a year, most of that work related. The pay isn't that good, and after deducting the cost for just gasoline alone, if I figure my hourly rate from the time I leave left my home until the time I get back, I make less than minimum wage. And that doesn't include the oil changes, tires, and other things the car is going to need more frequently.
Being an independent contractor and self employed also means I don't get any benefits and have to pay my own social security taxes. I don't have any health care and since I can barely pay for my rent and utilities I sure can't afford to get any.
Pizza delivery persons who do nothing more than drive a few blocks and hand you a pizza will get a couple bucks for a tip, yet I will drive maybe 50 miles round trip, set up a catered meal and make it look nice, and I'm lucky if I get a thank you. If I get even one tip a month I got lucky. They just figure it's part of your job.
Like many other businesses, we have been hit by the hard times of this recession. We have not been getting anywhere near as many orders for lunch as we used to, and most of them aren't for the further distances that we used to go all the time. I used to have a lunch delivery every day (M-F), and maybe a couple extra deliveries during the week with breakfast and dinner thrown in. Now sometimes I may only get 3 or 4 deliveries the entire week, and not that far. (Not that far means we're not going to get paid as well for them.) I am having an extremely hard time making ends meet, and even though my expenses are already scraped to the bare bones, I have had to borrow $20 to $50 from a friend almost every month this year to cover my rent.
That's why I have a new career as a mechanical turk. It's to help me cover my rent so I can keep a roof over my head. |
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| Did you know... |
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| The MyPlan.com Financial Aid Guide provides detailed step-by-step advice on getting financial aid for college. |
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