Soccer Season

I was "called off" due to low business / overstaffing on 3 Mondays in a row.  The 4th week I called in to find I wasn't even on the schedule, and I'm not on the next 2 week's schedules.  I was actually going to request some time off as I'm busy coaching soccer in April & May.

So it's likely I won't drive (or post here) until June.

Relief Driving

First, I want to answer a comment on my previous post asked about credit card tips.  When I get a credit card tip, I get the cash as soon as I get back to the store.  If the customer writes $3 on the tip line, I turn in the slip and the manager hands me $3.  So that is just as good as a cash tip to me.

I was home, actually in my pajamas, eating dinner, a little after 7 when Manager Mike called.  One of the drivers was not feeling well and Mike asked me to come in and close.  Money is a little tight in our house this week so I jumped at the chance.  I got there around 7:30 and by 9 I was the only driver.

I worked 4.65 hours, took 12 deliveries, drove 28 miles, and made $22 in tips.  Tips were pretty low tonight, six $1 tips, two $2 tips, and four $3 tips.  Best tip of just over $3 was from a woman who said she used to be a cab driver!

Driver Matt is having car trouble so I may be picking up a few extra shifts in the next week or so but I'm already scheduled Friday-Monday-Thursday-Sunday-Monday so I won't be picking up too many beyond that.

Coming Soon . . .

. . . me!  Delivering a pizza to your neighborhood!

After a long time off due to soccer season, a family tragedy, and another soccer season, I'm starting back to work next Monday!

I stopped by the shop and dropped off a copy of my drivers license and insurance so they can confirm that I'm legal to drive again.  I was off so long I guess I'm no longer even on the payroll!

Money Making Monday

We were super-busy tonight. I think it's the $10 pizzas. Of my 16 deliveries, 4 were a single $10 pizza and 2 were 2 pizzas for $20. Most of the other 10 included a $10 pizza but with wings, breadsticks, pasta, Pepsi, I really can't say which ones.

I worked 5 hours and took 16 deliveries, drove 53 miles, and made $44 in tips. My first 6 deliveries each tipped $3. My next trip was a double that tipped $5 on the first house and $1 on the 2nd house.

Adventure of the night was a delivery to xx07 West ave. I get there and there's xx05 and xx09. I call the customer 3 times before they answer and admit they are on xx07 Middle ave. (Luckily just a block away). I'm on the phone as I'm pulling in their driveway and still they let me wait on the porch at least a couple minutes before opening the door. Want to guess if they tipped? (No).

My only other stiff was my last run of the night. He was so excited to get his pizza so fast, he had been quoted an hour on the phone. He questioned whether his pizza was fresh. (It was, we don't premake anything, ever). He said he wanted me to always deliver his pizza. I'd be happier with never.

At one point tonight we had 6 drivers in the store. Joel, Joel's mom, 3 new guys (Matt, Jonathan, and Paul?) and me. But 2 of the new guys may have just been doing prep and dishes, I never saw them on the road. Any other Monday it would have been WAY too many drivers but tonight we needed them all!

Reality Websites?

I called our GM today to get back on the schedule now that our soccer season is done. I'm hoping to get back to driving one night a week.

In the meantime, which reality website do you like better?

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

or

http://www.textsfromlastnight.com

Pizza Manager Robbed

There was a pizza-related robbery in my area last night. Seems like a set-up. After closing, the pizzeria manager found his car tires flat and was attacked while trying to change his tire. They stole the day's deposit.

You can read more about it here.

In unrelated news, I stopped by our shop last night. Tomorrow was my one night to work in the next month and I'm not on the schedule. Not that I mind.

Late Start

One of the hazards of delivering pizza as a 2nd job is that your schedule sometimes depends on your day job, and occasionally you miss the best hours. This happened to me today, shortly before I was ready to leave my IT job, my boss gave me a task to do. It was simple enough but it took a chunk of time.

I called the pizza shop, found the first guy to leave, and asked him to stay for me until 8. I would have been getting in around 6.

Well even with my short 3 hour shift, I took 6 runs and made $14 in tips. I can't recall my mileage at the moment but let's say 20 miles.

First run was supposed to be Jimmy's but a while back Jimmy "threw the guy through a window, and it would have been awkward." The guy tipped me just $1, I see why Jimmy gave him a beating.

Last run was a credit card but the customer didn't have the card, his sister had bought him the food. He said I could call her and confirm. How silly! If it's a scam or a stolen card, how hard would it be to get someone to answer a phone and say "Yes he has permission to sign for my card" ?

Nick Out and a Good Book

Nick announced today that he's being (temporarily) transferred to another store. I'll miss working with him for sure, and hope he's back soon.

In the meantime I'm reading a great book, Pizza Tiger, by Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's pizza. It's quite interesting, describing the early days and the growth of the franchise.

On Call Memorial Day

The schedule has me "on call" tonight which is just fine with me. I stopped by around 4:30 and we had only had 29 tickets all day. This is horribly slow. Memorial day is a day for cooking out (here in Ohio at least) and definitely not a day to order pizza.

Called Off

I was scheduled to work 6-close tonight. Manager Mike already told me last night that he would probably send me home early, around 10 PM, tonight.

Well Nick called around 5, saying not to come in until 7, as they currently had 5 drivers and only 1 delivery. I talked with Nick and we decided I would call him later. Well when I called, a little after 7, there were 6 drivers and 2 deliveries.

So I got the night off.

Finally!

After over a month off due to my broken arm and then my car repairs (clutch), I finally returned to work tonight.

The first thing that happened was that since I was gone so long, the computer made me change my password.

After doing a few loads of dishes, I was on the road with a delivery for $19.99. The cost would have been $18.49 but the customer had added 2 garlic sauces at $0.75 each. I was afraid that this was intended to bring the price right up to $20 even, and indeed, my profit on that run was one Lincoln coin. I drove back feeling slightly depressed.

I shouldn't have, as my night improved tremendously. My next trip, a double, earned me $10.54 in tips, followed by $4.04 from a customer who had remarked on the phone that the price was too high.

Next after that was $2.82 ($2 in cash and $0.82 added on the credit card total). After that came another double, $1.54 and $4.03.

Finally one more double ($2.54 and $5.10) to a historically low-tipping area. In fact, 7 of my 9 runs on the night were to areas where I'd usually feel lucky just to get $2!

I worked 4 hours (4:45 pm - 8:45 pm), drove 42 miles (I think), took 9 deliveries, and made $29 in tips.

My arm felt a twinge of weakness once when I was reaching out to set some clean plates on the drying shelves, but it wasn't because they were heavy. Other than that I felt no effects of my broken arm.

I was scheduled to drive again Friday night but I've got calling hours to attend so I'm gonna miss the best part of the night, and just show up from 10-1, but at least I'm back in the swing. And good timing too, as the worst of the winter weather should be passed.

Friday Night Freeze

Tonight was probably the coldest night I've delivered in. When I drove past the hopistal the sign said -2. Weather.com now says it is -10. I wore running tights under my pants to make sure I stayed warm, and I traded my regular uniform cap for a Browns stocking cap every time I went outside.

I got several good ($3 or more) tips but amazingly even in the cold weather I still got stiffed 4 times on 17 runs. One guy even joked, "It's a nice night for pizza delivery, as long as you're the one getting delivered too."

We were pretty busy up until 10 PM, in fact both of my first 2 trips were 4-baggers. (Well, 4 deliveries, we were actually short on bags and I had to double up.) I ended up driving 7 hours, taking 17 runs, travelling 51 miles, and making $40 in tips.

I plan to be working usually 1-2 days each week for a while now. The cash really comes in handy for allowances, school lunches, and things like that. When I'm driving regularly I almost never have to make ATM withdrawals, but in the past month I've been making a withdrawal almost every week.

Blogging Again Tonight, Working Again Friday

I finally got around to posting a couple interesting pizza and restaurant related articles tonight, I hope you take the time to read them.

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't worked for a while. While I was suspended for not using the car-topper, I got out of the habit of updating my availability so I ended up missing an extra week. I went in on Wednesday night and put in my schedule requests for the next 3 months so hopefully I will be driving a couple nights per week.

There was a note on the current schedule saying that some hours had been cut due to low sales (bad economy).

Even worse on Wednesday, the phones were out of order. At 7PM there had only been 9 deliveries all day long, all internet-orders. I'm glad I wasn't working THAT night!

Closing Time

Something happened tonight that reminded me of the popular song by Semisonic, Closing Time. The phone rang about 11 PM and as driver Chris went to answer it, he asked manager Mike, "Are we still open?"

Mike said, "Until 1" at about the same time as I said, "It's Friday."

Chris admitted that having Thursday off, he had gotten his days mixed up. We are open until 11 on Sunday-Thursday but stay open 2 more hours on Friday and Saturday nights.

Earlier in the night, I had an interesting delivery. The customer advised me to "be safe" remarking that she had read the papers, and her daugher is a driver for a local mom & pop pizzeria. I then told her that I was the guy from the newspaper. "With the 5 kids?" she asked, and I had to correct her and tell her we have 7.

Oh and the Marco's guy ordered wings again. He works at the Marco's in Amherst.

I had a delivery to South Park apartments, where we have never gone before, for safety reasons. The customer met me up front at the security gate and tipped $2, so I guess it's ok.

One delivery late in the night, the guy not only stiffed me but had me change a $20. His order was for $18.28 so I thought he wanted more $1's to be able to tip, but all he left me with was the coin change (which is not a tip).

Totals for the night were 7 hours, 16 runs, $33 in tips, and 58 miles.

To Work Or Not To Work

I arrived at work tonight just before 6PM. I've always pretty much worked 6-close on weeknights. Occasionally I get held up at my day job, or in traffic, and don't arrive unitl 6:20-6:30. Well our GM has taken to putting me on the schedule at 7PM.

Anyways, Manager Eric met me at the door and told me I was too early, business was dead, and I couldn't clock in. I gave him a dumbfounded look I'm sure, didn't clock in, and started washing dishes anyhow.

A couple minutes later the phone rang SIX TIMES and I went up front and answered it. When I got off the phone, there was a delivery on the oven. I asked Eric again if I could work and he relented and said yes. So I clocked in and took the delivery.

First delivery was to an ex employee Marty who now works at the local eye-doctor. She tipped $2 (and lives less than a mile away).

Third delivery was to a house being remodeled. I knew it wasn't the woman who used to work there as she always ordered a 2-liter and always stood by the door as the porch light didn't work. They tipped $3 (in quarters).

Fifth delivery was to an apartment, #34. I met someone on the stairs coming down to do their laundry and joked, "Sorry, it's not for you."

Sixth delivery was to the laundry-washing customer mentioned above, who remarked "When I saw you I thought, pizza, that sounds good!" Now I'm sure my car-topper has inspired numerous deliveries over the years, but this may be the first time that I generated business just walking up the steps in an apartment building!

Next-to-last driver Chris left around 9:30, leaving me as the only driver for the last 1.5 hours, which is always good for me. I ended up getting a triple just after 10 PM and then another delivery at 10:30.

Totals for the night were 5 hours worked, 13 deliveries, $31 in tips, and 44 miles driven. All in all a pretty good night!

Good bye and good luck to manager Eric, who is transferring to another location in our franchise, after a short time of training at our shop, the busiest in the county.

Picking Up Slow Hours

Once again I wasn't on the schedule tonight but I wanted to work. I called the manager on duty around 4:45, right after the Browns lost to the Ravens, and he said to come on in. When I got there we had 5 drivers but one was leaving right away and another left at 8, leaving us 3. Big Steve then paid me $5 to close for him so I ended up working 6 hours.

We were very slow (as I expected due to the depression from the Browns loss) and I only took 9 deliveries. But on the positive side tips were decent, I made $25 which was almost a $3 average. I drove 33 miles all together.

One remark from last night, at a house there were several loud dogs barking just inside the door. The woman asked if I wanted a dog and I said, "No thanks, that would be a pretty strange tip though, a live animal." Instead she didn't tip me at all!

Wierd Night

Again, I'm trying to work my way back onto the schedule and was available tonight. I called in and driver Chris was willing to leave around 7:30 so I went in to work from then until close. I drove for 3 1/2 hours, drove 38 miles on 8 deliveries, and made $17 in tips.

My first run was out of our area to the south-east. I did get a $4.73 tip so I didn't complain too much.

My third run was just a few blocks up the street. The man asked me if I wanted a job cleaning his garage as he "tipped" me 73 cents. I respectfully declined.

Next was a double that should have been Nick's but he got greed and took 2 that didn't go together the time before, so he wasn't back in time. I got $2 at the first house and $5 at the 2nd house, again out of the area. The girl customer showed me her new piercing, a star on the back of her neck (like this).

After that I went out of the area for the 3rd time of the night, this time supposedly because the next store over wasn't answerring their phones. The customer wasn't home, just some small kids, who said their mom was walking the dog. The pizza was paid by credit card and a man arriving in the driveway said he would sign for it, but of course he didn't feel he could tip since it wasn't his card.

The end of the night was marked by manager Desiree declaring that we were "about $130 short", but she had miscounted 3 stacks of 50 $1's as stacks of 100 so we were actually ok.

Unexpected

What was unexpected you may ask? Me!

I had forgotten that I requested tonight off. Was hoping to referee a soccer game but don't have any until next week. So I went in, thinking I was on the schedule.

I wasn't, but Desiree wanted to go home, so I stayed in her place. I drove 5 hours, took 6 runs, made $11 in tips, and put 25 miles on my car.

It's nights like this that I won't miss at all.

2007 Averages By Day Of The Week

I am considering changing my schedule and wanted to know if I made more or less money on certain days of the week. So I made some quick adjustments to my spreadsheet and here is what I found.

Even though Wednesday had the biggest per-tip average of the 5 nights I work, it had the 2nd lowest total earnings per hour, because the number of deliveries per hour is so low. On the other end, tips are lowest on Fridays but the volume makes up for it and Friday is my 2nd best day, per hour.

I think this justifies my decision to take Mondays and Wednesdays off this spring to work as a soccer referee.

February 2007 - December 2007

Monday (36 shifts)
Average miles per delivery: 3.8
Average deliveries per hour: 2.0
Average tips per delivery: $2.34
Average tips per hour: $4.64
Average cash per hour: $6.82 (tips plus mileage)
Total earnings per hour: $13.67 (includes hourly wage)

Wednesday (22 shifts)
Average miles per delivery: 3.9
Average deliveries per hour: 1.9
Average tips per delivery: $2.59
Average tips per hour: $4.95
Average cash per hour: $7.06 (tips plus mileage)
Total earnings per hour: $13.91 (includes hourly wage)

Friday (19 shifts)
Average miles per delivery: 3.9
Average deliveries per hour: 2.3
Average tips per delivery: $2.27
Average tips per hour: $5.11
Average cash per hour: $7.59 (tips plus mileage)
Total earnings per hour: $14.44 (includes hourly wage)

Saturday (22 shifts)
Average miles per delivery: 3.6
Average deliveries per hour: 2.3
Average tips per delivery: $2.42
Average tips per hour: $5.65
Average cash per hour: $8.22 (tips plus mileage)
Total earnings per hour: $15.07 (includes hourly wage)

Sunday (24 shifts)
Average miles per delivery: 3.8
Average deliveries per hour: 2.4
Average tips per delivery: $2.36
Average tips per hour: $5.67
Average cash per hour: $8.31 (tips plus mileage)
Total earnings per hour: $15.16 (includes hourly wage)

Called Off

Last night was a first for me, I got called off before I even got to work.

I was driving home from my day job and Kristi, another driver / manager, called. She said I didn't need to bother coming in. Business was dead and there had only been 3 deliveries since 4 PM. (It was around 6.)

So I went home and relaxed.