Safety Tips for Food Delivery Drivers During COVID-19

_{Photo: Robert-Owen-Wahl via Pixabay}

No matter if your state is getting ready to open up or is still under lockdown, delivering food can be a good way to earn money. Here are some strategies to keep yourself and others safe while on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Pandemic-specific safety tips

Don a face mask when delivering food to help protect the customer from COVID-19 exposure
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• Wear a mask anytime you get out of the vehicle to make a delivery.
• Keep hand sanitizer in your vehicle and use it regularly.
• Wash your hands before and after making a delivery.
• Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve to avoid contaminating the food orders that you’re transporting.
• Ask customers to pay for their meal with a credit card instead of cash.
• Use disinfectant wipes on the steering wheel and other hard surfaces in the cabin after you’re shift is done.

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General safety tips

Use your GPS or smartphone to avoid getting lost on your delivery route

• Before making your first delivery for the day, manually inspect your vehicle, checking things like the lights, blinkers, inflation level of the tires, and windshield fluid level.
• Secure the food deliveries in your vehicle before starting on a drive, to ensure that they’ll stay put during transit.
• Use GPS on your smartphone or the vehicle’s built-in navigation system to avoid getting lost en route to the destination.
• Minimize distractions while driving by refraining from texting or making phone calls when you’re behind the wheel.

Even more safe strategies

Confirm the customer’s call back number before you start the delivery
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Due to the unique nature of food delivery services, you should also implement these additional tips to help stay safe on the job. For starters, make sure to request a call back number from the customer and verify you’ve got the correct number before delivering their order.

When making night deliveries, carry a flashlight with you and park as close to the customer’s place of residence. It’s also a good idea to ask the customer to turn on an exterior light and remind them that their food will be delivered to the front door.

Lastly, limit the amount of cash you carry when making deliveries, to protect against robberies. You might even consider getting a magnetic sign for your vehicle that lets others know that the vehicle doesn’t carry any cash.

For more food delivery-related news, check out this article. Or refresh yourself on how to properly sanitize your vehicle interior from COVID-19 germs.

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Whitney Russell is a current resident of Dayton, though her spirit can be found beach-bumming in Puerto Rico (the land of her half-Puerto Rican heritage). When not adventuring through the exciting world of car news, she can be found hiking with her husband and their two dogs, motorcycling, visiting nephews and nieces, discovering new memes, thrifting, decorating, crafting, woodburning, researching random things, and escaping into a great movie. See more articles by Whitney.