Buddy Delivers Get the app

Together we're stronger.

One driver asking for better pay is a complaint. Ten thousand drivers with the numbers to prove it are hard to ignore. Buddy Delivers is how we get the numbers, and this page is what we do with them.

Join the test What we ask for

Buddy Delivers is not a union. It is drivers speaking up together, with facts.

Information.

Nobody shows a driver the whole picture. Buddy keeps what every job really paid, by the hour and by the mile.

Numbers.

Every driver who joins adds to the record. The bigger it is, the harder it is to argue with.

A voice.

We take what the record shows to the people who set the rules, and to the apps themselves.

Where the money goes

Most drivers have never been shown this. The apps charge the restaurant a commission on every order, and it is far more than the driver is paid to deliver it.

On a $30 order
Restaurant pays, top plan (30%)
$9.00
Restaurant pays, basic plan (15%)
$4.50
Driver's base pay, typical
$2 to $4

Commission plans as published for restaurants: 15%, 25% and 30% on DoorDash, and up to 30% on Uber Eats. Base pay is what the app pays the driver before the customer's tip. The customer pays delivery and service fees on top of all of this.

The restaurant pays up to 30%On the top plans, close to a third of the food's price goes to the app.
The customer pays againA delivery fee and a service fee, on top of the menu price.
The driver gets a few dollars and the tipBase pay on most standard deliveries is $2 to $4. Without the customer's tip, many jobs do not cover the miles.
We are not asking the apps to work for freeRunning the service costs money. We are saying the people doing the driving should see the numbers and have a say in the split.

What we ask for

Four things. Each one already exists somewhere in the country, which means it can be done.

1

Pay that covers the whole job

The minutes waiting at the counter and the miles driving back are part of the work. Pay should cover the time and the miles, before tips, so a tip is a thank-you and not the wage.

It exists: New York City requires the apps to pay delivery workers at least $22.13 an hour before tips. Seattle requires pay by the minute and by the mile, with a floor on every offer.

2

Something for the full-timers

A driver on the road 36 hours a week or more is doing a full-time job. That should come with something a full-time job comes with: money toward health cover, or a quarterly payment that recognises the hours.

It exists: California's Proposition 22 pays a health-care stipend to drivers who average 15 or more engaged hours a week, and a larger one from 25.

3

A retirement plan with a match

An account the driver owns, that follows them from app to app, with the apps matching what the driver puts in. Employees get this. The people who deliver for a living should too.

Today: a self-employed driver can already open a Solo 401(k) or a SEP IRA. Nobody matches it. Buddy keeps the income and mileage figures those accounts need. This is information, not financial advice.

4

The numbers in the open

On every job: what the customer paid, what the restaurant was charged, and what the driver received. A driver who can see the split can judge the offer. So can the customer.

It exists: New York City and Seattle both require the apps to give workers a breakdown of pay for each job.

What we want to build

Things drivers can do for each other without waiting for anyone's permission. None of these is available yet. They are where we are headed.

A savings account for drivers

A little set aside from every week, for taxes, repairs and the slow weeks. Buddy already works out what to set aside for tax. The next step is somewhere to put it, with a bank as a partner.

A retirement account, made simple

Opening a Solo 401(k) or an IRA should take a driver ten minutes, with the figures filled in from the shifts Buddy already keeps.

Group buying power

Tyres, phone plans, insurance, charging. Thousands of drivers together can ask for a price one driver cannot.

A pay report, by city

What delivery work really pays, per hour, after miles, from the shared record. Published for drivers, reporters and lawmakers to read.

How we get there

In order. We are at the first step, and we will say so plainly until we are past it.

  1. Build the record. Every driver using Buddy with sharing on adds what jobs paid, by restaurant, with no customer and no driver named. That is the evidence.
  2. Publish what it shows. Once enough drivers in a city are sharing, we publish what delivery work there really pays.
  3. Take it to the people who decide. City councils and state legislators write the pay rules. They act on numbers, and nobody has given them the drivers' own.
  4. Sit down with the apps. With enough drivers behind it, a request becomes a conversation.

What you can do today: join, keep sharing on in the app's Setup page, and post what you know on the app's Drivers tab. Tell us what matters most to you at support@buddydelivers.com.

Plain answers

Is this a union?

No. Buddy Delivers does not bargain on your behalf, call strikes or collect dues. Drivers are independent contractors. This is drivers pooling what they know and speaking up together.

Does it cost anything?

Nothing. Buddy Delivers is being tested by drivers now, and testers have everything.

Will the apps know I am part of this?

No. What is shared from your phone names the restaurant and the pay, never you and never the customer. Anything we publish is totals and averages. See the privacy policy.

Are you against DoorDash and Uber Eats?

No. Drivers earn their living on those apps and so do we. We want the work to pay fairly and the numbers to be seen. Buddy Delivers is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to DoorDash or Uber.

Have you won anything yet?

Not yet. We are new. This page will say what has been done as it is done, and nothing before.

Sources

Figures checked 2 October 2026. Rates and laws change; if one here is out of date, tell us.