Video summary
The video documents a delivery driver's attempt to earn $200 by completing a specific Uber Eats quest in Australia on a Monday morning. The driver was presented with a daily challenge requiring nine trips between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, offering a base payment of $36 plus significant bonuses for every additional three trips completed. By the time he finished his ninth delivery at 11:20 AM, having worked for just under three hours, he had already reached the first tier of the quest with earnings of $120.65. Throughout this period, the driver navigated a busy city environment where the app was flooded with orders, allowing him to maintain a steady pace and accumulate funds quickly while avoiding long wait times at restaurants.
As the day progressed past noon, the flow of high-paying orders began to dry up, forcing the driver to make difficult decisions about which jobs to accept or decline. He faced moments of "analysis paralysis," where he spent ten minutes sitting idle rejecting orders that paid less than his desired threshold, only to eventually accept a lower-paying job to keep moving. Despite encountering frustrating situations, such as a package delivery to an electronics store where the customer refused to let him scan the barcode and demanded a PIN later, he remained focused on his goal. He calculated that after accounting for approximately $26 in petrol costs, his net earnings were around $174 in about four and a half hours of work.
Ultimately, the driver successfully completed 16 trips and reached a total gross of $199.85 within four hours and forty-one minutes, falling just short of his $200 target due to the sudden drop in order availability after 10:00 AM. He concluded that while driving for Uber Eats is not a viable full-time income source given the fluctuating nature of orders and expenses, it can still be a feasible way to earn extra money if one starts early when competition is lower. The experience highlighted the mental game involved in gig work, where drivers must constantly assess risk versus reward, manage their own expectations, and adapt to the unpredictable reality of the road to maximize their daily earnings before the quest window closes.
Read the full video transcript
Sup guys? How we doing? Welcome back to
yet another
Uber Eats
delivery
in Australia video.
Today, we've got an interesting type of
quest. Normally, quests will be thrown
at me from Monday to Thursday
including a four-day period of time. And
the amount of trips that you've got to
complete
um to reach, you know, the first tier of
the quest is normally around 30, maybe
40.
Today, I've been given uh daily quests.
And it starts
by offering $36
for nine trips between 8:00 and 5:00.
Following that, if you get to your nine
trips, an extra 15 for three trips, an
extra 16 for another three, and an extra
17 for another three. So, effectively,
if I was to go from 8:00 it's well, it's
uh it's 20 to 9:00 at the moment. So, if
I
started within the next couple of
minutes from 8:40 to 5:00, if I was to
complete 18 trips,
I would receive an extra
51, 67, 77, 84.
I think. Quick maths, an extra $84.
All right, success. Great success. We
had minimal wait time. There was no one
in there, no other delivery drivers,
which is
nice to see on a Monday morning.
And um we should complete this delivery
within like
15, 16 minutes of accepting it.
Um which will mean Left on a Lambie
Lane, then turn left on Riverway Drive.
Which will mean we'll get 15 bucks in
the kitty
in um in just over 15 minutes. So,
happy with that for order number one.
Drive. It's officially 9:25 in the
morning. We've been at it for 45
minutes. Uh we're on our way to pick up
order number four and five
from Coles click and collect.
So I don't have to enter the building
whatsoever, which is nice. They bring it
out to me.
>> [snorts]
>> But it's I think it's $16.50 for 16 and
1/2 km.
Now that is not the best order of the
day,
but it is two orders from the same
location.
>> Kern Brothers Drive. And following this,
we will be at five of nine orders to
complete the first tier of the quest. So
we are absolutely rolling.
We're rolling. It's good.
We'll have 50 bucks in the kitty in no
time and um
and an extra 36 on its way. the
roundabout onto Kern Brothers Drive. So
I mean
you know, following on from Sunday
night. Sunday night is actually, believe
it or not, the the least busy time. It's
it's dead.
>> 300 m into the roundabout
>> And then Monday morning rolls around.
Kern Brothers Drive. And uh and it it
all start it all like the the city the
the the Uber Eats app as a whole just
lights up.
And uh and we're experiencing it this
morning. take the second exit onto Kern
Brothers Drive. So it's certainly not
always like this and I'll take it where
I can get it. It might die down by
lunchtime,
but only time will tell. So two more
deliveries and I will check in with you
once more.
All right, guys. We have made it once
again to the red parking bays of Coles
Supermarkets.
This is order number six. It's paying
about $10. I can't remember the rest of
the details. It's 10 bucks. 10 bucks
more to the kitty. Another order towards
a quest. And we move.
All right, I'm still waiting. It's uh
it's been about 8 minutes, which is 8
minutes way too long in my opinion, but
um beggars can't be choosers.
And I've just been offered uh an add-on
right across there at McDonald's.
So I've accepted it. It's $6 for 2 and
1/2 km, but it's another order
um towards the ultimate goal, which is
$200. And we'll get there. I'm confident
of that.
It's just a matter of whether we're
going to earn
35 an hour, 30 an hour, or 25 an hour.
That is the question. That's the age-old
question. Is driving Uber Eats a
feasible income full-time?
That's what we're trying to find out.
I'm not doing it full-time, but those
are the calculations that I'm doing in
my head.
We'll see.
All right, guys. This This is an example
of the of the decisions you've got to
make on the fly. See, $10.15 for today.
>> Nice truck.
>> Woolworths Woolworths is always a bit
dodgy. They're not terribly good on
timing.
Um you're just constantly waiting for
orders to be ready. So, I've declined
that, and the longer you have to wait
for the next one to come through,
the more you start to think that that
decision was a bad one.
But in this case,
we've got
two deliveries, $13.
With the quest in mind, I get these
done, and we reach the first level of
the quest. $13 for 13.2 km is not ideal.
I'm not going to lie.
But,
we're going to pick up two orders from
the same spot,
and um
and that that suits me.
So, then,
you know,
uh mentality-wise,
we are
doing well. I think this this order's
more important for the mentals rather
than the actual money. It's all a game,
of course. It's all a game. We're just
playing this game. We're just pawns in
the game of Uber Eats delivering.
You never know what's going to come. You
never know what move they're going to
make.
But they never know what move I'm going
to make. And in this case, two
deliveries, we'll reach the quest, we'll
sit there,
assess where we're at. We'll be 2 and
1/2 hours through or so, and we should
have reached $100.
So, I'll see you then.
What's up, guys?
It's
11:18.
Uh we've just completed our ninth trip,
so we're on to the next
tier of the quest. Another three and we
get an extra 15.
And in total, we're at $120.65
through nine trips.
So, that's not bad.
We started at 8:40. It's 11:20.
That means we're 2 hours 40 minutes
through, and we've made $120.
Less petrol. Could be worse.
Could be better. You know, it could
always be better, but could certainly be
worse.
So,
uh
yeah, I guess we're just going to keep
keep rolling.
I've got no intention of slowing down
yet. I will complete at least an extra
six.
But, I won't be doing that one.
I've probably Yeah, I've I've been
inactive
for about 5 minutes now. I've um
declined,
I would say, seven or eight.
I'm just looking for that perfect one.
At the moment, I'm looking for anything
that pays over like 12, 15 bucks.
Uh
although this this could be this could
be interesting.
You don't really see orders like this
too often, so
two deliveries,
4.8 Ks,
$8.
But, they're all sort of in the same
area, so
I'm going to I'm going to accept it. I
wouldn't normally, but the way that we
have to sort of see it sometimes is
okay, well, for the next three
deliveries, once they're completed, we
get an get an extra 15. So,
I'm seeing this as $18,
uh not eight.
That's just the way my mind works.
Sometimes you got to reason with
yourself. Sometimes you got to sweeten
the deal, and it will be sweet once we
do another one after that
and get our $15 extra. $8 is $8, man.
It is officially 11:35.
We're closing in on 3 hours.
Those two deliveries have been
completed.
And we're one trip away from the next
tier of a quest. I'm happy with that.
But,
if that
order came up again, I would have to
deny it. $8
for two deliveries is just not where
it's at, but I thought, you know, at
least mix it up.
Okay, now this one's interesting. It's
$13.59
for 14 km
picking up one item from Coles. Now, if
that was Now, if that was 10 or less
kilometers, I definitely would have
accepted it.
But, no. No, I've got faith.
I've got faith that there's something
better around the corner.
Come on.
Got my first tip.
I don't know who it was or what it was
for. I could look it up, but honestly,
my memory is shocking when it comes to
remembering deliveries, but um
$6.90. Not bad. Not bad at all. To be
honest, any tips I normally get, which
is very few and far between, are like $2
or less. So, to get $6.90 is um it's
very nice. I'll take it. See, sometimes
I sit here and I,
you know, decline, decline, decline,
decline, right? Because nothing is
coming through over $10, but then I find
myself sitting here for 10 minutes
declining every single order that comes
through, and it's like, you know, I
would have been better off just taking
something, and then, you know,
we wouldn't be sit sit here on the side
of the road. I get myself into these I
sort of
I overanalyze
the whole thing, and then that paralyzes
me. It's
analysis paralysis. But I am going to
take this one. It's a double order. It's
for KFC. 6.2 km, $10.60, and that will
keep me busy for the next 20 minutes.
So, let's go.
Right guys, I spent I spent about 10
minutes on the side of the road just
sifting through orders just waiting for
one that I like the look of.
Uh one finally did come through.
It's
going to JB Hi-Fi, which is a electronic
store. So, it's going to be nice and
clean.
Just a small box, small package,
whatever it may be. So, we'll get This
is the first package order of the day.
I like these ones. They're all ready.
You just got to scan the barcode and go.
And and this this store in particular is
not in a shopping mall. It's just in a
big complex, an industrial area. So,
it's just in and out. And we will be on
the road. Okay, that could well be the
most frustrating $10 I've ever made, but
we we
we've completed it.
And that takes us to
Oh my god, you won't believe it. $199.85
in 4 hours and 41 minutes. I'm going to
call it there.
I may continue,
but I'll be honest, that that order has
frustrated me so much because um
I the guy went back inside without
having let me scan the barcode.
Normally, you don't have to scan
barcodes when you drop off, just when
you pick up, but obviously, it's an
electronic piece of equipment. It could
be expensive. Um
And then he went back inside after that,
and I realized I still needed the PIN.
Most orders, you can
skip that if they can't if you forget
the PIN or you know, you've forgotten to
ask. Um
in this case with that particular item,
I needed the PIN number. I had to go and
find him again.
Not nice. Not nice at all, but anyway,
16 trips completed, $199.85.
And we did it in 4 hours and 40 minutes.
And we did it having done 99 total
kilometers
at an average
of 10.3.
So, it's about 10 L of petrol, which,
you know, we're paying $2.60 at the
moment. So, that's $200 less $26 in
petrol is 27 is $174. $174 for 4 and 1/2
hours. I mean, it's better than nothing,
right? And
it really did dry up
after about 10:00, sadly. Like I say,
man, you never know, you never quite
know what you're going to get. The next
order could come through and it could be
a
$30 double delivery that's going to take
10 km, and that would get me over my
next quest, which would be an extra $18.
So, then that would be an extra 50, and
you'll be able to bank that 50 in
something like half an hour.
I don't think that's going to happen. I
feel like the earlier you get out and
about, the better.
The less drivers there's going to be on
the road, and I just feel like Monday
morning for, you know, that just that
feeling, that that that that mental
shift of of getting up nice and early,
getting out on the streets,
and and getting into it and and banking
some good orders early can really help.
Sadly, in in my case,
you know, I can only start at 8:30.
There's there's really no way I can
start any earlier than that, and that's
what I've been doing.
But I hope you've enjoyed these videos
so far. I don't know how many of them
I'm going to make. Obviously, I'm not
going to be doing this forever,
but for now,
it does make it a little more fun.
So, once again, I hope you've enjoyed,
and I will break down the full
panel of statistics
when we get home.