There have been dozens of post on Park Slope Parents over the last couple of days about how much to tip the dudes that deliver stuff for Fresh Direct. (It has sense degenerated into a classic PSP debate about whether FD is a Satanic scourge or a neighborhood God.) Most people talked about tipping a dollar a box and this email sums it up:
So the vast majority of people who responded said they tip in the $3-$5 range, with others tipping a dollar a box (which still usually came to like $3-$5). A couple of generous souls said they tip in the $7-$10 range. And one cash-short mama once tipped a cupcake and gained a friend for life. We’ve been tipping around $5, but we were curious if we were being stingy/generous/right on the mark.
All well and good. Now Fresh Direct is not exactly known for its generous or good treatment of its workers, so this one email jumped out at us from a gentleman whose income is unclear:
All in all it doesn’t sound like a bad gig. If the delivery folks are making $12 an hour from their employers and hit 3 houses per hour they work (I am pretty sure they hit more, because they drop the boxes off at our house and take flight as fast as they can) they’re making at least $27 an hour, according to the tip averages reported here.
Hmmm. $27 an hour? To carry heavy boxes to the top floors of four-story Slope Brownstone walk-ups? Sounds like a great gig to us.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Jim // Jan 7, 2009 at 9:58 am
FYI – a follow up poster pointed out that the drivers did not make tips while loading the truck in Queens, driving to the delivery area, sitting in traffic, etc, etc. So the $27/hour figure is inflated.
2 Jr // Jan 7, 2009 at 10:10 am
Those steps are rough and those boxes can be heavy, and believe me, I am on the very generous side in all tipping, although we don’t use Fresh Direct. But just curious about this: That’s 24k if you work 40 hours, 50 weeks, two weeks off, base, that is taxed, and another 30,000 in tips that I assume is rarely if ever declared. Not sure what tax bracket that is but let’s assume 25%. that would equate to 40,000 pre tax, on top of 24k, getting to an equivalent of about 64k. For an “unskilled” worker. (Nice guys, wish them the best, but I think that is the category) is that really a bad salary? I don’t want to haul boxes either, but I spent my summers during college literally digging ditches for $6 an hour back in the 90s. Is this really such a terrible job? Curious what folks think.
3 Alison // Jan 8, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I tip $10 but I order heavy stuff (like cat litter, soda, etc.) AND I live in a 4th floor walkup.
4 evan // Mar 25, 2009 at 2:31 pm
These tips are ridiculous. I make $40,000 a year after taxes and ALWAYS tip $20. I only order about once a month, but these cheapskates have my blood boiling. What the hell is wrong with you?
5 Phil // Jun 30, 2009 at 12:04 pm
evan’s boyfriend probably works for freshdirect…
i tip about $5, but sometimes i get really unpleasant delivery people