How to hire delivery drivers for your restaurant

To hire delivery drivers for a restaurant, first work out how many driver-hours your orders need, then hire to that rota. Divide each shift's expected deliveries by the deliveries one driver can do in an hour (2.5 is a fair starting point), add a backup, and post the job. In the US, a driver who delivers food must be at least 18: federal child-labor rules ban 16- and 17-year-olds from "urgent, time-sensitive deliveries", and the Department of Labor names pizza and prepared food as examples. Check each driver's license and driving record, complete Form I-9 within three business days of the start date, and report the hire to your state within 20 days.

How many delivery drivers does a restaurant need?

Start from your orders, not from a headcount. For each shift, take the deliveries you expect and divide by the deliveries one driver can complete in an hour, counting the drive back and the wait at the pass. That gives driver-hours. Divide by the shift length to get how many drivers must be on at once.

The worked examples in our in-house delivery pillar use 2.5 to 3.5 deliveries per driver-hour, with one order per trip. Start at 2.5, then measure your own number after the first month: it also decides whether your own drivers pay off.

Worked example: one week, one pizzeria

A pizzeria delivers 5 pm to 9 pm every night. It expects the deliveries below and plans on 2.5 deliveries per driver-hour.

What the numbers say:

• About 82 driver-hours a week. At around 20 to 25 hours each, that's four part-time drivers, plus one backup for sick days and rush nights.
• Fridays and Saturdays set the headcount. You need five drivers at once on two nights and only two on four nights. Hire people who want weekend shifts, or plan for a courier on the busiest nights.
• Check the price before you hire. Put 206 deliveries a week (about 890 a month) into the own delivery cost calculator to see whether your own drivers beat a courier at that volume.

What are the requirements for a restaurant delivery driver?

About the license line in Washington: since July 27, 2025, Washington employers may not require a driver's license in a job posting unless driving is an essential job function. For a delivery driver, it is, so you can ask for one.

How do I check a delivery driver's driving record?

Two ways:

• Ask the applicant to get their own record from their state's motor vehicle agency and bring it to you.
• Buy a check from a screening company. The Federal Trade Commission explains that a background report from such a company is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Before you order it, give the applicant a written disclosure in a stand-alone document (not part of the application) and get their written permission. If the report makes you reject them, send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the FCRA summary of rights first, then an adverse action notice afterwards.

The FTC also notes that some states restrict how employers use consumer reports. Check your state's rules before you order one.

What paperwork do I need when I hire a driver?

1. Form W-4 for federal income tax withholding, plus your state's form if it has one.
2. Form I-9. The driver completes Section 1 no later than their first day of work for pay. You complete Section 2 within 3 business days of the start date.
3. New-hire report to your state's new-hire directory: name, address, Social Security number, start date, and your business name, address and employer ID. Federal law sets the deadline at 20 days after the hire; some states set a shorter one.
4. Your written pay and mileage policy, signed. See how to pay delivery drivers and delivery driver tips.
5. A copy of their license and proof of personal auto insurance, on file and diarised for renewal.

Paying drivers as independent contractors instead? Read employees or contractors first: for a restaurant's own delivery drivers, it's usually hard to justify.

Where do restaurants find delivery drivers?

• Your own staff and regulars. Servers and kitchen staff who drive sometimes want extra shifts.
• A sign at the counter and a line on your ordering page. Regular customers already know your food and your area.
• Job boards and local groups, with the pay range in the post. Some states require it: see the delivery driver job description for a template and the posting rules.
• People who already drive for apps. They know the area and the handover; they'll want to know why your shifts beat app work, so lead with hourly pay, mileage and tips.

For a sense of pay, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median for driver/sales workers in food services at $30,580 a year (May 2025), and says 39% of all driver/sales workers work in food services and drinking places.

How do I train a new delivery driver?

Keep the first week simple:

1. A ride-along on a quiet night: the pass, the bags, the handover, the way back.
2. Food safety in transit. Hot food in a closed insulated bag, cold food in a separate one, nothing on the seat. See how to keep delivery food hot.
3. Your area. Where you deliver and where you don't. See delivery zones.
4. Phone use. Use the phone only in a hands-free mount and follow your state's handheld-phone law; check messages when parked.
5. The app. Sign in, go online, accept the order, mark it delivered.
6. What to do after an accident: stop, call 911 if anyone is hurt, call the manager, photograph the scene, and don't admit fault. Report it to your insurer the same day.

How Menuthere helps once you've hired

• Add a driver in a minute (Pro, $39 a month): in Delivery boy settings, press Add delivery boy and enter their name, phone and a password. Their phone number is their username in the driver app.
• Driver app on iPhone and Android: the Menuthere Delivery App in the App Store and Google Play. Press Download delivery boy app above the driver list for an App Store and a Google Play QR code, so a new driver installs it on the spot.
• On shift or off: each driver shows Online now or Offline, and a Taking orders switch stops assignments without deleting the account, useful for a backup driver.
• Assign and track: you assign each order to a driver from the order screen; the customer's order page shows the driver's name, a live map and a Call button.
• No per-driver or per-delivery fee from Menuthere, so a fifth driver on a Friday costs only their wages.

What Menuthere doesn't do: it doesn't post jobs, run background checks, do payroll or onboarding paperwork, or assign orders automatically. Drivers can't reset their own password; you set a new one from Edit rider. Details: your own delivery riders, the rider app and the driver app overview.

Run your own drivers with live tracking and no per-delivery fee. then. Plans:.

Create your free ordering pagework out your delivery costspricing

More own-delivery guides: job description template, driver pay and mileage, tips, insurance, employees or contractors, delivery radius and zones, keeping food hot. The overview with costs: in-house delivery for restaurants.