Key Takeaways
- DoorDash delivery times vary by location and restaurant operating hours.
- App available 24/7, but actual delivery depends on local restaurant hours.
- Peak delivery hours often align with lunch and dinner times.
- Scheduled deliveries available, allowing advance ordering for future dates.
What Are DoorDash’s Delivery Hours?
DoorDash’s delivery hours vary depending on several factors, such as your location, the availability of delivery drivers, and how late restaurants near you stay open.
You’re less likely to find late deliveries if you’re in a sparsely populated town, and vice versa. For instance, if you’re in one of the major cities in North America, such as New York City or San Francisco, DoorDash delivers late.
What Time Does DoorDash Open?
The DoorDash app is usable at any time—it has no opening times. However, unless you live in a large active city, you probably won’t find restaurants 24/7.
Typically, DoorDash will start taking delivery requests at 9-10 AM, but this time frame can be pushed back or forth, depending on the opening times of restaurants in your vicinity.
What Time Does DoorDash Stop Delivering?
In most places, restaurants on DoorDash will stop delivering around 10-11 PM. However, if you live in a town where restaurants are more active late at night, food delivery companies tend to extend their working hours.
Also, we recommend you learn your favorite restaurant’s opening and closing times because those are more crucial than DoorDash’s, Grubhub’s, or Instacart’s available hours.
Can I Schedule a Delivery for a Later Date?
For those who aren’t familiar with the basics of using DoorDash, yes, you can place an order and schedule it to be delivered at a later time, and you can even do so several days in advance to avoid ordering during the busiest times.
Here’s how you can schedule an order for a later date.
How to Schedule an Order for a Specific Time
Before you schedule your order, you need to select the items you want from your preferred restaurant first.
Pick the items you want, then go to your cart to finalize them, and select “Continue” to go to the checkout page.
From here, instead of choosing the “Standard” delivery option, tap “Schedule Ahead” to go to the scheduling page.
Now you can choose from the available windows that the restaurant offers, and once you do that, go back to the checkout page and click “Place Order.”
Can I Deliver as a Dasher 24/7?
You can start dashing whenever there are vacancies in your area by clicking the “Dash Now” button in the app.
But if there are too many active drivers, such as during the busiest times, that button will disappear and you won’t be able to drive for DoorDash until there are more spots open.
If you’d like to work at fixed times and don’t want to bother with the dinner rush, you can adjust your dashing schedule via the app.
How Early Can I Use DoorDash?
DoorDash can offer in the morning hours if the restaurants in your area that are on the app are open and operating at these times.
For example, if a bakery starts delivering at 6 AM, then you can order from it on DoorDash at that time.
The Best Time of the Day to Do DoorDash
If you’re driving for DoorDash, you might want to align your working hours with the peak times of busy markets to maximize your profit.
To do this, you should aim to deliver around lunch and dinner times.
For Lunch
Most people tend to order lunch in the afternoon when they’ve been working or tending to their matters since the morning.
For example, someone who works 9-5 might want to order lunch around 1 PM as they’ve already been working for 4 hours.
So it’s best to aim around 12 PM to 2 PM for lunch deliveries.
For Dinner
The dinner rush is usually an even busier time than lunch hours since most people are hungry by then.
Many people eat dinner around 6 PM to 8 PM, so aim to dash at these times if you want the most work.
Finding the Busiest Hours on DoorDash
Peak times may vary where you are, but they often align with lunch and dinner, as that’s when people are the most hungry.
But as you dash more, you’ll develop a feel for when people order the most in your area, and you can adjust your schedule accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Order Doordash at Any Time?
Although DoorDash can work 24 hours, it only does in cities where enough restaurants are active 24/7 to justify late deliveries.
Think of busy markets like San Francisco, Las Vegas, and New York City. But for other non-huge cities, DoorDash doesn’t operate all day round.
Does DoorDash Deliver After Midnight?
In most places where DoorDash operates, the answer is no, as DoorDash will often close near 10-11 PM due to closed restaurants.
However, if enough restaurants near you stay open after midnight, or if you’re in a city with an active nightlife, you should be able to find late-night delivery.
Wrapping Up
DoorDash’s working hours aren’t fixed, and in most cities, you can’t order food after midnight since there are no late restaurants to provide it until the next morning.
However, living in a dense city helps, as services tend to open 24/7 there.
As for the dashers among you, we recommend you look for the peak activity times in your area to find the best opportunities for work. In most places, these should align with lunch and dinner times.
And that’s all! We hope you enjoyed this guide, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!
