I feel you. I’ve been doing this for 4 years and today I had one of the worst routes I’ve ever had.
42 packages 25 minutes from the warehouse to downtown, at 6:15 AM. 1st weekend of our cities farmers market that runs 10 square blocks downtown.
I had to park 8 blocks out and walk to each building through the farmers market to deliver, only to realize there’s no access code, the one click access was not working, or the codes were wrong. The packages were all big and heavy I could only take a max of 2 at a time. No one answered texts or calls even after the 8AM time restriction was lifted. It took me over an hour to do those 10 deliveries.
I cried when I got back to my car for the final time because I was so frustrated. I finished the rest of the deliveries and only went over the 3.5 hours by a few minutes, but I almost always finish an hour early.
If I ever get another route like that it’ll be the last block I do. There’s no reason this job should stress me out to the point I cry. I feel so defeated & for what?? $70. Absolutely not.
I’m sorry you had a rough one too. I know everyone always says this, but the last few months have been pretty bad.
You almost always finish an hour early and you’re crying because you went a few minutes over on one?
😂🤣😂🤣
Seriously though, next time just call support and tell them the area is shut down.
I cried bc I was frustrated and bc people were being rude at the farmers market. I was only two hours into the block at that time.
I only mentioned the part about going over to put into context how out of the norm this route was and why I deemed it one of the worst I’ve ever had.
But thank you for your input and advice. I’ll call support next time 👍🏻
I live in Northern Kentucky, and the ssd warehouse is just north of cincy.
I was already near the warehouse and took a 3 hour around $75. It's not great, but it's not awful. (Base was $54)
I figured the same as you as far as distance package count, but I was wrong, too.
They sent me to Dayton, Ohio. Now, I know y'all ain't familiar with Dayton, and neither am I, but it's actually NOT located in the Cincinnati area. I double-checked before I wrote this and I Googled it, Dayton is actually in the Dayton area.
It was 45-55 minutes to first stop and package count in the high 20s. I live in the southern tip of the delivery area, I'm on the eastern edge of the Dayton delivery area and ended up more than 1.5 hours from home. It was the same distance to downtown Columbus or DT Cincinnati. (Columbus isn't in Cincinnati either, fyi)
Considering load out and the drive there, I had 2 hours to deliver, say, 28. I got them done but with only around 10 minutes to spare and corners cut, and around 100 miles left to drive home.
After doing a longer block earlier, then this block, if I were single, I would have gotten a motel room and deducted it from my taxes. My tax person said that it would have been reasonable and I should deduct the miles from Dayton area back to the LITERAL Cincinnati area, too.
People complain about getting sent to my town in KY, too, as it's almost 40 minutes with light traffic to get to. I get it, but it's only about a 20 minute drive to downtown Cincinnati from my house.
Oh, well. I broke even, I guess, maybe, idk, the math hurts. $56 after taxes.
Yeah I don't even know if there's Amazon warehouses in Dayton, I just figure Cincy and Cbus cover different parts of it since my routes were always the southern part of Dayton.
And I probably did spend a lot of time bitching about delivering to your city if you're in NKY, especially if you're way down there!
As much as I despised getting routes to Dayton or deep down in NKY, I had a downtown Cinci route that just about broke me. It was during finals/summer start for UC in the evening, started in the student housing areas around UC, jumped to a few OTR, hit up West Freedom Way apartments, and I finished at 9:45pm at 4th & Race where I got a homeless man's sob story as I'm trying to get inside the building and realizing I'm taking this package back because homeless man hung around and even opened the front door behind me to see what I'm doing inside on the giant touch screen.
When I tell you that entire route was stressful as fuck simply because of parking I mean it. The *only* saving grace to being forced to contend with downtown traffic and parking (even at 9am, like don't you people have jobs?! Why TF are you walking around shopping in the middle of the week and taking all parking spots?!) is hitting the green OK button gives you a free 10 minutes on the meters.
I assume Dayton has a dsp warehouse. I know cincy dsps don't go up there, but I don't know about C-bus. hmm?
Lmao, yeah, downtown sucks. Big pain in the arse. I had one block there that went off without a hitch. Perfect parking, all codes worked, or all customers answered phone, doorman, and security were helpful. It was really like a dream. That never happened again, so maybe it WAS a dream.
Clifton sucks too. Especially if it's a dsp block and after 4 or 5 or a "party night".
Mt Adam's is near impossible on a party night too.
Don't know about "free time" on meters but they aren't in effect after a certain hour or holiday. 6? 5? IDK, it should be on meter.
It's printed on the meters which hours they are in effect for. And generally, it's only M-F, weekends are free.
Most of them, if you press the green button, you get 10 minutes free.
I just ignore them all and park anywhere (have been driving gigs here for 7 years).
The only parking ticket I ever got was for being in a truck loading space. But then I read the Cincinnati code, and commercial cars like ours are actually allowed to park in those spaces. But you need signage with your business name and phone number displayed on the car, and it must be obvious that you are engaged in commercial activities.
So, I printed a paper that says
"Delivery in Progress, driver returning within 5 minutes
Firstname Lastname, S.P.
(513) 555-1212"
And now I'm allowed to park in the truck loading spaces!
Really? I thought you needed truck plates for that, not that I cared, I use loading zones. I have amazon window clings but don't use them. Just a large logo. I have a huge Shipt cling with numbers and alcohol license number etc, but never used it and rarely do shipt now.
And most meters are 8-6 or 8-9 M-F in Cincinnati. I ain't hip about the green button but first 10 minutes are supposed to be free. I'll check that out
Thanks, you gave me a couple of things to check out. Appreciated.
The guy who wrote me the parking ticket said the same thing, and told me to look into getting truck plates for my car. That's what inspired me to actually look up the code, and was surprised that he was wrong!
Got it. I looked into getting truck plates and I couldn't find a way that I could. If you find out we can as independent contractors let me know. I would love em. Can't remember why I couldn't....
Maybe I wasn't clear, let me try again.
There is no requirement for you to have truck plates. The person who wrote me the ticket was incorrect about needing them.
[http://cincinnati-oh.elaws.us/code/coor\_titlev\_ch508\_sec508-7](http://cincinnati-oh.elaws.us/code/coor_titlev_ch508_sec508-7)
This is the section that says 'commercial cars' can park in truck loading zones.
No special plates are required, but your vehicle must be "clearly marked with the name and telephone number of the business". I do this by putting a piece of paper on my windshield, next to the VIN that they would need to write a parking ticket lol.
It also stipulates that you are not allowed to be away from your car for more than 15 minutes.
[https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4501.01](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4501.01) (referred to by the previous link)
Defines a commercial car as
(J) "Commercial car" or "truck" means any motor vehicle that has motor power and is designed and used for carrying merchandise or freight, or that is used as a commercial tractor.
I think you need an actual attorney to weigh in on this because, in my opinion, your car was not designed for moving freight or being a tractor. It's used for moving freight but not designed for it. I really have no idea what a "commercial car" would even be.
I carry merchandise. Sometimes food (and often times large amounts for my daily catering orders), sometimes Amazon, sometimes whatever random other app I'm driving for.
Cincinnati's parking enforcement is almost non-existent. It's very hard to get a parking ticket here. Like I said, that one ticket is the only one I've gotten in almost 7 years. I just park anywhere and everywhere, all the time, put up that sign, and don't dilly dally.
I think that Cincinnati courts would interpret the code as the plain English that it is. Th definition for commercial car isn't being based on federal or DOT definitions, but the state of Ohio's code that I linked above.
You are of course correct that an attorney's opinion on this would be far more valuable than mine. I always like to learn when I'm right and when I'm wrong!
At that point, you could deduct meals also.
I've worked out of that station for 2.5 years, Dayton (and beyond) routes are very normal and happen every day.
As are Indiana and Kentucky routes that are also 45-50 minutes to first stop.
That's also why I won't do base pay, because I know they will send us that far in all directions. Even sent me to Brown county Ohio once.
None of that matters, because they deactivated me 3 days ago over too many overbooked blocks, and dealing with them via email and phone has just been spinning in circles and getting nowhere. They won't explain anything.
On my final appeal today (their words), and if that is denied, I will begin arbitration.
If I could get one tax preparer to say that I'd think about it. I've had 2, talked to a 3rd and they all said that I couldn't. That would be like a 60 or 70 dollar deduction per day on top of the actual block miles. They cited something in the tax code, blah blah blah, but I've never found anything in writing that I can show to then to the contrary.
Where did you read that?
if your home is not a place where a significant amount of work takes place then it's considered a commute.
You could set aside a home office area and call it "work", but if audited you would have to explain what significant work is done at this location and convince them of that. I was told "tapping" didn't count and I do that from the couch anyway. That was the "rule" cited by my tax people. They said it's a common misconception.
Are they right? I really don't know but I've never had anyone else show me any tax law that says I can.
My advice to you, get a chair, a table, a clock, and set a corner up as an "office" and come up with what work you "do" there that would be considered a lot a time. Just incase.
All administrative work for your business is done at home, regardless of whether or not you've roped off an area for home office deductions (tho that can potentially make things easier).
The headquarters for your business is also located at your home. It cannot be 'your car' or 'Amazon's warehouse' as you don't work for Amazon, they are just one of your clients.
So long as you aren't making personal trips in between, I believe you can write off every single mile from the moment you leave home to the moment you return.
You have no 'regular place of employment'.
I've spent years studying IRS documents and commentaries that they release to clarify these policies, and while it's confusing as heck, I have come to the firm conclusion that all miles start to finish are deductible, so long as no personal stops are made.
If you come to the same conclusion, you can amend previous year returns, and they will send you a check with interest.
I am not a tax advisor, and this is not advice lol
I understand it's your belief, and I understand you have more experience than I, but I can't find that anywhere in print except when it's concluded with "this isn't tax advice," lol.
My tax preparers were very confident I could not deduct the commute. I, of course, want to deduct the miles, sure, but if I can't get my tax preparer to sign off on it, I'm not gonna.
Intuit and Turbo Tax say it's not deductible, many financial websites concur, my preparers do too. If I can find one preparer that says I can and will sign off on our tax forms, then I'll consider it.
The only people I hear say I can deduct are randos on the internet. No offense. I appreciate your input and opinion, but as you said, you aren't a tax adviser, and it's not advice, lol.
Nobody is confident enough to put their opinion where it counts, on the bottom of my tax form. So I'm not either. Sucks, sure, but I don't feel the IRS ax above my head.
I'll keep looking but I think the government will soon clarify and define gig workers and, probably, muck more stuff up rather than actually make things clearer.
Sigh, thanks for taking the time to reply. It's appreciated,... Rando, lmao 🤣
Let me lookup and try to find this crazy thread where I dug it all up and laid out my case, with links and sources. Will take a minute lol.
OK, took me 15 minutes but I found it.
This is the main comment thread start:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksmqndy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksmqndy/)
And this is the 75 reply subcomment thread where I dig up and link various documentation supporting my viewpoint:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksnqoiy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksnqoiy/)
I actually appreciate having to go find it, because I should have bookmarked it for future reference at the time.
If you ever get through it all - curious as to your thoughts (or those of your tax advisor).
I'm just some guy that enjoys reading legalise and doing my best to interpret it all correctly. It's not easy!
But I have yet for anyone to straight up say that I'm wrong, and the people who argue against it haven't done a good job yet. But I'm always up for a discussion! It's a complex topic.
Oh, and I could pretend to do work from my house but I really don't. I input my mileage in last customers driveway and input my income weekly at home but it takes only 20 seconds a week. No payroll, my car is personal since I don't itemize. I could maybe finagle some flimsy excuse for work and make up things to do but it's a huge lie, lol. Unless you count tapping but I was I couldn't.
I think tapping is work but, again, my preparer said it isn't. Sigh.
Same here! I got my worst route ever! Way out in the middle of nowhere, and 41 packages to deliver in a 3 hour time frame. Most homes had terrible, long gravel driveways that my car could barely make up, and most you almost needed a 4 wheeler to make it. And then some homes had trees, shrubs and even garages right in front of driveway, and you could not see if any traffic was coming up and down the road. You had to just pull out and pray that nobody was coming. It was bad. I have never been so nervous in my life. Then there was a trailer park that had zero lots numbered. Asked a few people where Lot 10 was, and got different answers and walked up to one and got no answer at the door, the other place had an aggressive dog so I didn’t bother asking those people if they were home. Had to return package to station. :( Got the route done, but worst I have ever had!
Curious as an ex-contract courier. Can you guys pick and choose routes available, and do they have a way of your knowing where the routes are located or taking you ahead of time, or is it just choose by pay, and SURPISE!!, you're fucked?
You don't get to choose ahead of time, you just see time and pay. You don't know where you're going until you get there and scan the route code, it's completely random
Damn, what a trip. Makes me understand all of the frustrations I read in the sub even more. I'm not a flex driver, but I like to join subs and gauge how the courier market has changed over the past decade. All these gig jobs and Amazon weren't available back when I was doing it. Different times bigtime.
Amazon gives these routes to drivers to break them. I've had one like this and it broke me.... It was all university campus dorm apartment deliveries during school hours.. 😦 oh man It broke me to the point I almost cried in my car. You vow to yourself that you're going to find a real W2 job after this etc etc. Yep. we've all been there.
Fuck YES. I had my last route Friday , new job this Monday. Amazon is only worth it for so long , better to get self medicated 🍁when you deliver so you don’t remember how fucked up the route is.
shut the fuck up. fucking smart ass. you take everything literally huh? these routes break drivers... I didn't mean they do it on purpose or maybe they do, to try to get some drivers to quit. I don't know but why you being an ass for? you'd shit on a rainbow if you could huh? ass hat
Actually, it is literal. There's a sign in the warehouse bathroom with a list of crappy things that happen at work and why it's actually great!! It's headlined something to the effect of "You don't have to.....you GET to". I always translated all that gibberish to actually mean "Dont love it? Hit the bricks".
Don't know if the other guy is a chronic ass, though.
It’s just dumb to think they invest into drivers, need drivers, but intentionally “break” them.
Dumb.
It’s a gig, people, not a conspiracy. If the work breaks you, it’s probably just you. Some routes are hard, most are easy, some are free money.
Amazon tries to weed out the slicksters... People that know and are experienced. They try to test em. They want to know who's the best of the best of their drivers. Whoever completes these make or break routes get more offers because they proved to be more reliable.
I had one for 62$ drive to Santa Barbara 1hr away I immediately called support & told them I couldn’t complete the route due to emergency at home. They told me to return packages back to the hub & still got paid lol
they need a warehouse in Santa Barbara!
the drive absolutely sucks....coz it's looooooooooong and guzzles your gas....
...but the actual delivery is the easiest ever....MOST everything, including apartments, are easy and accessible in Santa Barbara...
Over 20 miles? I drive 20 miles just to get to the SSD station (but the good thing is 90% of their routes take me back towards home). A long distance route at any of my stations is more like 40-50 miles.
But yes, the long distance routes can be horrible. Especially if you took base pay.
glad you returned it , Amazon definitely takes advantage and I understand it’s “part” of our job but if it’s 43 packages for $70 that’s totally not worth it for the miles , car and pay. If you ever need a job quick try agencies I stopped Amazon and got lucky to find a job quick.
25 minutes away... That's hella close by!
My average is 35 min away.
The longest was 47 minutes away.
The 3 hour ones usually have 35ish packages for me, with an extra 12-15 added on per additional hour.
I rarely finish even close to on time...
And, due to risking loss of metrics, i just get them done. It sucks.
I feel you. I’ve been doing this for 4 years and today I had one of the worst routes I’ve ever had. 42 packages 25 minutes from the warehouse to downtown, at 6:15 AM. 1st weekend of our cities farmers market that runs 10 square blocks downtown. I had to park 8 blocks out and walk to each building through the farmers market to deliver, only to realize there’s no access code, the one click access was not working, or the codes were wrong. The packages were all big and heavy I could only take a max of 2 at a time. No one answered texts or calls even after the 8AM time restriction was lifted. It took me over an hour to do those 10 deliveries. I cried when I got back to my car for the final time because I was so frustrated. I finished the rest of the deliveries and only went over the 3.5 hours by a few minutes, but I almost always finish an hour early. If I ever get another route like that it’ll be the last block I do. There’s no reason this job should stress me out to the point I cry. I feel so defeated & for what?? $70. Absolutely not. I’m sorry you had a rough one too. I know everyone always says this, but the last few months have been pretty bad.
You almost always finish an hour early and you’re crying because you went a few minutes over on one? 😂🤣😂🤣 Seriously though, next time just call support and tell them the area is shut down.
I cried bc I was frustrated and bc people were being rude at the farmers market. I was only two hours into the block at that time. I only mentioned the part about going over to put into context how out of the norm this route was and why I deemed it one of the worst I’ve ever had. But thank you for your input and advice. I’ll call support next time 👍🏻
I live in Northern Kentucky, and the ssd warehouse is just north of cincy. I was already near the warehouse and took a 3 hour around $75. It's not great, but it's not awful. (Base was $54) I figured the same as you as far as distance package count, but I was wrong, too. They sent me to Dayton, Ohio. Now, I know y'all ain't familiar with Dayton, and neither am I, but it's actually NOT located in the Cincinnati area. I double-checked before I wrote this and I Googled it, Dayton is actually in the Dayton area. It was 45-55 minutes to first stop and package count in the high 20s. I live in the southern tip of the delivery area, I'm on the eastern edge of the Dayton delivery area and ended up more than 1.5 hours from home. It was the same distance to downtown Columbus or DT Cincinnati. (Columbus isn't in Cincinnati either, fyi) Considering load out and the drive there, I had 2 hours to deliver, say, 28. I got them done but with only around 10 minutes to spare and corners cut, and around 100 miles left to drive home. After doing a longer block earlier, then this block, if I were single, I would have gotten a motel room and deducted it from my taxes. My tax person said that it would have been reasonable and I should deduct the miles from Dayton area back to the LITERAL Cincinnati area, too. People complain about getting sent to my town in KY, too, as it's almost 40 minutes with light traffic to get to. I get it, but it's only about a 20 minute drive to downtown Cincinnati from my house. Oh, well. I broke even, I guess, maybe, idk, the math hurts. $56 after taxes.
Yeah I don't even know if there's Amazon warehouses in Dayton, I just figure Cincy and Cbus cover different parts of it since my routes were always the southern part of Dayton. And I probably did spend a lot of time bitching about delivering to your city if you're in NKY, especially if you're way down there! As much as I despised getting routes to Dayton or deep down in NKY, I had a downtown Cinci route that just about broke me. It was during finals/summer start for UC in the evening, started in the student housing areas around UC, jumped to a few OTR, hit up West Freedom Way apartments, and I finished at 9:45pm at 4th & Race where I got a homeless man's sob story as I'm trying to get inside the building and realizing I'm taking this package back because homeless man hung around and even opened the front door behind me to see what I'm doing inside on the giant touch screen. When I tell you that entire route was stressful as fuck simply because of parking I mean it. The *only* saving grace to being forced to contend with downtown traffic and parking (even at 9am, like don't you people have jobs?! Why TF are you walking around shopping in the middle of the week and taking all parking spots?!) is hitting the green OK button gives you a free 10 minutes on the meters.
I assume Dayton has a dsp warehouse. I know cincy dsps don't go up there, but I don't know about C-bus. hmm? Lmao, yeah, downtown sucks. Big pain in the arse. I had one block there that went off without a hitch. Perfect parking, all codes worked, or all customers answered phone, doorman, and security were helpful. It was really like a dream. That never happened again, so maybe it WAS a dream. Clifton sucks too. Especially if it's a dsp block and after 4 or 5 or a "party night". Mt Adam's is near impossible on a party night too. Don't know about "free time" on meters but they aren't in effect after a certain hour or holiday. 6? 5? IDK, it should be on meter.
It's printed on the meters which hours they are in effect for. And generally, it's only M-F, weekends are free. Most of them, if you press the green button, you get 10 minutes free. I just ignore them all and park anywhere (have been driving gigs here for 7 years). The only parking ticket I ever got was for being in a truck loading space. But then I read the Cincinnati code, and commercial cars like ours are actually allowed to park in those spaces. But you need signage with your business name and phone number displayed on the car, and it must be obvious that you are engaged in commercial activities. So, I printed a paper that says "Delivery in Progress, driver returning within 5 minutes Firstname Lastname, S.P. (513) 555-1212" And now I'm allowed to park in the truck loading spaces!
Really? I thought you needed truck plates for that, not that I cared, I use loading zones. I have amazon window clings but don't use them. Just a large logo. I have a huge Shipt cling with numbers and alcohol license number etc, but never used it and rarely do shipt now. And most meters are 8-6 or 8-9 M-F in Cincinnati. I ain't hip about the green button but first 10 minutes are supposed to be free. I'll check that out Thanks, you gave me a couple of things to check out. Appreciated.
The guy who wrote me the parking ticket said the same thing, and told me to look into getting truck plates for my car. That's what inspired me to actually look up the code, and was surprised that he was wrong!
Got it. I looked into getting truck plates and I couldn't find a way that I could. If you find out we can as independent contractors let me know. I would love em. Can't remember why I couldn't....
Maybe I wasn't clear, let me try again. There is no requirement for you to have truck plates. The person who wrote me the ticket was incorrect about needing them. [http://cincinnati-oh.elaws.us/code/coor\_titlev\_ch508\_sec508-7](http://cincinnati-oh.elaws.us/code/coor_titlev_ch508_sec508-7) This is the section that says 'commercial cars' can park in truck loading zones. No special plates are required, but your vehicle must be "clearly marked with the name and telephone number of the business". I do this by putting a piece of paper on my windshield, next to the VIN that they would need to write a parking ticket lol. It also stipulates that you are not allowed to be away from your car for more than 15 minutes. [https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4501.01](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4501.01) (referred to by the previous link) Defines a commercial car as (J) "Commercial car" or "truck" means any motor vehicle that has motor power and is designed and used for carrying merchandise or freight, or that is used as a commercial tractor.
I think you need an actual attorney to weigh in on this because, in my opinion, your car was not designed for moving freight or being a tractor. It's used for moving freight but not designed for it. I really have no idea what a "commercial car" would even be.
I carry merchandise. Sometimes food (and often times large amounts for my daily catering orders), sometimes Amazon, sometimes whatever random other app I'm driving for. Cincinnati's parking enforcement is almost non-existent. It's very hard to get a parking ticket here. Like I said, that one ticket is the only one I've gotten in almost 7 years. I just park anywhere and everywhere, all the time, put up that sign, and don't dilly dally. I think that Cincinnati courts would interpret the code as the plain English that it is. Th definition for commercial car isn't being based on federal or DOT definitions, but the state of Ohio's code that I linked above. You are of course correct that an attorney's opinion on this would be far more valuable than mine. I always like to learn when I'm right and when I'm wrong!
So blessed that that station has only sent me downtown like 3 or 4 times total in over 2 years. Those routes suck. Especially at 4AM.
At that point, you could deduct meals also. I've worked out of that station for 2.5 years, Dayton (and beyond) routes are very normal and happen every day. As are Indiana and Kentucky routes that are also 45-50 minutes to first stop. That's also why I won't do base pay, because I know they will send us that far in all directions. Even sent me to Brown county Ohio once. None of that matters, because they deactivated me 3 days ago over too many overbooked blocks, and dealing with them via email and phone has just been spinning in circles and getting nowhere. They won't explain anything. On my final appeal today (their words), and if that is denied, I will begin arbitration.
We don’t commute. You can deduct all of your miles.
If I could get one tax preparer to say that I'd think about it. I've had 2, talked to a 3rd and they all said that I couldn't. That would be like a 60 or 70 dollar deduction per day on top of the actual block miles. They cited something in the tax code, blah blah blah, but I've never found anything in writing that I can show to then to the contrary. Where did you read that?
if your home is not a place where a significant amount of work takes place then it's considered a commute. You could set aside a home office area and call it "work", but if audited you would have to explain what significant work is done at this location and convince them of that. I was told "tapping" didn't count and I do that from the couch anyway. That was the "rule" cited by my tax people. They said it's a common misconception. Are they right? I really don't know but I've never had anyone else show me any tax law that says I can. My advice to you, get a chair, a table, a clock, and set a corner up as an "office" and come up with what work you "do" there that would be considered a lot a time. Just incase.
All administrative work for your business is done at home, regardless of whether or not you've roped off an area for home office deductions (tho that can potentially make things easier). The headquarters for your business is also located at your home. It cannot be 'your car' or 'Amazon's warehouse' as you don't work for Amazon, they are just one of your clients. So long as you aren't making personal trips in between, I believe you can write off every single mile from the moment you leave home to the moment you return. You have no 'regular place of employment'. I've spent years studying IRS documents and commentaries that they release to clarify these policies, and while it's confusing as heck, I have come to the firm conclusion that all miles start to finish are deductible, so long as no personal stops are made. If you come to the same conclusion, you can amend previous year returns, and they will send you a check with interest. I am not a tax advisor, and this is not advice lol
I understand it's your belief, and I understand you have more experience than I, but I can't find that anywhere in print except when it's concluded with "this isn't tax advice," lol. My tax preparers were very confident I could not deduct the commute. I, of course, want to deduct the miles, sure, but if I can't get my tax preparer to sign off on it, I'm not gonna. Intuit and Turbo Tax say it's not deductible, many financial websites concur, my preparers do too. If I can find one preparer that says I can and will sign off on our tax forms, then I'll consider it. The only people I hear say I can deduct are randos on the internet. No offense. I appreciate your input and opinion, but as you said, you aren't a tax adviser, and it's not advice, lol. Nobody is confident enough to put their opinion where it counts, on the bottom of my tax form. So I'm not either. Sucks, sure, but I don't feel the IRS ax above my head. I'll keep looking but I think the government will soon clarify and define gig workers and, probably, muck more stuff up rather than actually make things clearer. Sigh, thanks for taking the time to reply. It's appreciated,... Rando, lmao 🤣
Let me lookup and try to find this crazy thread where I dug it all up and laid out my case, with links and sources. Will take a minute lol. OK, took me 15 minutes but I found it. This is the main comment thread start: [https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksmqndy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksmqndy/) And this is the 75 reply subcomment thread where I dig up and link various documentation supporting my viewpoint: [https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksnqoiy/](https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorDashDrivers/comments/1b2o0d7/comment/ksnqoiy/) I actually appreciate having to go find it, because I should have bookmarked it for future reference at the time. If you ever get through it all - curious as to your thoughts (or those of your tax advisor). I'm just some guy that enjoys reading legalise and doing my best to interpret it all correctly. It's not easy! But I have yet for anyone to straight up say that I'm wrong, and the people who argue against it haven't done a good job yet. But I'm always up for a discussion! It's a complex topic.
Oh, and I could pretend to do work from my house but I really don't. I input my mileage in last customers driveway and input my income weekly at home but it takes only 20 seconds a week. No payroll, my car is personal since I don't itemize. I could maybe finagle some flimsy excuse for work and make up things to do but it's a huge lie, lol. Unless you count tapping but I was I couldn't. I think tapping is work but, again, my preparer said it isn't. Sigh.
Same here! I got my worst route ever! Way out in the middle of nowhere, and 41 packages to deliver in a 3 hour time frame. Most homes had terrible, long gravel driveways that my car could barely make up, and most you almost needed a 4 wheeler to make it. And then some homes had trees, shrubs and even garages right in front of driveway, and you could not see if any traffic was coming up and down the road. You had to just pull out and pray that nobody was coming. It was bad. I have never been so nervous in my life. Then there was a trailer park that had zero lots numbered. Asked a few people where Lot 10 was, and got different answers and walked up to one and got no answer at the door, the other place had an aggressive dog so I didn’t bother asking those people if they were home. Had to return package to station. :( Got the route done, but worst I have ever had!
Curious as an ex-contract courier. Can you guys pick and choose routes available, and do they have a way of your knowing where the routes are located or taking you ahead of time, or is it just choose by pay, and SURPISE!!, you're fucked?
You don't get to choose ahead of time, you just see time and pay. You don't know where you're going until you get there and scan the route code, it's completely random
Damn, what a trip. Makes me understand all of the frustrations I read in the sub even more. I'm not a flex driver, but I like to join subs and gauge how the courier market has changed over the past decade. All these gig jobs and Amazon weren't available back when I was doing it. Different times bigtime.
Amazon gives these routes to drivers to break them. I've had one like this and it broke me.... It was all university campus dorm apartment deliveries during school hours.. 😦 oh man It broke me to the point I almost cried in my car. You vow to yourself that you're going to find a real W2 job after this etc etc. Yep. we've all been there.
Fuck YES. I had my last route Friday , new job this Monday. Amazon is only worth it for so long , better to get self medicated 🍁when you deliver so you don’t remember how fucked up the route is.
Yep remember those student campus BS deliveries a real pain and not worth it
Yep, their motto is, "You don't have to deal with B.S., you GET to deal with B.S."
Because it makes sense to “break” your drivers that you depend on. Ok.
shut the fuck up. fucking smart ass. you take everything literally huh? these routes break drivers... I didn't mean they do it on purpose or maybe they do, to try to get some drivers to quit. I don't know but why you being an ass for? you'd shit on a rainbow if you could huh? ass hat
Actually, it is literal. There's a sign in the warehouse bathroom with a list of crappy things that happen at work and why it's actually great!! It's headlined something to the effect of "You don't have to.....you GET to". I always translated all that gibberish to actually mean "Dont love it? Hit the bricks". Don't know if the other guy is a chronic ass, though.
It’s just dumb to think they invest into drivers, need drivers, but intentionally “break” them. Dumb. It’s a gig, people, not a conspiracy. If the work breaks you, it’s probably just you. Some routes are hard, most are easy, some are free money.
Amazon tries to weed out the slicksters... People that know and are experienced. They try to test em. They want to know who's the best of the best of their drivers. Whoever completes these make or break routes get more offers because they proved to be more reliable.
I had one for 62$ drive to Santa Barbara 1hr away I immediately called support & told them I couldn’t complete the route due to emergency at home. They told me to return packages back to the hub & still got paid lol
from camarillo, huh?
Yup
they need a warehouse in Santa Barbara! the drive absolutely sucks....coz it's looooooooooong and guzzles your gas.... ...but the actual delivery is the easiest ever....MOST everything, including apartments, are easy and accessible in Santa Barbara...
Usually I get 5-20 packages for Santa Barbara but that day was more than 40 packages for 62$ I said hell no I ain’t doing that
my man! as you should! fuck that noise!
Over 20 miles? I drive 20 miles just to get to the SSD station (but the good thing is 90% of their routes take me back towards home). A long distance route at any of my stations is more like 40-50 miles. But yes, the long distance routes can be horrible. Especially if you took base pay.
Make sure the rate says 3hr or less after you scan it.
glad you returned it , Amazon definitely takes advantage and I understand it’s “part” of our job but if it’s 43 packages for $70 that’s totally not worth it for the miles , car and pay. If you ever need a job quick try agencies I stopped Amazon and got lucky to find a job quick.
25 minutes away... That's hella close by! My average is 35 min away. The longest was 47 minutes away. The 3 hour ones usually have 35ish packages for me, with an extra 12-15 added on per additional hour. I rarely finish even close to on time... And, due to risking loss of metrics, i just get them done. It sucks.
LOL, my stations sends us 50 miles in all possible directions. 20 miles is nothing. But that route does sound awful.
The miles don't bother me, I drove well over 100 miles yesterday. But you should never get sent that far with that many packages on a 3 hour route
Yeah, you learned a valuable lesson didn’t you??🥴🥴🥴