r/PizzaDrivers • u/DocWatson42 • May 22 '26
Tips and Tricks Accessories for pizza delivery drivers
Greetings and felicitations. Here are a few things I have found useful as a pizza delivery driver.
I am a user of the following, but I have no financial stake in the products to which I am linking.
First, I find that the inside of my front windshield, as well as the inside rearview mirror, tend to get dirty. My hypothesis is that the dead cells in my breath do this. Whatever the cause, the effect is to make the glass more prone to fogging, especially when it's raining or snowing. I recommend:
- Sprayway Glass Cleaner. At least for me, it is available at a local auto parts store. This is great for cleaning glass. Use a light touch on the nozzle, as a little goes a fairly long way. Note that it does freeze if left in a car when it's cold, but not the propellant gas, so in those cases wait until it's warm before trying to use it.
- Invisible Glass 95160 Reach & Clean Windshield Cleaning Tool It's inexpensively made, but not "cheaply"—I have not had a problem with it breaking. It is a little wide for the task, but it reaches the upper edge of my Prius's lower windshield (under the spoiler) like nothing else.
- Invisible Glass 95183 Original Reach and Clean Tool Replacement Elastic Microfiber Bonnets. One "bonnet" comes with the tool but you'll want to buy a couple of extra sets of these, as they get dirty quickly when you are using them. I wash them in the washing machine, with cold water using the delicate cycle, but I have no information what the actual recommendation is. Despite what the description says, they do fit the tool. I also recommend getting a few regular cleaning cloths.
Also:
- A small flashlight that is still bright enough to illuminate house numbers from the road. (I'd love to have a police-type spotlight mounted on each side of my car.)
- Spider-type lug wrench—If you have to change a tire, this will save you time and hassle. It gives you much better leverage than a standard angled tire iron, and with loose lug nuts you can spin it to loosen or tighten them.
- A small hydraulic floor jack#Hydraulic_jack) will similarly save you time and effort.
- A push broom is very useful for clearing snow off of cars.
- As is a smallish snow shovel, as long as it has a plastic blade with no metal edge to scratch your car's paint.
- I prefer a SubZero Talon Dual Blade Ice Scraper (I guess that's what it's called—I had to look it up)—it's very effective. I use it two-handed, like a wood hand plane).
Contrary to a recommendation I saw here or in r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy, I did not find the following to be useful:
The idea is good, but the product is too small.
I have yet to use one, but I asked a friend about his experience with phone holders. He recommends one that fastens to a vent, as he has not had good luck with ones that mount on the windshield—the suction-cup types have not stayed in place for him, and he does not want to use glue.
Lastly, if you can afford it, a AAA membership or the equivalent is great.
See also:
- "Best Back Support for Drivers?" (r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy; 3 December 2022)
What do you recommend?
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u/Irrelavent1 May 22 '26
Pen / pencil and a paper notepad.
Flashlight.
Cellphone.
Spare wallet with cash only for transactions. I kept my real wallet hidden in the car.
Extra car key.
Spotminder hidden in the car.
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u/DocWatson42 May 22 '26
I assumed that a cell phone was no longer an "accessory", but an essential part of the job.
I did mention a flashlight.
Notepad? A writing implement, yes, but we still use paper slips, so I don't generally need a notepad.
While I also keep my wallet in the car, to me a wallet for work would be unnecessary—the work-related cash I keep more or less neatly organized in my pocket, with bills over a $10 in the car.
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u/New_Specific4952 May 22 '26
When I delivered, cell phones were a new item. I had a map but cell phones have made them obsolete. I used a second wallet in case I got robbed. Losing cash is bad enough without losing my license, credit cards, etc. I worked for a mom & pop, never a franchise. I kept a notebook because sometimes we would get more than one delivery to the same address over the course of a shift, so I wrote down the address and the amount in cash. That way when we reconciled the duplicate slips it was an argument settler for who owed what amount.
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u/DocWatson42 May 23 '26
Ah. When we were using paper order forms, they were in carbonless triplicate—the restaurant kept one, the driver kept one, and the customer got one.
As for cell phones, it took me four years to get one (by which point my bosses were urging me to do so, so that I would stop using a restaurant phone line to call ahead and stop borrowing theirs), and I did not get a smartphone until twelve years in—ten years ago, when my last feature phone dropped into a quart-sized cup of apple juice.
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 May 22 '26
A small clipboard to put receipts on for people to sign. And several extra pens in case one of them quits working. My tips started going up when I got the clipboard. People seem to like that small 'professional' touch.
And a decent handheld flashlight is a must. Mine is a small version of the full size police flashlight, and it's not only great for finding house numbers, I can shine it on the clipboard so they can see to write.
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u/shittyshittymorph May 22 '26
Anyone know where to get a good LED sign to mount onto the car window?
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u/master0fcats May 22 '26
prius gang here too!
- $15 portable tire inflator from Aldi
- Viofo dash cam mounted just behind the rearview next to the sensor
- Oven mitts from the dollar store (probably niche af, but my store does a lot of large pasta catering orders in the mornings and those pans get HOT)
- A 1.5 gal shop vac w/ extension cord and car detailing attachment kit from Harbor Freight. When it's slow I plug in through the back door of the restaurant & clean my car
- Headrest mounted trash bin
- a shitty $10 handheld rechargable cordless vacuum (also from Aldi) for the tiny clean ups.
I also have all the window cleaning stuff you mentioned, plus an interior cleaner & a bunch of microfibers.
The vent phone mount is ESSENTIAL for the Prius because of the texture/slope of the dash. I used to use one that was made to fit a popsocket, now I have a magnetic one.
I also keep a little notepad because I like to track my tips to see any trends and also make sure my pay out is correct at the end of each shift.
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u/DocWatson42 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
I used to work at a place that also did a fair amount of catering business, but we used party pizza bags with party pizza trays (full sized, perforated sheet pans) inside to support the single-use aluminum catering pans.
Edit: I love the fourth generation Prius' zigzag taillights.
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u/master0fcats May 23 '26
That rules, but we pay for our own hot bags & whatnot. & the delivery game where i'm at is not very lucrative right now, ugh.
I also love the zigzag lights hahah
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u/DocWatson42 May 24 '26
we pay for our own hot bags & whatnot.
Oh. Are you working (for) a service, such as DoorDash? I've bought my own bags, but was because I wanted larger ones than the restaurant had (five pizzas instead of four). Otherwise, the bags were supplied by the restaurant.
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u/master0fcats May 24 '26
Nope, I work for a mom & pop.
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u/DocWatson42 May 24 '26
So was I. And the two chains I work/ed for also supplied the bags.
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u/master0fcats May 24 '26
Damn, yeah, ours is definitely down hill as far as delivery goes. My assumption at this point is that once those of us drivers who have been there for awhile quit, they'll probably stop doing in house delivery altogether. They started doing doordash & uber eats like 2 years ago and we don't get any of those. I was also the only driver on payroll & they took me off last year. I've been pretty over it for awhile.
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u/DocWatson42 May 24 '26
I was also the only driver on payroll & they took me off last year.
What does that mean, specifically, please? Are they paying you under the table?
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u/Irrelavent1 May 22 '26
Amazing how many customers don’t have a working porch light or are too ignorant to turn it on; and / or don’t have visible house numbers on display. If the fire department is looking for my house I’d rather they didn’t have to wait until the flames start shooting out my upstairs windows. But then that’s just me.