>>2004386
Depends what you mean by optimal, $/hour? $/mile? deliveries/day? I think spending all day in the loop is nonoptimal for $/hour but that really depends. My method is to catch peak hours, in river north/loop/westloop/southloop that is between 11am-2pm, refuel the mule during the slowest part of the day 3-4pm then back for dinner peak 5-7pm. I like to be online an hour before peak hits and stick around like another hour after for lingering orders so 10-3pm and 4pm-8pm with an hour lunch at 3-4pm is a normal day for me. Most days I transition from downtown to the residentials like wicker or lakeview for dinner, just my preference, but I stick around downtown when I really need it.
Think about it in the perspective of the customer, you want to work when people are hungry and hang around the places they order from, both the time and place changes all the time. There's a rhythm to it and you find it through experience. Also, be aware that weekdays have a different rhythm from weekends, that should also be a factor for when/where you work. It's been busy this year with the amount of tourists and politicians from out of state thanks to all the incoming national level events.
When your stats are good and you have a good history of deliveries completed and you get the emails regarding future opportunities like pizza, alcohol, grocery, catering, medicine, etc, sign up for those opportunities. Those are the orders that have decent $ per mile. Sometimes those orders have shit $/hr but good $/mile, it's still worth running for the stats and further future opportunities. A few years ago I received an email that gave me the opportunity to model for one of their hiring campaigns, don't be afraid of levelling up and taking the chances they give you.
