Driver Guide

1. Welcome

Who we are, and how we work together.

• Catering Delivery Partners (CDP) delivers catering orders for restaurants in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Think trays for an office lunch or a team meeting, not a single meal.
• You are an independent contractor, not an employee. You choose when you are available. There is no minimum number of hours or jobs, and you are free to drive for other companies too.
• GigSafe is our partner for the paperwork. GigSafe handles your sign-up, your documents and background check, your W-9, and your weekly payments.
• Our dispatch team handles everything about jobs: what you deliver, when, and help while you are on the road.

2. Getting started

From sign-up to your first sign-in, step by step.

1. Sign up with GigSafe. Apply from the Apply to drive section on our Drivers page. GigSafe collects your driver's license, vehicle registration and insurance, and runs a background and driving record check.
2. We open your account. Once you are approved, we open your driver account.
3. Check your email. You get an email called "Your driver account is ready". It shows the email address you sign in with and the links to download the app. Can't find it? Check your spam folder.
4. Set your password. Tap Set your password in the email. On the page that opens, type your new password twice (at least 10 characters) and tap Set my password. You will see: "Your password is set. Open the driver app and sign in with your email."
   • The link works once and expires after 24 hours.
5. Install the app (CDP Driver).
   • Android: get CDP Driver on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cateringdeliverypartners.driver
   • iPhone: the app comes through TestFlight. First install the TestFlight app from the App Store. Then open the iPhone link in your email and tap Install. When TestFlight tells you a new version is ready, install it.
6. Sign in. Open the app, type your email and password, and tap Sign In.
7. Agree to the basics. The first time, the app shows Before you start: how it uses your location and photos. Read it and tap I agree. Please allow location and notifications when your phone asks.

Forgot your password?

1. On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password?
2. Type your email and tap Send link.
3. Open the newest email from us and set a new password.

• Every request sends a new link, and only the newest link works. Older ones stop working.
• You can ask for a link up to 3 times an hour.
• Never share your password. If you think someone else signed in to your account, tell dispatch right away.

3. How you get jobs

There are two ways: you pick jobs from the Order Pool, or dispatch assigns a job to you.

Set up Job alerts first

1. Open the menu and tap Job alerts.
2. Choose the areas you want to work in. You get alerts for jobs in those areas and the areas next to them.
3. Allow notifications when your phone asks. Without areas selected, you won't get pool alerts.

The Order Pool

• Jobs for the next day are usually opened in the evening. Jobs added during the day appear in the pool right away.
• You get a notification like "3 new jobs in your areas", and "A job is open again" when a job comes back to the pool. Dispatch may also send a reminder when jobs are still open.
• Open Order Pool to see open jobs. Each card shows the pickup area and the delivery area, the distance and drive time, the pickup and delivery times, the order size, and whether setup is needed. The restaurant's name and the full addresses appear once the job is yours. The card says Pay shown after pickup.
• Tap Claim job to take it. Once claimed, it moves to My Tasks.
• Limits: up to 4 jobs a day. You can't claim a job that overlaps in time with one you already have.

Releasing a job you claimed

• Plans change. Tap Release job on the job in My Tasks. The job goes back to the pool for another driver.
• More than 12 hours before pickup: free.
• Between 12 and 3 hours before pickup: you can still release it, but it is recorded as a late release in your record.
• Less than 3 hours before pickup: you can't release it in the app. Use Message the team and dispatch will help.
• There is no fee or penalty for releasing a job.

Jobs dispatch assigns to you

• Dispatch can also give you a job directly. You get a "New job" notification; open the app to see it in My Tasks.
• Can't do it? Tell dispatch as early as you can through Support. Saying no is fine. Please give us at least 3 hours before pickup if you possibly can.
• There is no guarantee of a set number of jobs.

Other notifications you may get: "Stops changed", "Job removed", "Order cancelled", and "Dispatch" (dispatch wrote to you). Each one says: open the app to see it.

4. Doing a job, step by step

Every stop works the same way: one big button, and it changes as you go.

Before pickup

1. About 30 minutes before pickup, you get "A collection is coming up". Open the app and tap I'll be there on the pickup card. The card tells you ahead of time when it will ask ("We will ask you to confirm at …").
2. When you set off, open the stop and tap Start. Directions open once you press Start.

At the restaurant (pickup)

3. When you reach the restaurant, tap Arrived. Do this the moment you get there: it is how your on-time pickup is measured.
4. Check the order matches the details on the card (item count, name) without opening sealed packaging.
5. Load the order into your car, then tap Confirm. The camera opens: take a photo of the order placed in your car. The step closes only when the photo is saved.

At the customer (drop-off)

6. Tap Start, then Arrived when you get there.
7. Hand the order to the person on the card (Ask for). Follow any delivery instructions.
8. Tap Confirm and take the drop-off photo. Confirm opens 15 minutes before the delivery time. If you are early, the app shows "You can complete this delivery from …".

You can add a note to any stop under How Did It Go? before you tap Confirm.

If the photo will not work: turn on camera access for the app in your phone settings and tap Confirm again. If it still fails, contact dispatch. There is no way to finish a stop without a photo.

Your location

• The app shares your location only during a job: from when you tap I'll be there (or Start) until you confirm the last drop-off, also while the app is in the background.
• No location is shared between jobs.
• The restaurant sees your location on a map while their order is with you (not your name or number). The customer sees it once their delivery is your next stop.

Calls with the customer

• For each job assigned to you, you see the recipient's name and phone number.
• Customers can't see your number on their tracking page. Their calls go to CDP dispatch, and we contact you if needed.
• If you call the customer yourself from the stop screen, it uses your own phone, so they will see your number.
• The customer's phone number disappears from your app 24 hours after delivery.

When things don't go to plan

• Running late? Tell dispatch through Support as soon as you know. Early notice helps everyone.
• The restaurant is late with the food? Tap Arrived when you get there (so your pickup counts as on time) and tell dispatch while you wait.
• The customer isn't there or doesn't answer? Call them, then message dispatch. Don't leave the food or take it away until dispatch tells you what to do.
• Something unsafe? You can stop. Get somewhere safe first, then contact dispatch.

Talking to dispatch: tap Support in the menu, or the round chat bubble that floats on every screen. Write what is happening and tap Send. A person in our office reads it and answers there.

5. On time

How we measure on time, and where you see your own numbers.

Example: pickup planned at 11:15 AM is on time up to 11:15:59 AM.

• My Numbers (in the menu) shows your last 28 days: Pickups on time, Drop-offs on time, Told us in time and Deliveries. With fewer than 5 stops you see Not enough yet.
• Cancelled orders don't count.
• Something looks wrong? Tap Something wrong? next to the stop, or write through Support. If dispatch finds it wasn't on you (restaurant late, customer not available, plan too tight, app or phone problem), the stop shows Excused and drops out of your percentages.
• Being late never reduces your pay. Full details: cateringdeliverypartners.com/drivers/on-time (also How we count in the app).

6. Waiting at the restaurant

If a restaurant keeps you waiting, you can be paid for it.

• Only at restaurants where a wait fee applies.
• The wait counts from 15 minutes after the scheduled pickup time. From then on, you get $5 for each full 15 minutes until the order is handed to you. It is added to that order's pay.
• Example: pickup is scheduled for 11:00. The wait counts from 11:15. The restaurant hands you the order at 11:40. That is 25 minutes counted, so one full 15 minutes: $5. Handed over at 11:50 instead: 35 minutes, two full 15 minutes: $10.
• You need to be there on time. If you arrive after the scheduled pickup time, there is no wait fee.
• Tell dispatch while you are waiting, through Support. Dispatch records the wait; a wait we don't hear about can't be recorded.
• Tap Arrived when you get there. Your arrival time helps us confirm the wait.

7. Pay

What you earn, when it arrives, and what GigSafe charges.

What you earn

• Per-order pay, set by us for each job.
• Tips. Customer tips go to drivers; we keep none of them. How tips are shared between drivers is explained here before it applies. A cash tip handed to you is yours.
• Wait pay when it applies (section 6).
• Cancelled orders: cancelled after you picked up, full order pay. Cancelled before you pick up, usually no pay. We look at late cancellations case by case: if the restaurant paid for the cancelled order, you are paid for that order.

When you are paid

• You are paid once a week. A pay week runs Monday to Sunday, New York time.
• Payday is currently Wednesday, after the week ends, through GigSafe. We'll tell you if it changes.
• If payday falls on a public holiday, you are paid the next business day.
• You can see your weeks in Earnings in the app (Paid / Not paid yet).

GigSafe fees

• GigSafe takes 1.5% of each weekly payment, never more than $6.50 a week.
• Faster payout: GigSafe may offer faster payout options, with their own fee. See GigSafe for details.
• We don't set or receive GigSafe's fees.

Set up in GigSafe

• Add your payout method in GigSafe before your first payday. Without it, GigSafe can't pay you.
• Taxes: no taxes are taken from your pay. You fill in your W-9 in GigSafe. We send you a 1099 when the law requires it.
• GigSafe emails you a statement for each payment. Want a full breakdown of a week (order pay, tips, wait pay)? Ask us through Support and we'll send it.

Something wrong with your pay?

• Write to us through Support in the app within 30 days of the payment. We answer within 10 business days and fix any error in the next weekly payment.
• Damaged order: if an order is damaged or lost through your fault (not a traffic accident), we may reduce that order's pay, never by more than that order's pay. We tell you first and you can respond within 7 days. Your tips are never touched.

8. Documents and your account

Keep your papers current so you can keep driving.

• Keep your driver's license, registration and insurance up to date in GigSafe. GigSafe may remind you before a document expires. Renew early.
• If a document expires, GigSafe pauses your account until you upload a new one in GigSafe. While paused you can't sign in or get jobs.
• Account paused? If a document expired, renew it in GigSafe and your account reopens automatically. For anything else, email support@cateringdeliverypartners.com.
• Check your insurance. Your personal car insurance may not cover deliveries. Ask your insurer. We don't provide car, accident or health insurance.
• Changing your email? Change it in GigSafe; your app sign-in updates with it.
• Account paused or closed for another reason? We can pause or close an account for serious problems, such as unsafe or impaired driving, theft, fake delivery confirmations, or letting someone else use your account. We tell you why. You can appeal within 14 days by email to support@cateringdeliverypartners.com, and we answer within 7 days.
• Leaving? You can stop at any time. Pay you earned arrives on the next regular payday.

9. Good practice

Short rules that keep food safe, customers happy and you safe.

• Never open, eat from or tamper with an order. Check it without opening sealed packaging.
• Handle catering with care. Bring at least two insulated bags, keep them clean, and keep trays level.
• No smoking or vaping in the car while carrying food. No alcohol deliveries.
• Be courteous to restaurant staff, customers and our team.
• Customer information is for this job only. Don't keep, share or reuse names, numbers or addresses.
• Your account is yours. Don't share it, and don't let anyone do a job for you.
• Drive safely. Never drive impaired. Stop somewhere safe before using your phone. Keep your phone charged and the app running during a job.

If you have an accident

1. Get safe. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or in danger.
2. Tell dispatch right away, even if nobody is hurt.
3. Take photos if it is safe: the cars, the place, the other car's plate.
4. Exchange information as the law requires. Don't admit fault at the scene.
5. Don't leave the order without telling dispatch. We'll sort out the food. Nothing is taken from your pay automatically because of an accident.

10. Who to contact

The right place for each question.

11. FAQ