BLOOMINGTON — A new food delivery service is focusing its energy on keeping things local.
It’s called Driver on Deck and it’s based in Bloomington.
When 2 p.m. rolls around, driver Ashton Hershberger is behind the wheel.
“It’s just fun to drive around," Hershberger said. “Basically I get to choose my own hours. Take care of the orders that are coming up during that times.”
The 23-year-old has worked for different food delivery services in his lifetime — Door Dash, Instacart, you name it.
But he says none compare to Driver on Deck.
“Everything is local. And I love supporting local," he said.
Driver on Deck exclusively partners with 16 Bloomington-based businesses.
“We do a combination of food trucks, cloud kitchens and local restaurants," co-owner and founder Nate Harris said.
Many of these businesses don’t offer online ordering themselves, lack staffing, a website or just need a helping hand.
“We offer a commission free structure where they don’t pay those additional 30 percent fees and add on charges. We charge them a flat fee to provide the delivery service to their customers," Harris said.
Co-owners and founders Nate Harris and Victoria LaRocca-Harris say we live in an age of online ordering, especially since the pandemic.
They say Driver on Deck is helping struggling restaurants keep up with the times and reach customers they otherwise couldn’t.
The duo already has plans to expand to other communities in Central Indiana.
Their goal is to be set up in Indianapolis in the next year.
“The first tier would be restaurants that don’t have their own delivery service, we provide our own delivery drivers. If they do have their own delivery drivers then we provide a back up service for them. On game days, busy times of year, graduation is coming up," Harris said.
Hershberger is one of about 25 drivers on staff.
He says he contributes to the roughly 1,000 customer orders driver on deck completes a month.
All in 55 minutes or less.
