DoorDash Sends Drivers to Restaurants Just to Load Food Into Delivery Robots
DoorDash is offering its drivers a chance to earn extra money by loading food into its autonomous delivery robots. The company's Dot robots can navigate roads and sidewalks but still require a human to load the delivery cargo. This move is part of DoorDash's ongoing experimentation with automation and its efforts to support merchants during busy periods.
- ▪DoorDash is paying drivers around $5 to pick up restaurant orders and load them into its Dot delivery robots.
- ▪The Dot robots are being used for deliveries in the Phoenix area and can navigate roads and sidewalks using lidar, radar, and cameras.
- ▪DoorDash has also received FAA approval to commercially operate its own drone delivery service, DoorDash Air, which is being developed in-house by DoorDash Labs.
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| Original publisher | Gizmodo |
| Canonical URL | https://gizmodo.com/doordash-sends-drivers-to-restaurants-just-to-load-food-into-delivery-robots-2000793984 |
| Publication time | Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:25:13 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-03T16:30:42.977Z |
| Last seen | 2026-08-03T16:30:42.977Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Cluster | 0BCHxs8njnqC · 1 stories |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
As DoorDash continues to experiment with automation, there are still some pretty simple tasks its robots just can’t do yet. The delivery giant has been offering drivers about $5 to pick up restaurant orders and load them into its Dot delivery robots, according to Business Insider. Dot is DoorDash’s purpose-built autonomous delivery robot. It can use lidar, radar, and cameras to navigate roads and sidewalks at up to 20 miles per hour. But the large stroller-shaped robot still needs a human to load its delivery cargo. © DoorDash That’s apparently where DoorDash drivers come in. Devena Bybee, a DoorDash worker in Mesa, Arizona, told Business Insider that she received an offer in July through the app to load a robot.
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