The original order is the order I'm sent when I don't currently have any other order to pickup or deliver. The add-on is the order I am sent while I am still in the process of picking up or delivering the original order.
Original order pays $11.00 to transport a package 6.8 miles. The add-on pays $4.25 to pickup a second package and transport it an “additional” 2.1 miles, pickup is at the same location as the first.
The add-on isn't traveling just 2.1 miles, it's actually traveling a total distance of 8.9 miles, at 62% reduced pay. The add-on goes a further distance and pays less than the original order.
What's not told to the Doordash driver here, is the customer of the add-on order pays Doordash for the full 8.9 miles required to have the package delivered, just like the customer of the original order. Who also pays Doordash for the full 6.8 miles for their package delivery.
Doordash is pocketing the 6.8 miles worth of pay that would otherwise go to the driver for the add-on order. That customer is not given any sort of discount. So Doordash is paying the driver for 2.1 miles for the add-on when the customer is actually paying for an 8.9 mile delivery.
Is this wage theft? Or is it just a slick way to reduce labor costs? It's worth mentioning that Doordash doesn't classify it's drivers as employees, but rather as contractors. They don't get W-2's, they get 1099 tax forms. This has been going on for years all over the United States.