Business has picked up in dramatic fashion for local Skip the Dishes drivers, but at first, some drivers weren’t feeling safe enough to answer the call.
Tyler Healey has been driving for the take-out delivery service for the past two years. He says he was one of the drivers who was leery about delivering food to people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Honestly, I didn’t do much in the beginning because I was concerned, but now that I’m out of work I’ve been picking it up,” said Healey, who was recently laid off from his job as a cook at Wimpy’s Diner.
Healey has felt more comfortable about doing his job with the food delivery service since the company implemented some safety precautions just a few short days after the pandemic began.
At most restaurants, the system is similar. Drivers go into the restaurant and pick up the order at the counter.
However, some restaurants have put their own safety measures into effect such as the McDonalds on Highway 12 which asks delivery drivers to wait outside for the orders to be brought out to them.
As for delivering the product to the consumer, that process has become contactless, said Healey. Drivers are asked to simply leave the food on the front porch and just walk away.
“Now that safety measures are being taken, I feel like it is OK to be doing the job,” Healey said.
Being the father of a two-year-old, Healey has taken safety measures a step further to protect himself and his family.
“My thing is after I grab the food from the restaurant, I put some hand sanitizer on that I leave in my car. I always sanitize before touching my phone or anything else,” he said.
With all restaurants in Ontario ordered to close their dining rooms by Premier Doug Ford when he declared a provincial state of emergency on March 17, take-out service is seeing a major spike in the volume of orders.
“It’s been crazy busy. It’s order after order and normally the volume we see on a Friday night, we are seeing on a Tuesday afternoon,” Healey said.
Paige Granton, a local stay-at-home mother, has been driving for Skip the Dishes in Orillia since September. She says this is the busiest she has ever been working as a delivery driver.
“Normally we can make $100 a day, but with COVID-19 going on I’m ranging almost double that," Granton explains.
Like Healey, Granton was also initially tentative about working for the company during the pandemic.
“I was really worried; I wasn’t picking up any shifts at first,” she said.
Once Granton learned about the contactless delivery process that was mandated, she also was on board and felt safe returning to work.
Hungry Orillians are appreciative.
