- DoorDash is now offering hand sanitizer and gloves to its couriers nationwide in the US and in Canada to help protect them from the coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly around the world.
- The company secured tens of thousands of gloves and bottles of sanitizer earlier this year but previously had only made them available to delivery drivers in certain areas of the US.
- DoorDash closed its local offices around the country, so couriers will have to order the supplies online and pay up to $5 in shipping.
- The company plans to start offering sanitizer and gloves in Australia next week.
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DoorDash delivery drivers nationwide and in Canada can now get hand sanitizer from the company for the price of shipping.
They can also order gloves, but may have to wait a bit longer to receive them, because they're backordered, company spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean told Business Insider.
Such products have been hard to find in many areas due to increased demand spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. To get either of the supplies, which the company is offering to help protect couriers, or Dashers, as it calls them, from the disease, they'll have to order the products online rather than getting them in person from one of DoorDash's offices. The company has closed the local offices it uses to sign up new drivers in all three of the countries in which it operates: the US, Canada, and Australia, Jarvis-Shean said.
"These supplies are now available to Dashers in all of our US markets, and as Dashers join or return to the platform, we're working to make sure they are aware that we are offering them," she said.
The food delivery company secured tens of thousands of gloves and bottles of sanitizer earlier this year, but initially offered the supplies in only a limited portion of the US. As of Monday evening, the company was only offering them to about 40% of its active drivers. It had previously said it planned to offer the supplies nationwide by the end of this week.
While gloves are backordered, the company is getting more in and is shipping them as soon as it does, Jarvis-Shean said. DoorDash is charging up to $5 per order to ship the supplies. It is covering any shipping costs above that amount, Jarvis-Shean said.
The company plans to begin offering sanitizer and gloves to its couriers in Australia starting next week, she said.
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- Read more about DoorDash:
- DoorDash has expanded the places where it's offering free hand sanitizer and gloves to delivery workers - but doesn't see a nationwide rollout until the end of the week
- Here's how 5 food delivery services are adapting to the coronavirus restrictions and safety precautions
- DoorDash stockpiled hand sanitizer and gloves for its delivery drivers, but it's only offering the supplies to a portion of them
- The CEO of DoorDash says the company is stockpiling hand sanitizer and gloves for delivery drivers