I drove for DoorDash for years before I finally realized a terrifying truth: the numbers showing up in my weekly balance were complete lies. If you are delivering for DoorDash, Instacart, Spark, or Uber Eats, the gross earnings deposited into your checking account represent the total payout from that app—but your vehicle costs are eating away at that number in real time.

Many gig drivers gross $18 to $25 per hour on paper. But after you factor in gas, prorated monthly car payments, commercial insurance commercial policy rates, oil changes, tire wear, and self-employment taxes, you are likely keeping only $10 to $17 per hour. That is a massive 35% to 45% expense gap!

I built the Giggie app specifically because I wanted drivers to see their actual real profit after all expenses, automatically every shift. In this article, I will walk you through the exact math and show you how to calculate your net profits.

1. Prorating Your Fixed Vehicle Expenses

The most common mistake drivers make is ignoring fixed overhead costs. Your car payment and insurance are due every single month, regardless of whether you log active shifts. To calculate your real profitability, you must prorate these fixed costs daily.

If your car payment is $300/month, that is $10 per day. If your insurance is $120/month, that is $4 per day. Add a standard maintenance reserve (e.g. $75/month for oil changes and tires), which is another $2.50 per day. Together, you are starting every day with a -$16.50 base expense. This is your baseline operating threshold.

2. Fuel Overhead Costs

Fuel is your largest variable cost. To track gas cost, divide the mileage you drive during shifts by your car's real-world MPG, then multiply by the gas price per gallon. For example, if you log 120 miles on a shift in a car that gets 24 MPG, you used exactly 5 gallons of fuel. If gas is $3.50/gallon, your fuel cost is $17.50.

3. Prorating Self-Employment Tax

As a self-employed 1099 contractor, you must pay a 15.3% self-employment tax (12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare). However, the IRS allows you to deduct 50% of your self-employment tax from your taxable income. Keeping precise mileage logs using the standard mileage deduction rate of $0.725/mile serves as your tax shield, significantly reducing your taxable base.

Try the Real Profit Calculator

Input your active metrics below to see your real net profits after vehicle expenses and estimated self-employment taxes: