Best products from r/TalesFromThePizzaGuy

I'll tack on to these with a few I've picked up through the years.

• When giving the customer a credit card slip to sign , don't say "please sign this", say "please fill this out". If you say sign, people will immediately look for the signature line and might miss the tip line. If you say fill this out, they will look at the whole sheet because it implies there is more than one thing to fill in. Sounds stupid, but it works.
  
  
• Use the car toppers if your store has them. I've asked multiple officers and they've all admitted they are less likely to pull us over for little things like not signalling or reasonable speeding if we have a car topper on. Most of them realize we are just trying to do our job and actually have a reason to drive a little aggressively, unlike most people. This isn't a foolproof plan and don't let it lull you into a false sense of security, but it's definitely not going to hurt. It also lets you park just about wherever you want, nobody is going to tow or ticket a pizza guy.
  
  
• Grab a can of Ozium. Not the new car scent, it smells awful, there's a lemon scent that's amazing. After a few weeks your car will smell like pizza and eventually you will get sick of it. This stuff works really between cleanings.
  
  
• Get a spotlight. Not a flashlight, a spotlight. I use this one. It's bright as fuck (I brought it to St. Louis and standing under the arch, the beam went all the way to the top with barely any spread.) and makes lighting up addresses (which will be the bane of your existence) wayyyyy easier.
  
  
• Buy a pen. There's two approaches to this. You can buy a ton of really cheap pens and not have to worry about losing them (you will) or people taking them (they will), or you can buy a really nice pen if you think you will be more careful about holding onto it.
  If you want something in the middle, Pilot G2 is the best disposable (though you can buy refills) pen I've ever used.
  
  
• Have a spare tire, jack, tire iron, and jumper cables. You will need one or all of these items at least once in your career, if not for your own car, for someone else.
  
  
• Keep up the maintenance on your car. Your car is going to be your biggest expense, so you have to take care of it. This job destroys cars no matter where you live. Keep the oil changed every 3,000, keep good tires on it, and keep an eye on your suspension. You are probably going to thrash a ball joint or a tie rod end at some point if you do for this for any real length of time. If possible, always keep an "emergency car fund". Always have at least $200 sitting around for bullshit, because I promise you something on your car is going to break.
  
  
• Keep change in your pockets. You usually won't need it unless your customers are dicks, but having something jingle in your pockets makes the whole "am i keeping the change?" moment less common. Most people will tell you to keep the change if they hear you digging around for coins. This will also stop you from having to go to your car or get yelled at when you inevitability get "that guy" who absolutely must have his eleven cents.
  
  
• Learn how block numbers work if you don't already know. On almost every street sign, you will see a number. That's your block number. So if you're going down the road and you pass a street sign that says "Sycamore 800 W", you know you just hit the 800 block of Sycamore going westbound. So if the address is 845, you know you need to start looking here. Most (key word most) streets follow a pretty consistent numbering pattern, so if the first two houses are 800, then 804, you know the next one should be 808. Odds are on one side, evens on the other. Don't get too comfortable with this though, some streets just do whatever the fuck they want.
  
  
• Learn the local streets so you can skip the highways when rush hour hits. If your town is anything like mine, everyone only knows one way to get where they are going which usually means everyone packing themselves onto the highway. You don't want to be stuck in traffic.
  
  
• Get a good pair of shoes/insoles. Most stores require you to wear black no-slip shoes, but there's a pretty good selection of those these days. If you can't find ones that are as comfortable as you'd like, look into insoles. You are going to be on your feet and walking around all day, this will save your legs/back/feet.
  
  
• Sunglasses. Self-explanatory. Nothing worse than that shitty time of day where the sun is too low for your visor and just high enough to be in your eyeballs.
  
  
  
  That's all I've got for now. Good luck! The job isn't always great, but it's rarely bad, and when it's good it's really good. Honestly, the shittiest part is how much people look down on you. People equate pizza guys with people at McDonald's or any other minimum wage job even though a lot of us make upwards of $20 an hour. Don't let it get to you. You're getting paid to drive around and listen to music all day, they're just jealous.
  

$20 range or $50 range? There's a big jump in quality between the two. I use this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RT73GIU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (it's adequate but the lanyard WILL break almost immediately and it has some annoying quirks.)
But I regret not spending the extra cash for the "NiteCore P20 Tactical Strobe Ready 800 Lumens LED Flashlight, Black" from these guys: http://lightsngear.com/lightsngear-store/

The dudes at lightsngear.com actually contacted me after I posted a review on amazon and sent me a new lanyard and a belt holster for the mid-quality flashlight I didn't even buy from them just out of the goodness of their hearts and in order to win a new customer when my flashlight inevitably dies on me. They succeeded in impressing me with the gesture.

I carry a similar loadout:

Swiss Army One-handed Trekker (Non-serrated) - for use as a blade and tool; I carry on my hip for ease of use. One-handed operation.

Smart pwn - for calls and shit.

Sunglasses - 2nd shift means sideways sunlight.

Average-ass ink stick and notepad - I'm a writer and sometimes my co-workers say some pretty rank stuff worth noting.

Minimag LED Pro+ - Brighter than my old Minimag LED; super bright for the money; I carry on my hip for ease of use.

Timex wristwatch (same model) - I set it to exact time so I'm never early getting to work.

Carabiner - goes on front belt loop for car keys; sometimes I take my housekeys off so it's quicker.

In the car:

Pens galore - just in case I forgot mine.

Car-mounted GPS - using my phone is a hassle; this device can be turned on and charged in my car, and is of quick use.

CB radio - The locals that talk on it are really funny and they help pass the time. I can also flick a switch and talk on a PA speaker under my hood to tell the little children to get out of my way when they're being retards in the street.

_____

Most useful is probably the flashlight.

Yeah, probably the dongle. It's got a great mic and connects well, but I'm sure the technology in a fully connected BT stereo system would be better. You can control a lot more of the phone stuff from those. It's on my wish list to get a touchscreen stereo installed, but I'm working on saving up for a house down payment right now.

The dongle is a this one: https://www.amazon.com/iClever-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Multi-Point-Activation/dp/B00GJFGE0K which I'm just now seeing is $20 cheaper than when I bought it. LOL

if this is your first delivery job make sure you get a good small flashlight and buy some good pens to keep in your car at all times. I also bought a mini clipboard for a few bucks and had the credit card receipts on it. It increased my tips by a lot because when someone didn't fill in the blanks I handed it back to them and told them "You need to fill out the entire receipt" and 80% of the time would add a tip. Also, countless comments of "Fancy/Convenient!" as it is hard to sign a receipt when you have to find somewhere to do it at.

If you drive a older car MAKE SURE you have:

• a good jack
  
• 1 full sized spare in the trunk (junk yard sells these for under $20)
  
• lug wrench - it makes it much easier
  
• jumper cables
  
• rain coat/poncho
  
  use the maps as much as possible and use google maps in a pinch. This gets you used to learning the lay out of neighborhoods and what not as google maps just tells you where to go.

I have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KHKUBLQ/

I paid around $65 in September. (I also bought a 32 GB class 10 memory card for extra recording time--roughly 5 hours at 1080p.)

It records a pretty nice video in daylight, and video that's good enough to show what happened at night.

One day, it stopped recording anything. I think I filled the memory card by saving (locking) too many video segments, but I reformatted the memory card, and it started operating normally again. (What was I going to do with all those saved videos anyway? Watch them and go "what an idiot!" a second time?)

It's only $56 today (which includes an 8 GB memory card, suction cup, power cord, and mini-USB cable). $56 is awesome, but to tell the truth, I'd buy it again if it was $100.

I'll hijack your comment so OP sees.

I used to drive for pizza delivery, and got a dashcam while I was doing so.

The one I have is a bit on the pricy side, but it has better night vision than I do and records in 1080p and 60 FPS.

Here is a link. It's unavailable on Amazon but I'm sure it can be found on Ebay too.

It's very nice quality.

Maybe you could speak to the manager and put up cute little signs about such as:

Don't take my job away! Leave those plates on the table for me!

Thanks for your courtesy, but please leave dishes on the table. Our counter just doesn't have the space!

If you use pretty paper and font people should respond well to it. A small piece of paper on one of these should do it.

Check this one out. It's the one I have. It has both a front and rear camera. Apparently it takes a specific kind of SD card like this one. Definitely glad I got mine as I do a ton of driving for work.

Hey, I delivered in an area where ice was very common. If your shoes don't have enough traction, buy something like this. The pair I got were really easy to slip on and off. My store's parking lot would have 2 inches of ice over the whole thing, and the manager wouldn't do anything about it. These saved my butt. Literally.

Google has produced the following suggestion:

G1W: http://www.amazon.com/Blueskysea-1920x1080-G1W-Dashboard-Detection/dp/B00FONBG1A

It seems to be a shady market on the whole though so stick with something well-reviewed. Also, have you considered rigging your phone or an older one you have?

I would recommend checking out the Amazon Best Sellers Category as whole: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Electronics-Car-Dash-Mounted-Video/zgbs/electronics/3248689011

The ones mounted in rear-view mirrors seem the most practical to me.

This is the one I have, I see there's a cheaper one now too, but this one looks like it grips the phone better!

https://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Smartphone-Midsize-Tablet-Samsung/dp/B00EHQMZ6K/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1473186926&sr=8-16&keywords=seat+mount+phone+holder

This is an example toner refill that costs just under $7. You always want to get a recommended type of toner for your printer because you want a shade that your printer will not have trouble with, otherwise your shading might be way off.

http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-MFC-7460DN-MFC-7860DW-DCP-7060D-DCP-7065DN/dp/B004WSO73W/ref=pd_sim_229_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=41CZlKuC03L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0D5136FJFXWZ5HJKVAF0

You can also buy the drum with toner already in it, off-brand. Typically branded drums cost about $45-$150. But off-brand, which I've never had issues with in over 5 years, cost $8-$25. This is an example, and if your friend is paying $600 for refills then they're probably for corporate grade printers. But typically it costs around $150-$300 for a cartridge that prints out 25,000 to 50,000 pages.

http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Toner-Cartridge-Replacement-TN450/dp/B0062ZNYFK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458062293&sr=8-2&keywords=brother+laser+cartridge

An example of a cartridge for a corporate grade printer:
http://www.amazon.com/Xerox-4250MFP-Toner-Cartridge-1-Pack/dp/B0059LU9KG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458062513&sr=8-4&keywords=Xerox+4250+Copier

It really depends on the cut of the boxer briefs, man. I know that Reddit dislikes Hanes, but I think their Ringer style boxer briefs are the best. You can usually get a 5-pack at Target or Walmart for like $15

If yours are riding up, maybe they're too tight? I also find that mine ride up when they are "misaligned" IE not centered perfectly on my waist which will cause one leg to ride up

Go for 100% cotton either way, synthetics tend to ride up (I'm looking at you, Uniqlo airism) etc

I like this one, though the red plastic holding on the condenser lens section is a weak point. Aside from that it uses a single AA battery, but is very bright for its size... and the two-way clip means you can pop it onto the bill of your cap, or hang it off the side of your visor for hands free use at a customer's door. Magnetic base comes in handy now and then too, but it's not super strong.

Nebo REDLINE OC 200 Lumen Flashlight https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IADXSF8

The G1W is probably your best bet for recording quality vs price. Here's a review with some footage.

Sorry this happened to you. ]: