Build your rate from three parts: a base delivery fee, a charge for distance and extra stops, and a separate setup and labor fee. For most markets a fair minimum is a 40 to 60 dollar base per run, plus 0.65 to 0.85 dollars per mile past the first ten miles, plus 25 to 45 dollars for full chafing dish setup. Price the whole job, not just the drive, and never quote below what covers your fuel, your time, and your equipment.
Most independent catering drivers lose money for a simple reason. They quote a single flat number because a coordinator asked what they charge, and that number gets anchored low before they have done the math. Once a catering company has you at 30 dollars a run, that becomes your ceiling with them, and every future job is compared to it. Pricing is not something you improvise on the phone. It is something you decide once, write down, and repeat.
The good news is that catering delivery pricing is not complicated. You are not building a menu or forecasting a season. You are covering three real costs and adding a fair margin on top. When you break the job into its parts, the right number becomes obvious, and you can quote it without flinching. This guide walks through the exact structure I use, with real dollar figures a new driver can copy on their first week.
Before you set a number, understand the range. Catering companies pay drivers in a few common ways. Some pay a flat per run fee in the 35 to 75 dollar band depending on the size of the order and whether setup is included. Some pay hourly, usually 20 to 30 dollars an hour with a two hour minimum. A smaller group pays a percentage of the order, often 10 to 18 percent, which favors you on large corporate lunches and hurts you on small drops.
Your job is to figure out where you sit in that range and price toward the top of it as your reliability builds. A brand new driver with no track record might start near the floor to win the first few accounts. Within a month of on time, clean, professional deliveries you have earned the right to quote the middle of the range and hold it. Reliability is the leverage. Coordinators pay more to stop worrying about whether the food arrives hot and on time.
Here is the structure. Every quote is a base fee plus distance plus setup. Keep them separate on paper even when you give the client one combined number, because that lets you flex each part for the specific job.
The base fee covers showing up, loading, the first stretch of driving, and the drop. Set this at 40 to 60 dollars. This is your minimum for turning the key, no matter how short the trip. A five mile delivery still costs you an hour of your day once you count loading, driving, and unloading.
The distance charge covers fuel and vehicle wear beyond a reasonable local radius. Include the first ten miles in the base, then add 0.65 to 0.85 dollars per mile after that. On a 30 mile run that is twenty extra miles times 0.75, which is 15 dollars on top of your base. For multi stop routes, add 8 to 12 dollars per additional stop, because each stop is a fresh parking, unloading, and coordination task.
The setup fee is the one drivers forget, and it is often the most valuable. If you are building chafing dishes, lighting Sterno, arranging trays, and staging the buffet, that is skilled labor worth 25 to 45 dollars on its own. A drop and go delivery does not carry this fee. A full setup for a 60 guest corporate lunch absolutely does.
Never quote a job until you know what it costs you to do it. The math is quick. Take a common example: a 25 mile delivery with full setup for an office lunch. Your fuel for a 50 mile round trip at 25 miles per gallon and 3.50 a gallon is about 7 dollars. Add rough vehicle wear and insurance load of another 6 dollars, plus 4 dollars of Sterno and gloves. Your hard cost on that run is around 17 dollars.
Now price it. Base of 50, plus fifteen miles past the first ten at 0.75 which is roughly 11 dollars, plus a 35 dollar setup. That is a 96 dollar quote against a 17 dollar cost, leaving you about 79 dollars for roughly ninety minutes of work. That is a healthy rate for catering delivery, and it holds up because every piece of it is defensible if the client asks.
Run this same math across a full week. Three runs a day at an average of 85 dollars net is 255 dollars a day. Five days of that is 1,275 dollars a week working with two or three steady catering companies. This is exactly how experienced Servello drivers build a real weekly income without ever cooking a thing. The numbers only work when you price every part of the job instead of leaving money on the table.
Everything you need to start your first catering job as a professional.
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Your first rate is not your forever rate. As your fuel costs climb and your reliability proves out, you raise prices. The mistake is waiting too long and then jumping too far. Small, regular increases with notice almost never cost you a good client.
A clean approach: once or twice a year, tell your steady accounts that your base is moving up by 5 to 10 dollars per run starting in two weeks. Frame it around cost, keep it brief, and thank them for the work. A coordinator who relies on you is not going to rebuild their driver bench over 10 dollars. If one walks, they were paying you the least anyway, and that slot frees up for a better paying account.
Track every job in a simple spreadsheet: date, client, base, miles, setup, and total. After a month you can see your real average per run and per hour. That data driven view is what tells you when to raise, which clients underpay, and where to spend your available hours. Pricing well is not a one time decision. It is a habit you keep sharp job after job.
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Set your rate once, write it down, and let the math defend it on every call. More at servellodelivers.com