· 7 min read · StreetLegal Team
Food Truck Delivery Radius: How Far Should You Actually Deliver? (2026)
Updated July 19, 2026
DoorDash and Uber Eats will happily let a courier drive 8-10 miles to deliver your food, but just because the platform allows it doesn't mean it's good for your margin or your reviews. Here's what the platforms actually allow, why distance quietly eats into both food quality and profit, and how to pick a radius that makes sense for a truck instead of a fixed-address restaurant.
What DoorDash and Uber Eats actually allow
DoorDash's standard merchant integration is generally limited to about 5-7 miles, but DoorDash Drive (their white-label delivery-as-a-service option) can extend coverage to a 10-mile radius, tacking on roughly $0.50 per mile for the stretch between 6 and 10 miles. Uber Direct advertises up to an 8-mile delivery radius, wider than DoorDash's core limit, though real coverage still comes down to how many couriers are actually working your area at that moment, not just the platform's stated cap. Across both platforms, most actual completed deliveries land well under 5 miles regardless of the technical maximum, because couriers self-select shorter, faster runs when they can.
| Platform | Typical radius |
|---|---|
| DoorDash (standard integration) | ~5-7 miles |
| DoorDash Drive (extended) | Up to 10 miles, ~$0.50/mile for miles 6-10 |
| Uber Direct / Uber Eats | Up to ~8 miles (courier-density dependent) |
| Real-world median completed delivery | Under 5 miles on both platforms |
Why distance hurts food quality faster than you'd think
Every extra mile is extra minutes between when your food leaves the window hot and when it's actually opened. Fried items go soggy, anything meant to be served hot cools toward room temperature, and delicate textures (crispy shells, melted cheese, fresh-dressed salads) degrade the fastest. A short 2-mile hop might add 8-10 minutes; an 8-mile delivery can easily add 25-30 minutes once you count prep queue, courier pickup wait, and drive time. If your menu leans on food that's best eaten within minutes of cooking, a wide delivery radius is quietly generating one-star reviews about "cold, soggy food" that have nothing to do with your cooking.
The per-mile cost that eats your margin
Extended-range delivery isn't free for anyone in the chain. DoorDash Drive's roughly $0.50-per-mile add-on for the 6-10 mile stretch either comes out of your payout or gets built into a higher delivery fee that discourages the order in the first place. Combine that with the marketplace commission you're already paying (commonly 20-30% depending on tier, see our Uber Eats fee breakdown), and a far-flung delivery on a modest ticket can turn what looked like a sale into a break-even or losing order once packaging, commission, and distance surcharges are netted out.
Setting a radius that actually works for a truck
Most operators do better capping their delivery radius around 3-5 miles rather than accepting the platform's full 8-10 mile maximum. That range keeps delivery times short enough that hot food arrives hot, keeps per-mile surcharges out of the equation entirely, and concentrates your delivery business in the neighborhoods you can realistically serve well. If you're getting steady demand right at the edge of your radius, it's worth testing a small expansion on a trial basis and watching your ratings and refund rate before committing to it permanently, rather than opening the radius wide from day one and hoping quality holds up.
What your radius is actually centered on
Because delivery-app listings require the address on your business license and health permit to match what's listed on the platform, a truck's delivery radius isn't drawn around wherever it happens to park that day, it's centered on a fixed address, almost always the commissary kitchen or a home-base location. That means the radius decision and the commissary decision are linked: a commissary in a dense, delivery-friendly neighborhood gives you a meaningfully better radius than one on the edge of town, even before you touch the mileage settings themselves.
Frequently asked questions
How far do Uber Eats and DoorDash actually deliver?
DoorDash typically covers 5-7 miles standard (up to 10 with Drive), Uber Direct up to about 8 miles, though most completed deliveries on both are under 5 miles.
Should a food truck set its own delivery radius smaller than the platform maximum?
Usually yes, most operators do better around 3-5 miles rather than the full 8-10 mile platform maximum, to protect food quality and margin.
Does delivery distance affect food quality complaints?
Yes, fried and hot foods degrade fastest over longer delivery times, which is why keeping the radius tight matters more for some menus than others.
Does a food truck's commissary or parking address determine its delivery radius center?
Yes, the radius is anchored on the fixed address (usually the commissary) that matches your license and permit, not wherever the truck parks that day.
Your commissary address is the anchor for your delivery business.
StreetLegal helps food truck operators keep permits, health documents, and commissary agreements current, so the address behind your delivery-app listings never becomes the reason an order gets held up.
Answers to the most common permit questions — costs, timelines, commissary rules, and more.
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