Waffle House becomes an unlikely competitor to FedEx and UPS

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Waffle House wants in on the sharing economy. The US diner chain today announced a partnership with Roadie, a startup that aims to become the "Uber of package delivery." The app, which launched last month, lets travelers earn money by delivering packages to locations along their routes.

At the moment, users can send packages from within 10 states across the southeast US, and most packages are delivered door to door, but the company is looking to create a network of meeting places for users to hand off deliveries, which is where Waffle House comes in. With today's partnership, users will be able to meet and execute deliveries at the company's 1,750 diners across the US, which are open 24 hours a day. Waffle House will also offer a free waffle and drink to drivers making deliveries at their eateries.

"We're just bacon and eggs over here," Walt Ehmer, Waffle House's CEO, tells The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the partnership. "I've been amazed with the explosion of Uber and Airbnb and other technology that kind of enables people to get together and conduct business together."

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