Delivery Scooters

I am interested in getting delivery mopeds for my drivers. We are in the middle of a city and parking is starting to become an issue(around the store and at the places we deliver to) Our delivery area is not huge but it is large enough that drivers like to take their own cars and not ride a bike to a lot of runs. Does anybody have any experience with having mopeds. What kind of insurance is necessary? Im looking at the 49cc scooters so the drivers dont have to have liscenses, and the vehicles dont require insurance, but I am leary about what kind of insurance I would need to cover my employees when they leave the store. Is it the same as the current insurance I carry that covers us in case they have an accident in their own car? Or do I need any at all since it is basically a bike?

We tried a couple of scooters for a while. Sounded like a neat idea, but it’s really not.

Insurance is an issue.

Weather is an issue.

Storage is an issue - we even got one of the ones specifically designed for delivering pizza - it came with a heated box. It could hold maybe 4 16" pizzas that were in a hotbag - or maybe 6 just put directly in the storage box. We didn’t want to leave out the bag because I don’t think that looks good to carry a customers food out in the open, up to the door. Then there is the issue of where to store 2 liters, salads, etc. You can pretty much be sure you will only be able to take single runs.

Road conditions are an issue. Bumps and potholes are far worse on a scooter than in a car. Pizzas get bounced around much more. Drinks are shook up when your customers open them.

hit nail on head…we have a TGB delivery scooter that we wrapped to match our delivery cars and it is pretty much just used by me to run errands on nice days…i try to park it out front because everyone thinks it looks cool but not very practical for employees to use since there is no insurance available

We have looked into motorized delivery bikes. Has anyone tried delivery with a bike? I think it would be really hard to get a pizza to the destination looking good.

We have 2 TGB scooters, a 150 and a 49cc. We just opened so I can’t speak to the practicality of the machines, but they do seem like they will be much easier to park (absolutely no parking where we are) and we have a small delivery area. Plus, since we own them, we don’t pay drivers mileage.

Insurance through the pizza insurance company I found here (Willis? if someone needs it I’ll confirm) was estimated to be around $900/scooter per year. While that sounds high, it’s only a 2.46 a day, much cheaper than paying mileage.

I’ll let you know once we start rolling. If nothing else, we can sell one and wrap the other. Would look cool in front of the store.

I ran mopeds for 4 years and overall, for me, they were more trouble than they were worth.

+'ves
Parking - thats pretty much the key benefit. If you have limited/no parking then mopeds are great
Cheap to buy - it allows you to offer a vehicle to those who do not own a car (the 2nd benefit)
License - if your local law allows it you may be able to run mopeds with people who don’t have full license however bear in mind that in reality this means you have people with little formal road experience driving for you!

-'ves

  • You’ll end up with kids who drive around too fast and cutting people up. I got more complaints about my scooter riders than my car drivers (who wear toppers)
  • Theft, you’ll get them stolen, (very easily) and the cost of insuring them for theft is so high its just not worth it
  • maintenance, you’ll need to get them looked at monthly (at the most), chains, tyres, etc all wear out much much quicker on bikes. Its not easy to change a bike tyre when they get a puncture (normally at the far end of your delivery area very late at night) and you’ll need a van or something to move them when they do breakdown.
  • safety wear, this is a must but again costs quite a bit, will wear out and will be generally mistreated by the riders
  • falls, you will have drivers fall off and this is why I ultimately got rid. If someone has an accident in a car then likelihood is it will be minor injuries, on a bike that simply isn’t the case. Getting a call that one of your bikers nearly died (on his day off on his own bike) is not a great news. Knowing it could happen whilst he’s at work was too much for me.

hope this helps

Wiz