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Delivery Help!

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Hi Everyone!

I have been running my pizza shop for about 3 1/2 years now, and getting / keeping drivers is problematic. Despite paying them $7 /hr + tips + gas they are not interested.

We are at the bottom of the hill, on the main street - and do most of our business as a “late night” take out place; Where we stay open late on the weekends.

The steep hills (think snowy winter), parking congestion, and i don’t know what else - makes my service unreliable.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am also open to tweaking the business model if you know how to get people to come to my store when the bars are closed. 🙂 Yes, the pizza tastes good.
 
If they aren’t taking enough deliveries, it might not be worth their while. If they are doing 15 deliveries a night, then there should be no problem.

If they are doing 7 deliveries a night, 5 hours a day… that equates to $35 pay, say $2 a delivery ($14), plus an average of $2 a tip ($14)

$73 for the day. Which is great for 5 hours.

They[re probably not making that.
 
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Ok, so you are saying get more delivery business and they will stay. How do you increase the delivery business with no / inconsitent drivers?

Would you even bother to keep delivering? Should i investigate some other mode of transportation?
 
Wow, Kamron’s article linked above is exactly what I was going to suggest – a guaranteed minimum per hour. I’m not sure $10 an hour guaranteed is exactly going to fly these days. I’m also not sure that including tips in that guaranteed minimum will fly either.

I’d say to make the offer “simple”. I’m not sure what “plus gas” means as most places don’t reimburse fuel but rather pay a certain amount per delivery or per run.

$7 base pay plus $2 per run, guaranteed 2 runs per hour, so $11/hour guaranteed. Make it a “real” agreement. Is it $11/hour “average” or $11/hour? If it’s truly $11/hour, then you need to determine what an “hour” is (is it a rolling 60 minutes or from :00 to :59 or what?). You also then have to determine when a “run” counts. I’d say the only part of a run you can control is the start, so I’d go with that. Remember, your drivers will probably try to “work the system” so if you time it for when the run “ends”, if they’ve had a bad hour and return at :58, they might not come right back so they can make this last delivery count for next hour instead of the current one. You also need to figure out “pro-rating”.

If you have a timeclock, that might help everything a lot. Have the driver timestamp each run using the timeclock.

Let’s say the driver is scheduled from 1-5pm (bad hours).

Runs begin at:
1:20
1:55
2:50
3:10
3:30
3:53
4:08
4:58

Driver clocks out after the 4:58 run at 5:15.

Seems to me you owe the guy an extra $2 for the 2pm hour. All other hours, he made his 2 delivery/hour minimum. At 5:15, he’s completed his day, but he’s still “worked” 15 mins of that hour. Do you round to 15 mins at ($1 per 15 mins guaranteed) or to 30 mins or to the next hour? You’re only rounding for the guaranteed part, not the base hourly wage. Effectively, you’re guaranteeing the driver that he’ll make $1 extra for every 15 mins he works. So, if he clocks out at :16 past the hour, you owe him $2 in delivery fees but only 16 mins of his $7/hour base. Yep, he’ll find something to do for that extra minute for that extra buck.

If you have these answers spelled out in a written agreement that you both can go back to and reference in the event of a dispute, then you’ll keep your drivers happier. Would a person quit over feeling they were short-changed by $1? Yep.
 
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Hi - I am very empathetic to your concern, because it is an on going battle with our shop as well. My problem is finding daytime delivery people from 11am-5pm to support the corporate business orders we receive on a daily basis. Thank goodness we have loyal customers who are willing to pick up their orders when possible.

I always hear horror stories from different people about their previous bosses. We constantly give the drivers words of encouragement by saying “Great job, guys.” “Way to go, you took 15 deliveries today.” It doesn’t seem to help with most individuals. We benchmarked our pay against other local pizza shops that offer delivery, and we came out on top by offering them and hourly rate, plus their tips, plus $1.00 for each longer run they do. Still, not good enough.

Because of these challenges, we still do our best to treat people with respect, give praise and hope for the best. I do know that consistency is key in any business. Loyal and potentially new customers who truly require delivery want to have the service be consistent, so we try our hardest to find decent people for the job to maintain the level of service, even if it means the owners going out on the road to deliver. (I do it all the time for the love of the customer and in order to remain competitive within the marketplace.)
 
I am lucky because I use a delivery service they take the deliveries any time. Here are a few ideas that may help. Check with a local taxi company or a flower shop that delivers. they might make a deal with you on a per delivery basis. Another option might be to find a retired person that will be on call during your slow time and do it for a flat $ amount per day.
 
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MikesPizza:
Hi Everyone!

I have been running my pizza shop for about 3 1/2 years now, and getting / keeping drivers is problematic. Despite paying them $7 /hr + tips + gas they are not interested.

We are at the bottom of the hill, on the main street - and do most of our business as a “late night” take out place; Where we stay open late on the weekends.

The steep hills (think snowy winter), parking congestion, and i don’t know what else - makes my service unreliable.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am also open to tweaking the business model if you know how to get people to come to my store when the bars are closed. 🙂 Yes, the pizza tastes good.
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My thinking is your late night drivers are difficult to retain.

Go for older drivers - ones that are seasoned drivers for other shops. Offer them some incentive and get them to come to your shop. The younger kids are not up for the late night task.

Cross train - keep them busy and keep them interested.

Pay them more than any driver. Of course this is not discussed, however, it can be a shift change rate. The late night business is huge if you have some great product and well worth a slight increase.

Don’t treat them as drivers; treat them like fantastic team members. It’s late, its dark and it needs to be a nice place to work.
 
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