from a owners view delivery drivers

P

prenv

New member
I have been reading this on and off driver pay this tips this that this.
We pay our drivers 9 dollars per hour they get 100% of the delivery fee which is 2 dollars and what ever tip they make the delivery fee and tips are for them no questions asked.
All we ask of them is
1.be on time
2.cartoppers and pizza levers are supplies by us as well as cords
3.uniforms always worn basically no shirt no work
4.fold boxes ,sodas
5.their car has to be in working condition inspection every 6 months no cell phones in store also while driving they must ware a earpiece for their cell phones
6.if they dont show up for work they are fired no questions asked
Simple i belive every worker should be paid a honest day pay for a honest day work
but i learned from years that a person that you have to tell something to more than 3 times is useless cause they are 1 to stupid to get it or dont care to get it.
Bottom line we have 11 drivers 6 full time 5 part time stacks of ones looking for work so basically we hire you explain the pay what is alowed and what is not we dont force anyone to stay by force if they dont like any rules they fell its not right for whatever reason theres 1 door in the front 1 in the back and they are wide open see we pay are workers good they make good money the full time drivers we have have been there since we opened.

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Your ramblings were very interesting to read. I also am an owner. I pay MY drivers $7 an hour, they get their $1 delivery charge, and all tips. My drivers average $100 per 7 hour shift, plus pay. $9 to me in a little excessive. They are a tipped employee. I too hold the same standards as you. Showing up for their shift is always a plus. I have a total of 10 delivery drivers who have been with me for atleast 2 years, I have been open 10. Drivers for the most part are lazy, they expect to come in deliver, make their money, and scate.If you pay drivers $9 hourly what do you pay your cooks? I would love to know your weekly payroll.
 
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IMO, your basic driver should never make more than minimum wage and $1 per delivery.
 
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gbomb:
IMO, your basic driver should never make more than minimum wage and $1 per delivery.
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You get what you pay for then. I’m sure the OP, prenv is very happy with his drivers and turnover is low.
 
gregster:
You get what you pay for then. I’m sure the OP, prenv is very happy with his drivers and turnover is low.
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Well if say he averages about 30 deliveries a day which is about what we average, hopefully he is happy with losing about $900 a month by over paying drivers a whole $1 per delivery. That is a whole lot of cash to be paying out every month for drivers that are supposedly better than drivers that are willing to work for just a $1 per delivery.
 
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How much do new customers cost you? How much is repeat business worth? Which costs more, paid advertising or word of mouth? Which would you prefer to have?

Most can never really measure (and therefore appreciate) how much having well trained and experienced drivers can benefit your business by stopping mistakes before they happen, correcting them before the customer even notices, smoothing over problems that were uncorrectable (saving you an angry phone call), and keeping and increasing business with excellent customer service at the door.

To most delivery customers, the delivery driver IS the face of your business at the door. I bet most of you paid allot of money to have your storefront look good to walk up customers. Will you then pinch pennies for the ambassadors of your business you send out to the customers door?

Like I said: You get what you pay for.
 
gregster,

I’m curious to hear from you what you think a driver should be paid.

One of the problems I see is that most drivers are kids, and most kids cannot afford car insurance, let alone commercial insurance.

So please include these 2 scenarios. Also include whether you think (assuming not) a delivery “Fee” should be charged. Assume if the fee is charged, 100% goes to the driver.

One of the things I have been thinking about, is I am guessing if we charge $2 delivery fee, and drivers get 100% of that, this could very well be HIGHER than the avg. tips. even if NOBODY tips on top of that delivery fee. What is your avg. tip?
 
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pjcampbell:
gregster,

I’m curious to hear from you what you think a driver should be paid.

One of the problems I see is that most drivers are kids, and most kids cannot afford car insurance, let alone commercial insurance.

So please include these 2 scenarios. Also include whether you think (assuming not) a delivery “Fee” should be charged. Assume if the fee is charged, 100% goes to the driver.

One of the things I have been thinking about, is I am guessing if we charge $2 delivery fee, and drivers get 100% of that, this could very well be HIGHER than the avg. tips. even if NOBODY tips on top of that delivery fee. What is your avg. tip?
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Delivery drivers should be paid at least full minimum wage plus the current IRS mileage rate of 55 cents per mile. Actual expenses can be paid if stores document the expenses IAW DOL/IRS rules.

Delivery fees hurt tips. This is a tipped job. Delivery fees should not be charged. A small increase in prices easily covers the expense. Many customers mistakenly believe that the delivery charge goes to the driver (In most cases it does not). Customers then wrongly decrease or eliminate the tip because of the charge. Since in most situations this is never explained in advertising, and drivers are not allowed to discuss tipping with customers, the fallacy continues.

My average tip is usually between $1.50 and $2.50, occasionally better. Tips are not intended to cover expenses or wages. According to the DOL, tips are the sole property of the employee.
 
If your avg tip is $2.00 - and I charge $2.00 delivery fee and you get 100% of it, then you never have to worry about collecting atip. Wouldn’t that be less stressful?

So in your opinion - no delivery fee, min. wage + 55 Cents per mile + tips?

Should the driver be able to afford commercial liability insurance in this figure?
 
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gregster:
A small increase in prices easily covers the expense.
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So we should raise prices for customers that choose to pick up their pizza?

Not sure about your appearance, or the area you live in… but our average tips are 4 bucks (plus delivery charge of 1.95)… Maybe you should stop working for crappy franchises where customers prefer cheap junk over quality.
 
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The higher the delivery charge, the lower the tips. Delivery charges (the actual amount) are almost never mentioned or advertised. Customers don’t like them. Many feel the delivery charge is a ‘hidden cost’ and resent it.

Any and all vehicle expenses should be covered by the employer if the employees vehicle is used. If commercial insurance is required, then the employer should bear that expense.

My personal policy covers business use of my ‘passenger vehicle’, so in my case, I am covered. Most other insurers do not allow this exception. Mine does.

Carryout customers can get a ‘discount’ instead of charging for delivery. Such as “$2 off all carryout orders”.

Min wage, plus .55 per mile, plus tips is the minimum any delivery driver should be paid in my opinion.
 
Gregster, I think you just need to find a shop that provides vehicles for you. You’ll make less tips, but spend less out of your own pocket. In the end you’ll be really close to breaking even. You may come out ahead depending on how much less you would spend on fixing your own vehicle. But it’s not like just because you’re not driving your own car for pizza delivery, you would stop normal upkeep.
 
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One might do well to consider the market when making sweeping opinions of what “should” be done. Ridgefiled, CT where prenv operates is a wholly diferent world from West Georgia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgefield,_Connecticut

When you are talking about an estimated median income for a family in excess of $150,000 and a per capita income over $50,000 . . . . the marketplace has a whole different landscape and expectation than my little village. $9 per hour wage would make part time delivery drivers amopng the top paid hourly wage in town . . . and that is high for unskilled labor in our marketplace.

<<>>

Our market would not accept a raise in prices to pay the driver $9 an hour. They would be outraged to find that wage. Neither are they unhappy with the advertised delivery charge; sure they’d love not to have one. No surpises means less rage.
 
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You raise a valid point. The driver IS the ambassador of the company they work for. I manage Dominos in VT. I still drive at least one day a week which ensures respect from my crew. I KNOW what they can go through every day. Typical compensation for our drivers is an hourly wage (~6.00), 6% of their sales and tips. A good driver can deliver 50-70 on a Friday or Saturday. This translates directly to livable pay and we enjoy a dedicated crew of lifers. In addition to deliveries, they are expected to fold boxes, wash dishes, and take out the garbage and recycling. The good drivers (and I pay them extra as an incentive) are also quick to jump on the makeline and bang out a few pizzas when the insiders need the help. Out of all of my crew, I only have one whiner who says, “That’s not my job!” My perspective is that it IS his job…anything to get pies out the door is part of everybody’s job. Essentially, we’re an ugly bunch of well paid mercenaries, and the shop functions best when we’re all working hard.
 
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gregster:
How much do new customers cost you? How much is repeat business worth? Which costs more, paid advertising or word of mouth? Which would you prefer to have?

Most can never really measure (and therefore appreciate) how much having well trained and experienced drivers can benefit your business by stopping mistakes before they happen, correcting them before the customer even notices, smoothing over problems that were uncorrectable (saving you an angry phone call), and keeping and increasing business with excellent customer service at the door.

To most delivery customers, the delivery driver IS the face of your business at the door. I bet most of you paid allot of money to have your storefront look good to walk up customers. Will you then pinch pennies for the ambassadors of your business you send out to the customers door?

Like I said: You get what you pay for.
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I don’t agree with a lot of your post Gregster, but this is very true and well said.
 
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The delivery charge is here to stay, if a shop isn’t charging for delivery then they are either passing the cost on somewhere else or they are making less money than they should. We offered free delivery for almost 25 years at our chain but its just does not make any sense anymore with the rising cost of gas and insurance, every single year our insurance on our drivers goes up. 2 years ago they tried to almost double it, we ended up dropping them and reducing our coverage just to keep it in a reasonable range.

I do agree that customers at first did not like the delivery charge but I think over time and its already happening that its now a accepted charge. $9 an hour is almost laughable for a driver, plus delivery charge, plus tips… I guess your medium 1 topping pizza is $20. I agree with the other person, I would love to see those payroll numbers.
 
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I agree with the other person, I would love to see those payroll numbers.
to answer your question our payroll is at 29%.
 
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I started in the business as a delivery driver… in 1978 at Dominos (there were about 150 stores back then). I have been a driver, cook, manager or owner at a bunch of stores since then. Other than the GM, the drivers have ALWAYS been the best paid employees in every store when tips are taken into consideration.

On the whole, the laziest prima donnas on every crew have been drivers. A lot of hot air about side-work, wanting to leave when the deliveries slow down, making side errands for themselves or customers on my time, smoking in the cars, you name it… Are they all that way? Of course not, but where there is smoke there is fire.

Our drivers make $6 per hour in wages. They drive my cars and burn my gas. Average tips are $4 per delivery. In a mountain town with snowy roads, 20 deliveries during a dinner shift is pretty typical. If they are the “closer”, they will have five hours on the clock for a combined total of wages and tips of about $110 or $22 per hour. The cooks just LOVE to hear them whine and moan about dishes! In the slow season that dinner shift might come out to $15 per hour… then again on a big night they might walk with $120 in tips alone.

I personally think that paying $9 per hour plus the delivery charge plus tips is just plain nuts… I also wonder what the kitchen crew is making in that scenario. Perhaps it is just a high wage area?
 
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