The one hour rule of extreme late night delivery.
There are many rules in everyday life. Sometimes there’s so many rules it’s difficult to keep up with them all. However, couriers have a lot of rules to follow on any given delivery. Therefore, one more won’t upset the apple cart too much. Especially if it’s a rule that can potentially help a courier improve earnings. There are many rules for the courier’s work to start with. For example, the all important rule of follow through after accepting a delivery. Or the one hour rule for delivery.
The one hour rule, as it applies to the courier, and the late night delivery, leans toward common sense observations. There are many merchants that see a boost in sales during the last hour of business on a typical business day. It’s not uncommon for that last hour to be as busy as the whole evening. In some cases, that last hour of business is a large percentage of the merchants overall sales for the day. However, that doesn’t mean the last hour flows anywhere near smoothly. In fact, for some places that last hour falls perfectly under the one hour rule consideration.
It is how it sounds. Furthermore, it matters most when the courier is considering a delivery from the queue. There are more than a few articles on this site about the late night delivery. Additionally, the articles detail how things don’t always go according to plan. It isn’t any one thing that might stall a late night delivery. And sometimes it’s more than one thing that stalls a late night delivery. Therefore a simple rule to help in that area is the one hour rule.
Extreme Late Night Delivery
The late night delivery is unique. It’s the last call before the best food choices close for the night. Similarly it is the race against the clock. Not only for the courier, but also for the late night restaurant crew. Or the merchant’s employees. The merchant’s staff have to have the restaurant ready to close by a designated time. Furthermore, that time also signals the end of the workday for the restaurant crew. It is the closing time hour.
Anyone previously employed in the food service industry, knows that getting a restaurant ready for closing, is a monumental task. Particularly if that restaurant has a large variety of menu items. This means there is a lot of work involved in closing. Furthermore, the employees are responsible for the quality of the closing work. Additionally they are expected to do the work of fulfilling orders that come in while doing the other work. Especially the late orders that pile up. At least that’s the ideal scenario. What actually happens is a massive overload at closing time.
Late night delivery couriers see it all the time. In fact, that scenario is a likely cause for higher than average incidences of couriers unassigning themselves from deliveries. In other words, the courier gets stuck. This is why the one hour rule for delivery is something to keep in mind. It is simply the understanding that any delivery accepted within one hour of the merchant’s closing time, is susceptible to a stall.
The One Hour Rule
Some merchants are better at prioritizing delivery orders. Some merchants have eager staff that can close a restaurant within twenty minutes. Especially if it is the only thing to focus on. Therefore, delivery orders (especially late ones) may not get the same prioritization that they do at earlier times of the day. Merchants that do not specialize in late night delivery are susceptible to forgotten delivery orders, delivery orders prepared at the last minute. Or, orders not started until after the courier arrives.
It only takes a couple of lost hours to determine which merchants have a professional delivery game and which do not. This is something couriers catch up on pretty quick. Most at home customers are not familiar with the challenge of late night delivery. It takes a quality focused merchant to run a successful late night delivery game. For example, a pizza place or any restaurant that specifically advertises its late night food options. These are the ones that prioritize a late night delivery.
With this in mind, the wait time a courier experiences at one of these locations, is usually shorter. With a quality focused staff, there is less stress in the closing work. Additionally the crew expects late night customers. Therefore, additional business is a welcome environment. These types of places excel at late night delivery. They should also be at the top of the courier’s list of preferred delivery offers.
The one hour rule of late night delivery
If it’s within one hour of closing time, the one hour rule applies. This means that a closing merchant runs slower on a delivery order in the last hour of the day. The ones that still prioritize deliveries have the least chance of stalling. The closing time stall is one of the most unpredictable stalls in a delivery. It’s not uncommon to wait for a lengthy time, only to find out the merchant can’t complete the order. Or to be on time for the pickup, and discover the merchant hasn’t started preparing it yet.
These are all scenarios that happen. The question is, will it be on this delivery? One delayed late night delivery pickup, can jeopardize an entire late night schedule. Depending on the city where a courier runs delivery, there may not be very many late night merchants. After hours delivery dwindles as the night progresses. There are extreme cases and it’s possible to run much later in some areas.
In fact, late night delivery is only limited by the amount of participating merchants. If an area has all night restaurants there is likely all night delivery. A delivery app doesn’t worry about what time it is. However, the courier does. Late night delivery is a matter of timing and a safe hustle. The rest is up to the frog. Stay safe out there.
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