How many drops can a delivery driver do in a day?

There's no single right answer to "how many drops a day?". A parcel courier on a dense housing estate, a milk round dropping two bottles per doorstep and a log merchant carrying bulk bags into back gardens are doing completely different jobs. What you can do is work out a realistic number for your round from a few measurements, and plan to it. This guide shows how.

Why you shouldn't copy someone else's number

You'll see figures quoted online for drops per day, often from parcel delivery. They depend on things that may not apply to you: how close stops are, how much is delivered at each one, whether a signature is needed, and how long the working day is. Use your own numbers instead. They take a day or two to collect and they'll be far more accurate.

The four parts of a delivery day

1. Loading and preparation at base before the first drop.
2. Driving between stops, including to the first and back from the last.
3. Time at each stop: parking, carrying, handing over or leaving it, any paperwork, photo or payment.
4. Breaks and the unexpected: rest breaks, refuelling, a closed road, a chat with a regular.

Drops per day is just the time you have, minus loading and breaks, divided by the average time per drop (driving plus stop time).

Step 1: Time a few real days

For two or three normal days, note:

• when you start loading and when you leave;
• arrival and departure time at each stop (or just count stops and note the total time);
• when you get back;
• any breaks and delays.

If you use a driver app that timestamps each drop, you may already have this.

Step 2: Work out your averages

Worked example, not real data: a veg wholesaler's driver does 18 drops, leaves at 6:00 and is back at 11:30. That's 330 minutes on the road. Loading took 30 minutes before leaving. Total stop time (parked to pulling away) added up to 126 minutes, so 7 minutes per stop. Driving took the remaining 204 minutes, or about 11 minutes between stops including the drive out and back.

So in this example, each drop costs about 18 minutes all-in. That's a little over 3 drops an hour on the road.

Step 3: Work out what fits in the day

Still using the example: if the driver's working day is 8 hours (480 minutes), take off 30 minutes loading and a 20-minute break, leaving 430 minutes. At 18 minutes per drop, that's about 23 drops. Leave some slack for the unexpected, say 10–15%, and the realistic plan is around 20.

Your numbers will be different. The method is the point.

What changes the number most

Factor	Effect	What you can do
Distance between stops	Usually the biggest single factor	Group drops by area and day; grow customers near existing ones
Route order	Poor order adds driving to every drop	Order stops by road time, not by customer list
Time at each stop	Heavy or bulky items, stairs, signatures	Better access notes, trolleys, agreed safe places
Time windows	Can force a less efficient order	Check which windows are real
Loading	Rummaging at every stop	Load in reverse drop order from a list

The free route planner orders a day's stops using real road travel times, which tackles the first two rows. It also shows total drive time, so you can compare it with the day you timed.

Drivers' hours and breaks

A realistic plan also has to be a legal and safe one. Two gov.uk pages are worth reading:

• Driving and duty limits. Under the GB domestic rules for goods vehicles, gov.uk says you must not drive for more than 10 hours in a day, and must not be on duty for more than 11 hours in any working day (with the duty limit not applying on days you don't drive). There are exemptions and different rules for some vehicles, so check which rules apply to yours (gov.uk: GB domestic drivers' hours rules).
• Rest breaks. Gov.uk says workers have the right to one uninterrupted 20-minute rest break during their working day if they work more than 6 hours a day (gov.uk: rest breaks at work).

Build breaks into the plan rather than hoping they fit. A driver who is always behind is a driver tempted to rush, and to use the phone at the wheel, which is illegal (gov.uk).

Using the number

Once you know roughly how many drops fit in a day, you can:

• Price properly. Your cost per drop is your vehicle and driver cost per day divided by drops per day. The delivery cost calculator does this for you, and how to price delivery rounds explains what to do with it.
• Know when you need another van. If your busiest day is regularly over the realistic number, it's time to split the round or add a vehicle.
• Decide on new customers. A new customer near an existing route adds a few minutes. One on the far side of the patch might add half an hour.
• Plan delivery days by area so each day is full but not overfull.

Mixed rounds: big and small drops

If some drops take two minutes and others take twenty (a doorstep bottle versus unloading a full order into a restaurant cellar), an average can mislead you. Split your customers into two or three types, time each type, and plan with those figures. A day with five big kitchen drops is a very different day from one with forty doorsteps, even if the total value is similar.

Re-check every few months

Rounds change. New customers, roadworks and seasonal volume all move the numbers. Re-time a typical day every few months, or whenever the round feels like it's slipping.

RoundSorted records the time each drop is marked done on the driver's phone, keeps each day's run in driving order, and shows you the day's drops before the van leaves, so it's easier to see when a round is getting too full. See RoundSorted for delivery businesses and our guide to reducing failed deliveries.