In this guide 6 sections
Start from what a van can actually carry. Give fresh, frozen and dry items their own cutoffs, draw zones by postcode and decide in advance what happens when one item misses its slot. Then show customers only the slots you can really meet.
Start with what a van can carry in one slot
Capacity is the lowest of several limits. It is rarely the van. Count the order lines a picker clears at the chilled shelf, the crates the packing bench seals and the minutes a drop takes.
Time one real run first. Note the loading time, the minutes at each door, the lift or stairs and the signature stop, because guessed drop times are why slots overrun by evening.
Write the result as orders per slot for each van, with a small reserve for a late pick or a failed drop. Round down, never up.
- Order lines per hour at the chilled shelf
- Crates or cages per van, and chilled space within it
- Drop time per stop, including carry-up and signature
- Driver shift and break pattern
- Packing bench output per hour
Draw zones by postcode and give each its windows
A zone is a set of postcodes one van can serve in a single loop, so start from the depot and group streets that share a road out. Check each loop against your timed run. A zone that needs a return trip is really two.
Each zone gets its own days and windows. A tight inner zone can offer short evening windows, while a far zone may offer one morning run on two days. Customers see only the slots that exist for their postcode.
Pin repeat customers to a standing slot. A café that takes bread and milk every morning is easier to route than ten one-off strangers.
Give fresh, frozen and dry items separate cutoffs
A cutoff follows the supply side. Overnight bread, fish bought at the market and a dairy van that loads at dawn all need the order the evening before. Tinned and bagged goods can be picked on the delivery morning, so their cutoff can sit much later in the day.
Frozen lines have a different limit. Pick dry first, chilled next and frozen last, ending the frozen window just before the van leaves, so freezer items spend the least time on the bench.
A basket takes the earliest cutoff among its items, unless the customer agrees to a split, and checkout should say so in plain words with the real time.
- Bakery and fish counter: previous evening
- Dairy and fresh produce: previous evening or early morning, by supplier
- Frozen: closes with the picker’s last frozen window
- Dry and tinned goods: delivery morning
- Mixed baskets: earliest cutoff, or a split delivery
Decide what happens when one item misses its slot
Something is always short, late or damaged. Settle the rule before the first order, because a driver at the door cannot invent one, and choose among four outcomes: substitute, split, remove or hold.
A substitute is a like-for-like swap from the same shelf, allowed only where the customer ticked a box for it, and never for allergy-sensitive lines. A split sends the dry parcel now and the missing fresh item in the next slot. Removal takes the line off the invoice. Either way, the customer hears before the van arrives.
Hold suits a party platter. One gap ruins the rest. Let the customer set that flag per item at checkout, so the packer and the driver both see it on the run sheet.
Review slot fill every week
Open a slot report every Friday. Look at fill rate by zone, orders that missed their window and drops that took longer than the timed run. Empty slots mean windows nobody wants. Overruns mean capacity set too high.
Close a slot that always overruns, shift a van to a busier zone or open a second evening window. Tell regular customers when their usual slot moves.
Begin with one zone and one van. Record real stop times for a working week and use those numbers, not guesses, when you open the next zone.
Delivery slot planning worksheet
A worksheet made of a van table, a zone grid and a cutoff table. The van table lists each van or hub with its timed loading minutes, minutes per drop, chilled space and orders per slot. The zone grid puts postcodes in rows and days and windows in columns. The cutoff table gives fresh, frozen and dry a row each, showing the order cutoff, pick window and short-item rule.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How many slots should a new zone start with?
Fewer than you think you can serve. Open one or two windows per day with a reserve, watch how they fill and add windows only after a clean week of on-time drops.
Can customers choose fresh and dry goods in different slots?
Yes, if you allow a split delivery. The checkout should show both slots and both cutoffs clearly, so the customer is not surprised by a second van at the door.
What if a van breaks down mid-run?
Keep a standby rule: which orders move to another van, which customers get a message first and which frozen drops take priority. Write it on the dispatch sheet today.
Do pickup orders need slots too?
They do, because the packing bench and the chilled shelf are shared with delivery. Give pickup its own capacity per window, and hold the frozen bag until the customer arrives.