Talk:Pizza delivery/Archive 1

Archived -- Vile Rage  ( Reply  |   C  |  Spam Me!   *   ) 00:06, 25 November 2005 (UTC) I don't know much about the subject myself, but here are a few thoughts on expansion: --Securiger 10:56, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * History:
 * Who started pizza home delivery?
 * Did they start off using the flat boxes?
 * How about the "pizza wars" between the big companies?
 * Was pizza the first hot home delivery food, and which other business was next?
 * Technology:
 * The famous flat boxes
 * The padded bags
 * The foil bags
 * Aids to driver navigation?
 * Economics of the business:
 * How large an area can you efficiently cover?
 * How much has improving technology changed this?
 * Motor scooters vs. cars&mdash;less fuel, but also less pizza.
 * What rates of profit are feasible (anecdotally, I hear they're very high)?
 * Protection from fraud and pranksters?
 * Protecting drivers from robbery?

Lets see what I can answer. I've been a Pizza driver for the last 10 years, and a Leader in the new pizza labor union movement recently.

Bags: Padded, Heated, Other Padded: simple insulated bags. Cotton and nylon generally. Keeps hot for 10-20 mins. Heated: Electrically heated bags. May plug into cigarette lighter if avail. I have seen models that direct-wire to the battery, occasionally causing vehicle damage. Generally stays hot about 30 mins. Other: Microwave-powered bags, currently employed by pizza hut. Neat stuff. Put the bag in an essentially open microwave oven. Heats quick, stays hot 30-40mins. Makes pizza soggy.

Aids to driver navigation: A lot of us, myself included, rely on GPS and a laptop. Default, however, is a generally out-of-date map in the store. Even if it was up to date, the directions are hard to decipher, and easily forgotten. I will get you a picture of ours.

How large of an area can you effectively cover: The outer limit seems to be about 50 square miles. Generally, an area will be 30 or so square miles, but I've seen them down to 5sqmi.

How much has improving technology improved this: Depends on the driver. If the driver can afford it, greatly. Cellphones, Handguns, and Laptops greatly improve ones ability to function in this job. Personally, I find a cellphone a neccecity. I could not function without mine, as about 2 out of 10 'runs' the customer will not answer the door. Laptop as well. I can simply receive directions as I go via my stereo, thus freeing me up to pay attention to the road. Handgun should be self explanatory, as almost every driver knows another driver that has been mortally wounded, or seriously injured in the process of a robbery.

What rates of profit are feasable: You hear they're high, eh? The median income from delivery depends on the area. It can range from a gross of $7/hr to about $30/hr. Do not confuse this with profit. Starters, brakes, tires, $3/gal gas, oil changes every other week, and other costs associated with operating a private vehicle 1000 miles a week take a LARGE chunk out of the profits. I will not speculate on what those profits specifically are, but I can tell you they are a lot closer to the wage of a mcdonalds employee.

Protection from fraud, and the prankster: The driver is protected from neither, and the store is only protected from the former, in the form of standard US Credit card laws, and check fraud laws. The average prank costs the driver more than anyone, as he or she loses out on paying runs, and gas in the process of tracking down ad figurig out it's a prank (often 40 mins gone (about 4 runs) there)

Protecting drivers from robbery: Even in this day and age, most restraunts don't even have caller ID. I, personally, have an ex-co-worker that might still be alive today, if her store had caller ID. That is about the only protection we have, and even when we do, is usually overridden by management. Generally, if the number given does not match the number on caller ID, the order is not processed. Common sense is another good protection, however, I cannot go into detail here, as I do not wish to educate robbers on the topic of how to rob the pizza guy. A lot of drivers also find security in MagLite 4D-6D Flashlights, as they make good clubs. Other drivers, myself included, prefer to utilise local concealed firearm laws, and carry handguns. see: Brian Wells (I think); driver was fired from Pizza Hut for shooting and killing an ARMED robber. This is SOP in the big 3 (sop = Standard Operating Procedure; big 3 = Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa Johns, the major 3 pizza chains)

A word on shops, most people find that independant chains are the best to work for, as they generally pay better, and actually care about the driver.

Here recently, ad I mean recently, as in the last few months, there has been a MAJOR push towards unionising pizza delivery drivers, under the Association of Pizza Delivery Drivers (http://www.pizzadeliverydrivers.org) I, personally, led this push at one restraunt, in Subury, Ohio. Please see thier site for further details.

The 30 min. Gaurantee: No one does this anymore, and to the best of my knowledge, this practice is now unlawful. Not because of greedy drivers, but managers threatening drivers to make it there on time 'or else'. This policy was originally Domino's, and no other major chain ever took it on. Today, Pizza Hut has something similar, called 'Promise Time' (or PT on your delivery ticket) which has the potential to be just as deadly.

I hope this answers your questions, and I'm sorry if it's too long. Please integrate this info into this wiki entry, I'm not much of a writer, just an oldschool driver / PHP developer ;] ====>vilerage 06:24AM, 10/8/2005 (EST)

Interesting article. However, it suffers from US-centrism: pizza delivery exists all over the world, not just in the US! _R_ 15:10, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Another suggestion for expansion: the whole thirty-minutes-or-it's-free business. Do any of the chains even do it anymore? I doubt it. But it's ingrained in popular culture. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 16:45, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Should "Pizza delivery is the act of bringing a pizza, or similar meal, to a customer's home" be removed? It's both obvious and inaccurate. It's obvious that pizza delivery involves delivering a pizza, but it doesn't necessarily requre delivering it to the customer's home. -Cookiemobsta
 * Logical point, I'll fix that. -- BD 24 12 thi m k 22:05, 2005 May 12 (UTC)

Not a Paper Encyclopedia
Is there an award for articles that typify the "Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia" principle? If there were, this article would be the first to be nominated. ---Isaac R 20:05, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * No explicit award, but some consider being mentioned on Unusual articles to be a sufficient honour. JRM · Talk 08:13, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

Yeah this article is terrible, but a fun read. The whole part on aqua teen hunger force is great 69.136.234.155

D'OH! I was removing 404's listed at Dead_external_links/404/p and accidentally hit enter, and submitted. Don't wanna risk 3rr, so if someone else wants to nuke that last one, I'd appreciate it. --Vilerage 18:41, 22 October 2005 (UTC) heh, I'm new to the wiki, read around here and there, just tryin to stay outta trouble... not 100% on what a 'revision' is, only that I was wiping someone elses edit, due to 404... --Vilerage 07:59, 23 October 2005 (UTC)
 * How would that run afoul of 3RR? You're removing bad links, not reverting the last edit made. By the way, which link is the bad one? BD2412  talk 18:53, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
 * nm - found it, nailed it. BD2412  talk 19:04, 22 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Ah, it's syntactic - the rule prohibits excess reversions, not revisions - a reversion is where you undo the change that the last editor made, and the rule prevents edit wars, where two editors go back and forth reverting each others' last change. But you can revise all you want (although using the preview button will help minimize the edits required to do so). Cheers! BD2412  talk 14:01, 23 October 2005 (UTC)