The $890,000 Cost of "Sorry We Missed You" Notes

The Delivery Problem Nobody Talks About

A regional same-day and next-day delivery service covering three states had a metric they hated discussing: their first-attempt delivery success rate was 64%.

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That meant 36 out of every 100 packages required a second delivery attempt. Sometimes a third. Each failed delivery cost them $18 in wasted driver time, fuel, and logistics. With 142,000 monthly deliveries, they were burning roughly $890,000 per year on redelivery attempts.

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The reasons varied. Customers weren't home. Gate codes didn't work. Apartment building doors were locked. Businesses closed early. Dogs in yards. Wrong addresses. The classic scenario: driver arrives, knocks, gets no answer, leaves a note, drives away. Customer finds the note an hour later and calls support, frustrated.

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Their 23 drivers spent collective hours circling back to the same addresses. Dispatch coordinators fielded 200+ daily calls from customers asking "where's my driver?" or "can you come back today?" The customer experience was poor, and the economics were worse.

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The operations manager knew other delivery companies faced the same issue, but that didn't make their P&L look any better. They needed customers and drivers talking to each other before problems happened, not after.

Testing a New Approach

They started with a pilot group of 8 drivers and 5,000 deliveries over four weeks. Each customer got a text message when their package was loaded onto the truck: "Your delivery is scheduled for today between 2-5 PM. Reply with any delivery instructions (gate code, leave at side door, etc.)."

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About 22% of customers responded with helpful information:

• "Gate code is #4582, press 2 for residence entrance"
• "I'm home after 4 PM, please deliver after that"
• "Leave it with the building manager in unit 101"
• "Big dog in yard, please text when you arrive"

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Drivers got these notes in real time on their routing app. The simple information prevented dozens of failed deliveries during the pilot.

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They added a second message when the driver was 15 minutes away: "Your delivery will arrive in approximately 15 minutes. Driver name: Marcus, vehicle: white van #247." For residential deliveries, this gave people time to get to the door. For businesses, it let receptionists know to watch for the delivery.

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Customers could reply to either message, and it went directly to the driver's phone. "Running 5 minutes late, can you wait?" or "Can you leave it with my neighbor at 428 instead?" Most requests were simple and took seconds to accommodate.

Four Months of Results

First-attempt delivery success jumped from 64% to 87%. The 23-point improvement meant 32,600 fewer redelivery attempts annually, saving approximately $587,000 in operational costs.

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Customer calls to dispatch dropped by 62%. Instead of calling to ask where their driver was, customers could see the 15-minute alert and plan accordingly. Instead of calling to provide gate codes after a failed delivery, they texted instructions before the driver arrived.

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Driver productivity increased by 19%. With fewer failed attempts and clearer delivery instructions, drivers completed an average of 47 deliveries per shift instead of 39. The time saved on callbacks and problem-solving added up to roughly 6 extra deliveries per driver per day.

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Google review ratings improved from 3.8 to 4.4 stars. Negative reviews about missed deliveries dropped significantly. Positive reviews specifically mentioned the text updates: "Driver texted me when he was close, super convenient" and "Finally a delivery company that actually communicates."

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One driver's feedback summarized the change: "I used to waste an hour a day driving back to places I'd already been. Now I get the gate code or special instructions before I even arrive. Makes my job way easier."

The Complications

Not everyone texts back. About 70% of customers didn't respond to the delivery instructions request. That was fine—the 30% who did respond prevented most of the problems. But drivers still faced failed deliveries with the non-responsive group.

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Timing the "15 minutes away" alert was harder than expected. Traffic, multiple stops, and route changes made accurate ETAs difficult. Early in the test, alerts went out saying "15 minutes" but drivers arrived in 5 minutes or 40 minutes. They adjusted to "arriving soon" with a 20-minute window, which set better expectations.

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Some customers wanted excessive updates. A small group asked for minute-by-minute tracking like major carriers offer. The company didn't have that infrastructure and had to manage expectations about what they could provide as a regional operation.

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Language barriers came up. About 8% of their delivery area had customers who primarily spoke Spanish. They added Spanish language options: "Reply ES for español" with translated messages. This helped but required extra setup time.

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Drivers worried about personal phone numbers being visible. They implemented a proxy system where texts appeared to come from a company number, not the driver's personal cell. This protected driver privacy while maintaining direct communication.

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Apartment complexes remained challenging. Even with better communication, large apartment buildings with locked lobbies created problems. They started asking customers in those buildings to meet drivers in the lobby, which worked about 60% of the time.

What Changed in Their Operations

The company now sends approximately 142,000 text messages per month—one for each delivery. The cost averages $0.03 per message, or roughly $4,260 monthly. Compared to the $73,000+ they were spending on failed deliveries each month, it's a reasonable investment.

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They've refined their message templates based on delivery type:

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For residential: "Your package arrives today between [time]. Reply with gate codes, special instructions, or preferred delivery location."

For businesses: "Delivery scheduled for today between [time]. Building closed? Loading dock access? Reply with instructions."

For time-sensitive medical supplies: "Your medical delivery is scheduled for [time]. Someone must be present to sign. Reply if you need to reschedule."

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They also added feedback collection. Two hours after delivery, customers get a simple text: "How was your delivery today? Reply 1-5 (1=poor, 5=excellent)." Response rate is low (about 11%), but the data helps them identify problem routes or drivers who need coaching.

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Dispatch coordinators, who used to spend entire shifts answering phone calls, now spend about 40% of their time on actual logistics optimization and route planning. The reduction in reactive customer service freed them to be more proactive.

The Unexpected Benefits

Proof of delivery disputes dropped by 44%. When customers texted specific instructions and drivers confirmed receipt, it created a record. Far fewer "I never got my package" claims compared to before.

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Driver retention improved. Three drivers who were planning to quit stayed because the job became less frustrating. When the operations manager surveyed the team, they cited reduced stress from failed deliveries and angry customers as a major improvement.

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Premium delivery offerings became possible. They launched a "text me when you're outside" option for a $3 upcharge. Customers who are in meetings or working from home can time their door-answering perfectly. About 14% of customers pay extra for this.

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Partner businesses started requesting it. Local pharmacies and medical supply companies who contract with them asked if they could use the same system for their deliveries. It became a selling point when competing for B2B contracts.

Current State and What's Next

The company now considers delivery communication as essential as GPS routing. New driver training includes a 30-minute module on effective text communication with customers—how to be professional, quick, and helpful.

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They're testing WhatsApp for customers who prefer it, particularly in areas with immigrant communities where WhatsApp is more common than SMS. Early results show similar engagement rates.

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They're also exploring photo confirmation. Some customers want a picture of where the package was left, especially for no-signature deliveries. The legal and privacy implications are still being worked out.

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The operations manager recently spoke at a regional logistics conference. His main point: "We thought our problem was routing efficiency and driver speed. It was actually that customers and drivers weren't talking to each other at the right time. Once we fixed that, everything else got easier."

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The company still has a failed delivery rate of 13%, which they're working to improve. But compared to where they started at 36%, it's a different business entirely.

Key Numbers

• The challenge: 36% failed delivery rate costing $890K annually in redelivery attempts across 142,000 monthly deliveries
• The solution: Pre-delivery texts for instructions and 15-minute arrival alerts with direct driver-customer messaging
• The impact: Success rate jumped to 87%, saving $587K annually, driver productivity up 19%, customer calls down 62%
• The learning: Most delivery failures happen because of missing information that customers have but drivers don't get until it's too late

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Results based on four-month implementation across a regional delivery service operating in three states with 23 drivers. Delivery success rates vary significantly based on service area density, delivery types, and customer demographics.