10 Parking Tips for Delivery Drivers – Expert Advice

Delivery drivers waste a lot of time due to inappropriate parking and searching for a safe halt to deliver the packages. 

In most cases, delivery drivers drive the entire block to find a vacant parking spot. And that wastes a lot of delivery time. 

Whether you are a delivery business or an independent delivery driver, these parking tips will eventually save you a lot of time when making deliveries on a specified route. 

10 Intelligent Parking Tips for Delivery Executives

Getting off the vehicle is part of the work while making deliveries so it is important for delivery drivers to park the vehicle safely. . 

But safety is not just the only concern when parking delivery vehicles next to customers’ properties;parking should also be legal and convenient. You probably don’t want a parking ticket on your delivery car or truck when you return after making the delivery. 

In some strict areas, you might even face parking enforcement for leaving your vehicle stranded at an inappropriate place. 

So, to save you or your business from such penalties and to prevent wastage of time due to these parking hassles, here are ten intelligent tips for you to be free from penalties issued by parking enforcement:

1. Determine chargeable time period of parking meters

Different states of the United States have varying hours when the parking meters are chargeable. So, you will have to feed these meters only during those hours. So, note the payable parking hours in different states you operate in. Try to plan the maximum deliveries of these routes to fall under the free parking hours. 

Upper Route Planner is digital software that allows you to prepare automated delivery routes with multiple stops. Moreover, it lets you allot time for every stop you add to the delivery route. It will help you mention the free parking timings for select stops. 

2. Use two-wheelers at all possible times

Finding a parking spot for cars or trucks is difficult compared to bikes. So, it is better to use bikes or two-wheelers to a possible extent. Smaller parcels can be delivered with the use of a motorcycle or bicycle. 

Food delivery is done with motorcycles as most dishes have instructions to be delivered hot. Two-wheelers speed up the process of cutting through traffic and delivering the food in time. 

3. Keep a lot of coins with you

The best way to dodge the penalties and deliver the parcels quickly is by feeding the meters with asked coins. You can take a few minutes’ time at an address using quarters. If you have multiple stops in the same community, use some more quarters to buy more time at the curb. Spending a few dollars on parking is way better than paying penalties for parking violations. 

4. Call your customers ahead

At times, the end-consumer agrees to come next to the street to take the parcel off your delivery vehicle without the need for you to park it. But you need to be polite when interacting with customers about this. You must ask if it is possible to find parking near their address or take their suggestion on a convenient way to complete the delivery. If the package is small and can be handed over easily, you can suggest your customer meet you at the curb. 

5. Look for parking areas beforehand

Next time you are off-duty and taking a tour of the state, keep your eye on the areas where you usually pick up or deliver parcels. You must do it in your free time, as you can’t keep customers waiting while strolling around for a parking spot. 

6. Be patient while looking for parking spots

Deliveries are indeed to be completed within time to ensure customer satisfaction. But at the same time, the drivers must be patient enough at a parking lot to allow other drivers to vacate the space entirely before driving your vehicle into the spot. Rushing at the moment might cause a jam or end up with parking lot collisions. 

Be patient when looking for vacant spots, as neglecting the rules and making mistakes can issue you a costly parking ticket ranging between $40 to $200. 

7. Use the hazard lights

You can make the best use of hazard lights to save yourself from parking costs. If you are just about to take a few minutes at a stop to make the delivery, turn on the hazards, which will indicate to other drivers that you are slowing down. 

Even if you cannot park, just leave the hazards on, indicating to others that you do not intend to hang around the spot and will be out of the spot soon. 

8. Get a signboard saying “Delivery Driver on Duty”

Placing a sign on your vehicle’s front and back windshield saying, “Delivery Driver on Duty” will indicate your intention of parking on the street to other vehicle drivers in traffic. 

If your delivery business deals with hospital deliveries as well, then on the flip side of the lamination of signboard, print, “Urgent Medical Delivery”. 

People will understand the situation and let you go off with it without creating a ruckus on the street. 

9. Ask help from regular customers

Some eCommerce platforms offer subscription buying models to customers for specific products. If you are the one delivering to the same customer on a route multiple times in a week or month, then connect with them to seek help for doing your job. 

You can ask their permission to park your delivery vehicle in their driveway and complete the deliveries in the area without worrying about the busy parking lots. 

10. Prefer automated route optimization

Most of the parking problems can be solved when you plan the exact delivery routes for multiple stops. Upper Route Planner is an automated route planning software that allows you to add multiple stops along with time allotment to make it easy for drivers to follow. 

With this tool, drivers can also stay connected with the customers and take their help to understand the parking scenarios around their property. With an optimized route, the drivers can plan on leaving a bit early for the deliveries to meet the free parking times throughout the state or city. 

What More Can Upper Route Planner Do Streamline Operations For Delivery Businesses?

Upper Route Planner is an advanced software to eliminate the manual dependencies of delivery businesses for sending out parcels to customers. Delivery delays can hamper customer satisfaction, and unplanned routes can consume much of your fuel. 

Our software has the potential to minimize your fuel consumption by 40% from the next deliveries you send out by following our optimized routes. You can take our subscription or try our features for 7 days before you are convinced with the features of Upper Route Planner.

Add the addresses to the asked section while preparing a route, and let the software find the shortest possible path to finish the deliveries before the estimated time. After you have the automated routes, you can still optimize them to prioritize any specific address or order. 

We offer a 7 days FREE trial of Upper Route Planner to help you learn more about its features and efficacies for delivery businesses or drivers. 

Summing Up

Top delivery businesses are now optimizing the ideal techniques to train drivers and save more money by avoiding parking tickets. All the tips above will assist you, or your drivers optimize the parking practices and saving money on that aspect. 

Try the Upper Route Planner in the process to help get optimized routes to at least mark a bundle of deliveries in close proximity, to finish them all by parking the vehicle at one spot. Digital software is the future for delivery businesses to streamline their operations. If you haven’t tried it yet, it is time you get along with it.