Why Is My Food Order Taking So Long? Fast Food Drive-Thrus Are Getting Slower

Wondering why your food order takes so long to receive? Fast-food drive-thrus are getting slower, according to a report by SeeLevel HX.

The report indicated that 10 of the largest fast-food chains take nearly six minutes to provide a food order at their drive-thru windows. This is as much as 30 seconds slower than in 2019, the report said.

The reason for the slowdown is a record number of customers going through the drive-thru during the pandemic as restaurant dining rooms closed across the country. Add a reduction in workers, also due to the coronavirus, and it is easy to see where the added time stems from.

Lisa van Kesteren, SeeLevel HX CEO, told Bloomberg, “COVID came along and restaurants found their teams just smashed to smithereens. Because everything went off-premise, they were inundated.”

While 30 seconds may not seem like a significant timeframe, it is to these restaurant chains as every second equates to lost revenue. The 30-second delay in drive-thru orders costs a restaurant about $32,000 annually, SeeLevel HX’s report said.

For large franchisees, this can add up to millions in lost revenue each year, especially during the pandemic, which saw drive-thru visits increase by 26% in April, May, and June, data from NPD Group indicated (via CNBC).

But not all restaurants suffered from added wait times as KFC, Taco Bell, and Hardee’s were the fastest out of the 10 chains that SeeLevel HX analyzed. Each performed better in 2020 than they did in 2019, with wait times averaging around five to five and a half minutes.

Chick-fil-A had the longest wait times out of the 10 chains, which also included Carl’s Jr., Burger King, McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Wendy’s, and Arby’s, per order at 488.8 seconds. It was followed by Arby’s at 394.2 seconds, and Wendy’s at 358.7 seconds per drive-thru order.

Other findings from the report showed Chick-fil-A in the top spot for accuracy, customer service, and taste, followed by McDonald’s and Arby’s.