Every failed delivery costs twice: the trip that did not deliver, and the trip that has to go back. On a run of 30 stops, two or three failures a day quietly add a vehicle's worth of cost every month. Worse, each failure is a symptom of a problem that started earlier — in sales, in the warehouse or in planning — and nobody upstream hears about it.
The usual reasons, and where they really start
| Reason at the door | Usually starts in |
|---|---|
| Shop closed | Run timing, outlet holidays not known |
| Customer refused | Order booked without commitment, wrong price, old dues |
| "I didn't order this" | Order booked on assumption, or for the wrong outlet |
| Wrong item or quantity | Picking or loading |
| Damaged goods | Packing, loading, transport |
| No payment ready | Cash-on-delivery terms not agreed |
| Could not find or reach | Address or location missing |
Record the reason, not just the failure
When a stop fails, the driver should record:
- Which stop — order and customer.
- The reason, from a short fixed list.
- What happened to the goods — returned to van, partially delivered.
- A photo where it helps (a closed shutter, damaged goods).
A fixed list matters: "customer issue" in free text tells you nothing; refused — price tells you exactly who to call.
The weekly failed-delivery review
- Count failures by reason and by route.
- Send each reason to its owner — sales, warehouse, transport, planning.
- Look at repeat outlets — the same shop failing every week is a conversation, not a routine.
- Track first-attempt success rate over time.
Worked example
A distributor runs 6 vehicles, 30 stops each, 25 days a month — 4,500 planned stops. At a 6% failure rate, that is 270 failed stops, roughly nine vehicle-days of wasted driving a month, before counting the return trips. Cutting failures to 3% recovers about half of that.
How Zaqnet records delivery outcomes
- Runs and stops are planned in the Fleet app in ControlRoom — see delivery runs.
- Drivers update each stop in GroundLink, and close delivered stops with proof of delivery.
- Stop status is visible to the office as it happens, so failed stops can be followed up the same day.
A failed delivery is free information about your process. Most businesses throw it away.