Choose an on-demand courier when your deliveries are irregular and you book them as they come. Choose a dedicated route when you deliver to the same places on a rhythm and want a regular driver, a fixed schedule and a pricing structure agreed in advance. Many businesses use both, and the skill is in giving each kind of delivery to the right one.
The short version
- On-demand: you book each delivery, the driver is whoever is available, and you pay per job. It is flexible.
- Dedicated route: a fixed route and schedule, a regular driver where possible and a written agreement with a term.
- The test is repetition. If the same stops come back on the same days, a route usually fits better.
- A dedicated route does not replace on-demand. You can still add a same-day run when you need one.
- The trade-off is commitment: a dedicated route asks for a term and an expected volume in return for consistency.
The three ways to book a delivery
| Feature | Same-day or on-demand | Scheduled route | Dedicated route and contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Urgent, unpredictable orders | Recurring volume on a regular pattern | Steady volume that needs consistency |
| How it is booked | Per order or per run | Once, then it repeats | Once, under a written agreement |
| Who drives | Whoever is available | Drivers on the schedule | A regular driver or crew, where possible |
| What is fixed | The cutoff and the delivery window | The days and the stops | Route, schedule, price structure, term and notice |
| Changing it | Book differently each time | Ask the courier to add days or stops | Review points built into the agreement |
That is how recourier.ca describes its own three options on the dedicated routes page, and it is a fair frame for comparing any courier's.
Five questions that decide it
- Could you have predicted the delivery a week ago? If yes, it can be planned. If it only exists because of something that happened this morning, it is on-demand work.
- Do the same stops come back? A route earns its keep when one pickup point serves the same drop-offs on a rhythm.
- How much does a familiar driver matter? If the driver needs to know your dock, your contacts and the back door of each store, consistency has real value.
- Are the windows fixed? Morning stocking before opening, or a lunch that must land by noon: fixed windows suit a fixed route.
- Do you know your peaks? If you can tell the courier when your busy weeks fall, a route can be planned for them.
Three or more yeses point to a route. One or two point to a scheduled run, or to on-demand with a regular booking.
A simple test: the repeat rate
Look at your last eight weeks of deliveries. Count how many went to a place you had already delivered to on that weekday, then divide by the total. That is your repeat rate. As a rule of thumb, if roughly half or more of your deliveries repeat, a scheduled or dedicated route is worth pricing. If almost none do, stay on-demand. It is a rule of thumb, not a law: a smaller number of valuable, time-critical repeat deliveries can justify a route too.
How often should a retailer restock? shows how to turn a pattern into a rhythm.
What changes when you move to a dedicated route
- Booking overhead drops. The route simply happens. Nobody phones or clicks to order each run.
- The driver learns the route. The dock, the contacts, the access codes, the customers' habits. That means fewer misses and less explaining.
- Pricing becomes a structure. You agree it once, rather than getting a price job by job.
- You commit. There is a term, a notice period and an expected volume. That is the cost of consistency.
- Capacity is planned. Peaks are discussed ahead of time instead of scrambled for.
What stays on-demand
A dedicated route covers the rhythm. It does not cover the exceptions: the urgent part, the last-minute gift, the order nobody expected. Keep an on-demand or same-day option alongside the route for those. With same-day and scheduled delivery, you set the cutoff, and the route carries the base load at the lowest cost per stop.
Signs you have outgrown on-demand
- The same “urgent” delivery happens every Thursday.
- You re-explain the access to a different driver each time.
- You pay rush rates for work you could have planned.
- Someone on your team spends part of every day booking deliveries.
- A delivery is late because nobody had a map of your regular stops.
Signs a dedicated route is premature
- Your volume is small, or it changes wildly from week to week.
- Your destinations are different every time.
- You are still testing a new product, area or channel.
- You are not yet sure which days are busy.
In those cases, start with on-demand or a scheduled run, track what repeats, and move to a dedicated route when the pattern is clear. Ask the courier how that upgrade works.
Questions to ask before you commit
- Will the same driver run my route, and what happens when that driver is away?
- What is fixed in the agreement: the stops, the windows, the price structure?
- What happens if my volume is lower or higher than expected for a week, or for a season?
- How and when can the route be changed, and with how much notice?
- How do I see that every run happened?
What to put in a delivery service agreement turns these into a clause-by-clause checklist, and seven questions to ask any courier covers the basics.
How recourier.ca approaches it
recourier.ca offers all three. Same-day and scheduled routes are covered on the same-day and scheduled page. A dedicated route sets fixed stops and windows, with a regular driver where possible, under a written long-term agreement that covers the schedule, the pricing structure and the term. Because every route is priced from its stops, windows and handling, there is no rate card: send your pattern and we come back with a structure.
Frequently asked questions
What is a dedicated delivery route?
A route built around your pickup point, your stops and your customers' windows, run on a set schedule with a regular driver where possible, usually under a long-term agreement.
Is a dedicated route more expensive than on-demand?
Per delivery, a dedicated route is often cheaper for steady volume, because it is planned in advance and the driver's time is well used. It gets more expensive per delivery if the volume is too thin to fill the route, which is why the repeat-rate test comes first.
Can I still book a one-off delivery if I have a dedicated route?
Yes. Most customers combine them: the route carries the predictable volume and a same-day run covers the exceptions.
How long is a long-term delivery agreement?
There is no standard length. What matters is that the term, the renewal and the notice are written down, along with review points where price and volume can be adjusted.
How do I get started with a dedicated route?
Send your pickup point, stops, days, windows and rough volume through a quote request. We will propose a route and an agreement structure.
Send us your pickup point, stops, days and windows, and we will tell you whether a dedicated route fits or whether a scheduled run is the better first step.