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Delivery texts for couriers: fewer failed first attempts

Spoke Dispatch texts or emails each customer before the van arrives, so more people are in and fewer drops need a second trip. From about $153£115€137A$221C$216 a month.

At a glance

  • What it costs$153–200£115–150€137–179A$221–288C$216–282 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$200£150€179A$288C$282 a month

  • Pays for itselfWithin the month

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Every 'nobody home' card means a second trip for the same money. If two vans fail 15 drops a week and each second attempt costs about $9£7€8A$13C$13 in driver time and fuel, that's 64.5 failed drops a month (15 x 4.3), about $599£450€536A$864C$846 a month going on repeat visits.

What the AI does

Spoke Dispatch's pricing page lists customized SMS and email notifications to recipients, live route tracking and proof of delivery on every plan. When the day's routes are set, customers get a message that their delivery is coming, written in your words, so they can be in or arrange a neighbor. Drivers mark failed drops in the app, so you can see which streets and customers fail most. The page doesn't say exactly when messages are sent, so check the timing settings in a trial. A branded tracking page and your own SMS sender name need Premium.

A worked example

A two-van courier in Swindon delivers boxed goods for online sellers and furniture shops to homes, about 80 drops a day. Failed drops are rebooked by phone and taken out the next day.

Before

About 15 failed drops a week, 64.5 a month, at about $9£7€8A$13C$13 each: about $599£450€536A$864C$846 a month

After

About 10 failed drops a week, 43 a month, at about $9£7€8A$13C$13 each: about $399£300€357A$576C$564 a month

What it's worth

About $200£150€179A$288C$282 a month saved in second attempts, if texts cut failed drops from 15 to 10 a week; that fall is an assumption, so measure it. The $9£7€8A$13C$13 a drop assumes 15 minutes of driver time at $19£14€17A$27C$26 an hour plus about $4.66£3.50€4.17A$6.72C$6.58 of fuel. The texts come with Spoke Dispatch, so if you already pay $153£115€137A$221C$216 to $200£150€179A$288C$282 a month for it to plan routes they cost nothing extra; bought for texts alone, the subscription roughly matches the saving.

How to set it up

  1. Count your failed drops for two weeks before you change anything, so you have a figure to compare.
  2. In Spoke Dispatch, write the delivery message in plain words: who you are, what's coming and what to do if nobody will be in.
  3. Make sure every drop has a mobile number or email; ask your shop customers to pass them on with each order.
  4. Turn on notifications and have drivers record each failed drop in the app with a reason.
  5. After a month, compare failed drops with your starting count and adjust the message.

What goes wrong

  • Texts only work if the shop sends you a correct mobile number. Orders with no number get no message.
  • A text that lands at 6am annoys people. Check the send times before you switch it on; restricting send times needs Premium.
  • Customers' numbers are personal data from your shop clients. Use them only for the delivery, as your agreement with each shop allows.
  • Spoke counts failed stops towards your stop allowance, so a second attempt is billed as another stop.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.