Set your order cutoff by working backward from when the truck leaves: departure, minus loading, minus picking, minus the time you need to buy what you're short. Publish one cutoff per delivery day. Then let the ordering system enforce it, so nobody has to say no on the phone.
Work it backward from the truck
Start from your own times. This is an example for a next-morning route; swap in your numbers.
| Step | Example | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| Truck leaves | 5:00 AM | |
| Loading | 1 hour | 4:00 AM |
| Picking the day's orders | 4 hours | midnight |
| Buying what you're short and receiving it | 6 hours | 6:00 PM |
| Buffer for late changes and checks | 2 hours | 4:00 PM |
| Cutoff | 4:00 PM the day before |
Picking time depends on how many lines you pick, not how many orders. If your volume doubles on Fridays, Friday's cutoff may need to be earlier than Tuesday's.
One rule per delivery day, written down
Customers remember simple rules. "Order by 2 PM for next-day delivery" works. "Order by 2 PM, except produce by noon, except Fridays" doesn't.
If you need exceptions, make them by product or by route, not by customer, and show them where the customer orders:
- Special orders and items you don't stock: two days ahead.
- Same day: only if you run a same-day route, with its own cutoff.
Put the cutoff where they order
- On the order screen, before they add anything: "Next delivery Thursday. Order by Wednesday 2 PM."
- In the reply to a late text: "We're past today's cutoff. This goes out Friday." (More replies like this in how to take orders by text message.)
- On every invoice and order guide.
- A week before any holiday, with the changed days.
Let the system say no
Cutoffs fall apart when a person has to enforce them on the phone. Let the ordering system do it:
- At cutoff, that delivery day closes to new orders and the next open day is offered.
- Changes to a submitted order lock at cutoff.
- Exceptions are possible, but only a manager can make one, and each one is logged with a reason.
When the screen says the day is closed, the customer argues with the screen, not with your rep.
One cutoff difference is worth making on purpose: a later cutoff for online orders than for phone orders. It's the strongest reason you can give customers to order online instead of calling.
What to do with late orders
Pick one policy and use it every time:
- Next delivery day. The default.
- Pickup at the warehouse, if you run will call.
- A logged exception, approved by a manager, for a real emergency.
Count exceptions per customer each month. The same few names will come up. Have the conversation with them, not with everyone.
Holidays
Publish holiday cutoffs a week ahead: on the order screen, on invoices, and in a text to customers who agreed to get texts from you. Move the cutoff before you move the truck.
Changing a cutoff
Customers forgive an earlier cutoff. They don't forgive finding out at the back door. When you change one:
- Give two weeks' notice. On the order screen, on invoices, and in a text to customers who agreed to texts.
- Tell your biggest accounts in person. The rep or the driver mentions it at the next delivery.
- Start on a Monday. A new rule that starts midweek gets missed.
- Hold the line for the first two weeks. Exceptions in week one teach everyone the new cutoff is optional.
Mistakes that break cutoffs
- A different cutoff for every customer. Nobody can remember them, including your team.
- Exceptions by phone. Every "just this once" becomes the new cutoff for that account.
- A cutoff that only lives in the rep's head. If it isn't on the order screen and the invoice, it isn't a rule.
- Accepting late orders without logging them. You can't fix what you can't count.
How to tell it's working
Track weekly, from your own orders:
- Orders that came in after cutoff, and how many you accepted anyway.
- Exceptions per customer.
- Mispicks and late trucks on the days after you accepted late orders.
If late orders fall and trucks leave on time, the cutoff is right. If the warehouse is always rushing, move the cutoff 30 minutes earlier and check again in two weeks.
Questions
What cutoff do most distributors use? It depends on your routes, so copy your own truck, not a competitor. Work it backward with the table above.
Should different customers get different cutoffs? Avoid it. Different cutoffs by product or route are easier to keep than different cutoffs by customer.
What about customers who always order late? Check the exception log and talk to the repeat names. A standing weekly order, or a reminder text for customers who agreed to texts, fixes most of them.