Drive-through

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A drive-thru window at a fast food restaurant.

Some businesses are built only for drive-through service, like this espresso shop.

A drive-through shared by a bank and a coffee shop.

A drive-through or drive-thru refers to a business or restaurant that serves customers who pull up in their vehicles. Orders are taken and goods or services are provided through a special window, while the customers remain in their vehicles. The format was first pioneered in the United States in the 1940s but has since spread worldwide.

Contents

1 Examples of drive-through businesses

1.1 Drive-through restaurants
1.2 Drive-through banking

2 How it works

2.1 Timing

3 Record
4 Walking and cycling through the drive-through
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 References

Examples of drive-through businesses

Banking services at a drive-through bank
Drugs at a drive-through pharmacy
Alcohol at a drive-through liquor store
Food or drink at a drive-through restaurant (typically fast food such as McDonald's)
Marriage (primarily at special drive-through marriage chapels in Las Vegas in the United States)

Drive-through restaurants

A drive-through restaurant generally consists of:

One or more backlit free-standing signs listing the menu items, called a menu board
A speaker and microphone for customers to order from
A speaker and microphone or wireless headset system for employees to hear the customer's order
One or more windows where employees interact with customers by taking money and/or giving the customer the order

Drive-through designs are different from restaurant to restaurant; however, most drive-thrus can accommodate four to six passenger cars or trucks at once (called the queue).

There are differing claims for which establishment open the first drive-thru. Notable claimants include Red's Giant Hamburgs in Springfield, Missouri (in 1947) and In-N-Out Burger in California (in 1948).

Drive-through banking

The year 1946 saw the inception of drive-through banking, and the first bank to implement it was the Exchange National Bank of Chicago. George D. Sax, chairman, is credited with the innovation.

How it works

Usually, a drive-through works by the following steps:

A customer pulls up to the menu board and speaker area. A device called a loop detector senses the car and sends a signal to the customer's ordering speaker, turning it on, and also sends a tone signal to the restaurant's order taking method, signaling employees that there is a car at the speaker. This period is referred to by some restaurant chains as Greet.
The employee inside responsible for drive-through orders greets the customer and takes the order. When the customer is finished, the employee may read back the order to the customer or refer the customer to a display screen near the menu board. When the order is correct, the employee gives the customer the cost total and invites the customer to advance to the next window. This period (sometimes including the Greet) is referred to by some restaurant chains as Menu.
When the customer pulls away from the speaker, the loop detector senses that the car is in motion and sends a signal to the ordering speaker to shut it off.
At the window, the customer pays for the order, gets his or her change, and employee passes the order through the window. This period is referred to by some restaurant chains as Window. Occasionally, payment collection and order delivery are handled at separate consecutive windows.
The customer pulls away.

In 2005, one major fast food chain announced plans to take drive through orders from a central location, the theory being that dedicated order takers would make fewer errors than the in-store order takers.#redirect

Timing

With the demand for faster service comes the need to track timing. Most major restaurant chains equip their drive-through areas with timers so that managers and employees can identify trends in meal periods and employee performance. In this principle, loop detectors are used to capture timestamps for each part of the drive-through and for the overall period from the time that the customer pulls up to the speaker to the time that he or she pulls away from the window, which is referred to as "Total" or "Overall".

Timing data can help restaurant operators understand the precise nature of what customers are ordering at what times, where bottlenecks in service are occurring, and how to increase productivity and therefore revenue. Often, restaurants with fast drive-through operations require a higher quality of employee training and dedication to quality.

Record

In 2005, McDonalds Wynnum-West, an Australian McDonalds restaurant took the award for fastest drive through service in the world. McDonalnds Pty Ltd CEO Charlie Bell presented a plaque to the franchisee at the annual McDonalds award ceremony in Washington DC.

Walking and cycling through the drive-through

Pedestrians sometimes attempt to walk through the drive-through to order food after the seated section of a fast food restaurant has closed. It is generally policy to refuse service on the basis of safety and insurance liability. Cyclists are usually refused service with the same justification given. Billionaire Paul Allen is said to have walked though a drive-through. [link].

Trivia

In German-speaking countries and in Poland, "drive" is a well understood English word, but "through" is not common. Thus fast food chains use terms such as "Drive-In" (Burger King) and "McDrive" (McDonalds).

References

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