Self-delivery
Deliver with your own riders, from the same order screen
If you already employ a rider, or most of your customers live within a short ride of the kitchen, running your own delivery can cost less per order than any third-party service. Tuckly's online ordering system lets you assign each order to a named rider from the order screen and update its status as the bag moves.
- Assign any delivery order to a named rider
- Address, items, notes and payment status on the order
- Mix own riders with Porter on the same shift
- Delivery charges per area, set by you
Order #1047 · Delivery
3 items · ₹640 · Paid online
Fulfil with
- Order placed 12:31
- Accepted by kitchen 12:32
- Rider requested via Porter 12:44
- Picked up 12:58
- Delivered —
Illustrative view.
Worked example
What a rider costs per delivery, on a busy hour and a slow one
Say a rider costs ₹130 an hour all in: wages, a fuel allowance and the share of insurance you attribute to the hour. For comparison, assume a per-trip rider service would charge ₹70 for the kind of short trip your orders need. Both numbers are made up for the example; put your own in.
| Hour | Deliveries | Cost per delivery (own rider) | Per-trip service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 8pm | 4 | ₹130 ÷ 4 = ₹32.50 | ₹70 |
| Tuesday 3pm | 1 | ₹130 ÷ 1 = ₹130 | ₹70 |
| Average across a week | 2.5 | ₹130 ÷ 2.5 = ₹52 | ₹70 |
The own rider wins when the rider is busy and loses when they are standing around. That is the whole decision in one table: self-delivery pays when you can keep a rider moving, and a per-trip service pays when you cannot. Many restaurants run the rider for the known busy hours and a per-trip service for the rest.
Figures are illustrative and chosen to show the arithmetic, not to predict your results.
What self-delivery looks like in Tuckly
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Assignment per order
On the order screen, choose which rider takes the order. Two riders on shift, five orders waiting: you decide who takes what, by area or by who is back first.
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The details a rider needs
Address, phone number, items, the note that says "gate code 2231", and whether it is already paid. All on the order, nothing to copy out.
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Status that follows the bag
Mark the order picked up and delivered as it happens. Anyone at the counter can see where it is without calling the rider mid-ride.
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Own riders and Porter side by side
The far order can go to a Porter rider in cities Porter serves while your own rider takes the three nearby ones. The choice is per order.
How an own-rider delivery runs
- 1
The order arrives paid
Delivery orders from your site come with the address, a phone number and online payment through your gateway already taken. If you choose to accept cash on delivery as well, that is a decision about your riders and your risk, not a product setting, and it is discussed below.
- 2
You accept and set a time
Give a preparation time the kitchen can hold. The rider's ride time is added to that in your head, so a 20-minute prep and a 15-minute ride means telling the customer 35 to 40.
- 3
You assign a rider
Pick the rider on the order. If two orders are heading the same way, give both to the same rider and send them together; the order screen does not batch for you, but it shows the addresses so you can.
- 4
The rider takes the bag
Mark it picked up. The rider has the order details on their phone from the order screen: address, phone, items, notes.
- 5
Delivered, and on to the next
Mark it delivered. The status is visible to whoever is on the counter, so when the customer rings to ask, nobody has to guess.
Own riders, Porter, or marketplace delivery
Three ways a bag gets to a door. They differ on cost structure, control and who ends up with the customer.
| Your own riders | Porter (per trip) | Marketplace delivery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost structure | Hourly or per-shift, regardless of volume | A fee per trip, paid to Porter | A percentage of the order, set by the marketplace |
| Capacity at peak | Limited to the riders you have | Depends on rider availability in your area | Usually ample, at the marketplace's price |
| Control over handover | Full: your person, your bag, your standards | Porter's rider; you set expectations through the order | The marketplace's rider |
| Customer data | Yours, on the order | Yours, on the order | Held by the marketplace |
| Setup effort | Hire, insure, equip | A Porter business account | Sign a partner agreement |
| Where it works | Anywhere you can staff | Cities Porter serves; its API is currently two-wheeler only | Marketplace coverage areas |
Marketplace commission tiers vary by country and plan. The comparison page on direct ordering vs delivery apps goes through published tiers with sources.
When self-delivery pays
The arithmetic in the example above is the whole case. An employed rider is a fixed cost per hour; a per-trip service is a variable cost per order. Self-delivery pays when the fixed cost is spread across enough deliveries, which means two things: enough orders, and orders close enough together that one rider can do several in an hour.
Dense local demand is the condition that matters most. A biryani place with most of its customers inside a two-kilometre ring, a pizza shop in a residential suburb, a tiffin service with regular office addresses: these businesses can keep a rider moving. A restaurant whose direct orders spread thinly across a city will pay a rider to wait, and would do better requesting a rider per trip, at least until volume grows.
Think about the shape of the week too. A rider on shift from 6pm to 10pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday may be fully used while a Tuesday afternoon rider is not. Shift planning, not software, decides whether self-delivery is cheap.
Batching by area
Tuckly does not batch orders for you, but the order screen shows every address, and a person at the counter can see that three orders are heading to the same block of flats. Sending them together with one rider is the single biggest lever on cost per delivery. Two practical rules help: hold a near-ready order for a few minutes if another one for the same direction is about to come up, and never hold a hot dish for a cold one.
Set delivery areas with this in mind. A small area close to the kitchen that is free or cheap to deliver to encourages the orders that are easy to batch. The delivery management page covers how areas and charges are set.
Cash on delivery
Orders placed on your site are paid online through your payment gateway, with the gateway’s fee applied and no Tuckly commission. Whether to also accept cash at the door is a question for you rather than the product. It raises the risk of refused orders, puts cash in riders’ pockets, and complicates the end-of-night count. Against that, some customers in some areas will not order without it. If you decide to offer it, keep a cash float per rider and a reconciliation step on return, and consider limiting it to orders under a certain value.
Safety, insurance and the basics
Treat the first shift like onboarding any staff member. A rider needs a vehicle that is insured for work use, a helmet that fits, a phone mount, an insulated bag, and a clear instruction that a late delivery is better than a crash. Requirements vary by country and city, and Tuckly does not offer compliance advice, so check with your insurer and local rules before you start.
When to add a second rider
Add a rider when the first one is turning orders away, not when the first one is busy. The signal is concrete: orders held past their promised time because the rider is still out, or delivery areas you keep switched off on Fridays because you cannot cover them. Before hiring, try the cheaper fix of requesting a per-trip rider for the overflow on peak nights for a month. If the overflow is steady enough that the per-trip fees would cover a wage, the second rider is justified. If it is two Fridays a month, it is not.
Details worth keeping on the order
The best self-delivery operations keep notes. A gate code, a “ring the bell twice” instruction, a landmark that saves five minutes of searching. Order notes typed by the customer reach the order, and your team can add to what they know over time. The guide to offering delivery and pickup from your own website goes through the first month in more detail, including what to measure.
Questions about self-delivery
How many orders can one rider handle in an hour?
It depends on your radius and traffic more than anything else. Within two kilometres on a scooter, four an hour is realistic at peak if you send nearby orders together. Across a city, two. Measure yours for a fortnight before you hire a second rider.
Can my rider see the order on their phone?
Yes, through the order screen, which works in a phone browser. There is no separate rider app. The rider sees the address, phone number, items, notes and whether the order is paid.
Does Tuckly track the rider's location?
No. Status updates are made by your team: picked up, delivered. If live location matters for your customers, say so when you talk to us; we would rather you know now.
Should I accept cash on delivery?
Orders on your site are paid online through your gateway. If you also want to take cash at the door, treat it as a business decision: riders carry cash, change runs out, and the occasional order is refused at the door. Many restaurants keep online payment only for exactly those reasons.
What about insurance and rider safety?
Requirements vary by country and city. In general, a rider using a vehicle for work needs cover that recognises that use, a helmet, and clear rules about speed and phone use. Tuckly does not provide insurance or compliance advice; check your local rules and your insurer before the first shift.
Can I run my own riders at weekends and Porter during the week?
Yes. Because the rider choice is made on each order, you can use your own rider on the busy days when they are worth their hourly rate and request a Porter rider for the odd weekday delivery, in cities where Porter operates.
Give your riders the order, not a scribbled note
Assign each delivery from the order screen and keep the status honest. Your riders, your customers, no commission.
Gateway fees, delivery and taxes are separate. Pricing
Last reviewed 29 October 2026.