What are triple orders?

Most food delivery companies have 'double orders' where the driver collects two orders at the same time and drops them off one after the other. These are sometimes called batched or stacked orders. On Deliveroo and Uber double orders can be 'multi-pickup' where the orders come from different merchants.

Last year Uber introduced triple orders, where the driver collects three different customers' food at a time.

How many triple orders are there?

At first it looked like an experiment by Uber with triple orders being very rare. However, recently they have become more common and triples now account for 2% of all orders. Based on Uber's total order volume this would mean there are more than 3 million each year in the UK.

Are they good for drivers?

In general, yes. On average drivers earn £16.74/hr while on a triple order. This is higher than single orders and double orders (doubles turn out the be the worst order type). Earnings per mile are also higher on triples than other order types.

Are they good for customers and restaurants?

Probably not. Waiting for three orders to be ready and then driving to three different customers' houses means someone is almost definitely getting cold food. On average triple orders take 45 minutes to complete, but 13% of them take more than an hour - I don't know about you but I would not be happy being the third customer.

Interestingly, the distribution of triple orders among restaurants is not even: more than one in ten Tortilla orders are part of a triple with Fireaway not far behind. There are no triple orders at McDonald's which is presumably because they have negotiated this with Uber.