How Fast-Food Drive-Thru Lanes are Accelerating as Fewer Drivers Queue Up

Fast-food drive-thru lanes are becoming faster as fewer customers opt to order from their cars, according to a recent study by Intouch Insight. Their annual report reveals that drive-thru wait times have decreased by 29 seconds this year. The time spent waiting to place an order has also been reduced by 25 seconds, and the average number of cars in line has dropped from 2.76 to 1.27.

Intouch Insight conducted the study by visiting nearly 1,500 locations of popular fast-food chains including Arby’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, Hardee’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. Mystery shoppers were tasked with placing orders at the drive-thru during various times between June and July.

While Taco Bell, KFC, and Carl’s Jr. boasted the shortest overall drive-thru times, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s outperformed the competition when their longer average total times were divided by the number of cars in line. This indicates that their popularity and customer demand affected their average times. In fact, drive-thru lanes across the board have seen a decline in demand since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Customers have shifted from ordering inside the restaurant to ordering from the convenience of their cars, even after dining rooms reopened.

In response to the surge in drive-thru popularity, fast-food chains have had to find ways to expedite order fulfillment and improve accuracy. Some have implemented curbside pickup for mobile orders, while others are testing AI software for order taking or constructing new locations with multiple drive-thru lanes. However, despite these efforts, this year’s average drive-thru times still fall behind the times of 2019 by 15 seconds.

An increasing number of diners have now migrated to ordering online or utilizing self-order kiosks inside the restaurants.

Although drive-thru visits are leveling off, companies like McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A are continually working on strategies to enhance service speed and reduce errors. These efforts include the adoption of AI order-taking systems and the construction of new locations with up to four drive-thru lanes.

Intouch Insight’s mystery shoppers visited two unique restaurants this year: a McDonald’s test location outside of Fort Worth, Texas, featuring an order-ahead lane and a regular drive-thru lane, and a Taco Bell in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, with a traditional drive-thru lane and three extra lanes specifically for delivery drivers and customers who placed advanced orders.

Both of these locations outperformed their respective brands’ average service times by approximately one minute. The Taco Bell restaurant also achieved a higher accuracy rate of 88% compared to the chain’s overall rate of 85%. However, the McDonald’s test location fell short in terms of order accuracy, scoring 80% compared to the chain’s rate of 88%.