Uber Direct is an on-demand delivery platform that connects businesses with local couriers. They are one of our primary courier partner for bike and moped deliveries in UK.
What courier services can Uber Direct offer?
Instant: Delivery that will instantly start searching for an Uber courier.
Scheduled: Delivery scheduled to be picked up within a 15min window before the delivery time slot.
Understanding Package Size - What can Uber deliver?
Here is a handy chart showing the minimum sizes of Uber Thermal Bags and max weight reference for our Partners.
Depending on the size of the package Uber Direct will assign a different vehicle type, large packages will be assigned cars provided you have cars enabled in your Slerp Controls settings. Note: Cars may incur a higher price.
How can you choose the vehicle size needed for your orders?
You can be set your preferred delivery vehicles via your Slerp Controls.
1. You can choose to have all your orders delivered via Bike-Motorbike and/or Car-Van.
Please note: Vehicles can be assigned to an order based on the basket value of an order. High basket value generally means that the delivery packaging will be bigger and may not fit into a bike/motorbike. if you expect you receive high basket value orders, it is strongly recommended you select a vehicle type by basket value.
- Small size= can fit in a Bike, i.e. any order with basket value £0 - £50
- Medium size = can fit in a Motorbike, basket value £51 - £100
- Large/Extra Large = can fit in a Car/Van, basket value + £101
What happens if your items are too big for 1 Courier Partner bag?
1) If your order doesn't all fit in the Courier Partner's bag, the first courier can take the first part of the order.
1) You can book another courier autonomously via your Slerp controls as explained in this Book another courier guide.
2) If you frequently receive orders with a high basket value, it is recommended to also enable deliveries via cars and vans. More information on the service can be found here.
Maximum Pick-Up distance - How long it takes for the driver to arrive to the store?
A driver is typically assigned to the delivery within 7 minutes and will be at your location within 15 minutes. The order is usually assigned to drivers that are within 2-2.5 miles from the store.
Maximum Pick up to drop-off distance - How long it takes for the driver to arrive to the customer's address?
The end-to-end delivery time will depend on the distance between the store and the customer. Uber average under 30 minutes up to 1.5 miles. Typically, it is 7 minutes per mile for mopeds and 9 minutes per mile for bikes.
Slerp Controls allows you to customize or extend the delivery radius up to 4 miles to reach more customers from far away.
Please note: if you are delivering via Uber, the maximum drop-off distance from pick-up to drop-off is 5 miles and Uber strongly recommends not going over 3 miles.
If you choose to set a larger delivery area it will take longer to assign a courier, your end-to-end delivery time will increase and the likelihood of failed deliveries will also increase.
Can I cancel a delivery?
Before the package has been picked up, you can directly cancel the delivery via your Slerp App or via your Slerp controls dashboard:
If the driver has been assigned, please reach out to Slerp Support to request cancellation.
A cancellation will not incur a fee provided the driver has not left the pickup location. If the driver has left you will be charged the full cost of the delivery.
What is a return delivery?
A return is a new task delivery with a new task number that has been created because the original delivery could not be delivered and fits the requirements for a return delivery (outlined above)
Please note: in case of a return, Uber will charge an additional delivery fee for this return which you will be invoiced for.
How do I know the order has been delivered?
Slerp will operate with Uber as follows, this is subject to change:
Orders below £100 without alcohol
- Deliverable: No PIN, No picture as POD (aka proof of delivery) by default.
- If undeliverable (eg: person not present): Leave at door + POD picture.
- No return i.e. Discard if unable to leave at door e.g. driver unable to access dropoff point
Orders below £100 with alcohol
- Deliverable: No PIN, No POD picture by default.
- If undeliverable (eg: person not present): Return.
Orders of £100 and above
- Deliverable: Picture as POD + meet at door.
- If undeliverable: Return (returns will be charged at same price as delivery).
How to manage delays - The driver is not coming to the pick up location
Usually, drivers start to move after 2 minutes of having received the delivery request on their app. Please allow up to 10 minutes to see if they move towards the pick up location.
Please note that sometimes there can be some delay in the updates, which might give the impression that the driver is not moving when he/she actually is moving.
To see if a driver is moving:
1) Via tablet: go to the order in your tablet and click on "track delivery" where you will be able to see drivers location live on a map. You can also get in touch directly with your driver by giving them a call.
2) Via slerp controls: open the order in your dashboard, click on delivery tab where you can view the order on a map and the live tracking link. Find our more here.
In the improbable case that the driver is not moving towards the pick up location after 10min and he/she isn't answering your phone calls, please contact Slerp Support.
How to manage delays - Order searching, delivery not being assigned, no drivers available
Usually, delivery requests are assigned within 5 minutes, yet during peak times it can take longer to be assigned.
The system sends invitations to the couriers and it is then up to them to accept. Please, note that partners couriers can be reluctant to accept deliveries that are of higher distance.
In case of low driver availability or peak hours, Uber can enable their batching logic and will attempt to batch orders that won't have a detrimental impact on end to end delivery times. Therefore, you may occasionally have the same courier collecting more orders heading in the same direction in a bid to increase overall efficiency.
Please allow the system to calculate the best route and invite a few drivers before contacting Live Support. If you cancel the order to have it relaunched, the order will get back to the beginning of the priority queue, so it takes more time to have the order assigned if it's cancelled and is re-sent, instead of letting the original one search for more time.
What if there is no Uber courier-partner available?
Slerp’s Dispatch will automatically try other courier services like Stuart if no Uber driver can be assigned. If no driver is available please wait a few minutes as sometimes, in high demand or low supply conditions (eg: heavy rain) it can take time to assign a driver. If no driver is assigned after 15 minutes contact Slerp support for advice.