Chick-fil-A again had the busiest drive-thru, with an average of 3.57 vehicles in line—even more than its average of 3.42 in 2007. McDonald’s average of 2.69 vehicles represents the second-busiest. From there, the numbers drop significantly. The third-busiest drive-thrus belong to Culver’s with an average of 1.57 vehicles in line at any given time. To better grasp just how much busier Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s are compared with the rest of the field, consider that there is a two-vehicle difference between No. 1 Chick-fil-A and No. 3 Culver’s, but less than one-vehicle difference between Culver’s (1.57) and the least-busy drive-thru operation encountered this year, Long John Silver’s (.77).

Vehicle counts make a difference. Wendy’s average service speed with two or fewer cars in line was 118.8 seconds; its average with three to five cars in line was 188.9 seconds.

Overall, average service times dropped from nearly 200 seconds last year to slightly more than 184 seconds this year. Although the average number of vehicles in line decreased slightly, from 1.43 in 2007 to 1.38 this year, that change cannot account for the nearly 16-second improvement. Nor were speed improvements made to the detriment of order accuracy. This year’s order accuracy percentages improved after a slight decrease in 2007 from 2006. Speed enhancements can be attributed to continued improvements and refinements in restaurant operations, the use of speed enhancing tools such as internal timers, and the emergence of faster payment options such as contactless payment card readers.

Getting it Right

Chick-fil-A was the accuracy leader again in 2008, improving the nation’s best mark from 95.2 percent accuracy in 2007 to 97 percent this year. Newcomer Culver’s finished second, followed closely by Del Taco, Jack in the Box, and Krystal Burger.

Bojangles’ appears to have sacrificed accuracy for speed, as it fell from third (93.9 percent) in 2007 to 23rd at 85.6 percent in 2008 order accuracy. It will be interesting to keep an eye on Bojangles’ accuracy over the next few years to see where the operation is on this important criterion, as in 2006 Bojangles’ had the lowest score in the order accuracy category prior to its climb to third last year.

As is typically the case, there was a lot of movement in the order accuracy rankings this year. Order accuracy as a whole improved throughout the nation. Because there is such a small difference separating most of the chains, a slight change in performance can result in a big move in the rankings. Krystal, for example, remained consistent in performance from 94.63 percent accurate in 2007 to 94.55 percent accurate in 2008, yet fell from second in 2007 to fifth this year. Burger King improved its accuracy rate from 92.26 percent in 2007, which was good for a fifth-place finish in the rankings, to 93.62 percent this year, yet it fell in the rankings to eighth. Big movers in the accuracy category included KFC, moving from 23rd (86 percent) up to ninth this year (93.4 percent), and Jack in the Box, which moved up to fourth (94.81 percent) from it’s 17th place finish last year (88.35 percent).

The overall higher percentage of accurate orders this year was accomplished through improvement top to bottom. In addition to Chick-fil-A’s improvement, the 25th place finisher, Church’s, was more than 2 percent more accurate than 2007’s 25th place finisher, A&W. All but seven chains had accuracy rates of 90 percent or better this year, as compared to 12 of the 25 chains in 2007 and 17 of 25 in the 2006 study. Only two chains had accuracy rates of less than 85 percent this year.

Beverage fulfillment appears to be the most problematic item regarding order accuracy. Almost 3 percent (2.76) of researchers who ordered a drink with no ice received drinks with ice, while another 0.87 percent received their beverage with no straw, 0.4 percent either received an incorrect flavor or size of drink, and another 1.09 percent did not receive a drink at all. Compare that to only slightly more than 1 percent of researchers who had some issue with their main item (which includes unfulfilled or incorrect changes to toppings on sandwiches).