All drive-thrus may not be created equal.
Many of us are spending more time at the drive-thru lines because of the coronavirus virus pandemic. The wait times seemed longer than they actually were. SeeLevel HX has released a new study that tracked wait times at fast-food drive-thru locations. 2020 saw a significant increase in wait times. Not all drive-true lines work the same. Depending on the restaurant they choose, some fast-food customers spent more time waiting than others.
KFC was the leader of the nine other eateries in the study. Customers travelled through the drive-thru in 283.3 seconds, or approximately four-and-a half minutes. This is well below the average 356.8 second time for the 10 brands. Chick-fil-A was at the opposite end with a 488.8-second wait time (just under eight minutes). This is significantly more than KFC, and a significant increase over Arby’s (9th) which had a wait time of 394.2 seconds. McDonald’s came in sixth place, just below the average at 349.3 seconds. You can see the complete results here (in seconds).
KFC – 283.3
Taco Bell – 310.2
Hardee’s – 321.6
Carl’s
Jr. 341.6
Burger King – 344.3
McDonald’s – 349.3
Dunkin’ – 351.7
Wendy’s – 358.7
Arby’s – 394.2
SeeLevel HX also has data that confirms 2020’s lengthy wait times. The study found that six brands tested saw their wait times increase significantly over 2019, while McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Taco Bell saw them fall. McDonald’s saw a drop of nearly 30 seconds in wait times while Taco Bell saw a decrease of about 10 seconds. Between 2019 and 2020, KFC and Chickfil-A experienced incremental improvements.
With COVID likely to permanently change how we go about our daily lives, drive-thrus will be busy. Restaurants will be able to adapt and reduce wait times. The business will lose money if it has to wait longer and serves fewer customers. If you have a short time and are in a rush, KFC might be faster than Chick-fil A or Wendy’s.