---
title: "Pay drivers a minimum per delivery, and more for longer zones"
description: "Guarantee drivers a minimum per delivery, even when customers pay a lower delivery fee, with a fixed fee plus a share of each zone's fee."
canonical: https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/pay-drivers-minimum-per-delivery/
---

# Pay drivers a minimum per delivery, and more for longer zones

Your customers pay a low delivery fee, but each driver must earn a minimum per delivery, and more for longer distances. Pay a **fixed fee per order** plus **100% of the order's delivery fee**, and set one delivery zone per distance band.

## Who this is for

Marketplaces with their own drivers that keep customer delivery fees low to stay competitive, and pay drivers per delivery from the platform's share.

## How the pay is calculated

For every completed order, the driver earns:

**Fixed fee per order + Delivery fee (%) × the order's delivery fee** (+ tips and any extras you set)

The order's delivery fee is the fee of the delivery zone the customer's address falls in. To guarantee a minimum, set the fixed fee to **your minimum minus your cheapest zone fee**, and the delivery fee share to **100%**.

### Illustrative example

The minimum per delivery is **4.60**. The cheapest zone charges customers **2.00**, so the fixed fee is 4.60 − 2.00 = **2.60**.

| Zone   | Customer pays | Driver earns           |
| ------ | ------------- | ---------------------- |
| 0–4 km | 2.00          | 2.60 + 2.00 = **4.60** |
| 4–5 km | 2.50          | 2.60 + 2.50 = **5.10** |
| 5–6 km | 3.00          | 2.60 + 3.00 = **5.60** |

The difference between what the customer pays and what the driver earns comes from your platform's share of the order.

## 1. Set one zone per distance band

Open **Stores → Stores**, choose the store, then **Delivery, pickup & more → Delivery zones**. Create a distance-based zone for each band, each with its own fee. Every order placed in a zone gets that zone's fee as its delivery fee.

![Delivery zones of a store, with distance-based zones and their fees](https://docs.ordering.co/img/docs/discovery-ordering/scenarios/delivery-zones-fees.jpg)

See [Configure delivery, pickup, and fulfillment](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/dashboard/stores/view-edit-store/delivery-pickup/) for zone types and minimums.

## 2. Check where the delivery fee comes from

Open any delivery order in **Orders → Orders list**. Its **Delivery fee** is the fee of the customer's zone. This is the amount the driver's share is calculated on. The subtotal (the products) is not part of it.

![Order details showing the subtotal and the delivery fee](https://docs.ordering.co/img/docs/discovery-ordering/scenarios/order-delivery-fee.jpg)

## 3. Calculate the pay on the driver invoice

Open **Reports → Invoice manager → Driver invoice**, then pick the period and the driver.

- **Orders total** is the value of the orders the driver delivered, shown for reference. It is not the driver's pay.
- **Total due** is the driver's pay. It stays at 0 until you fill in the pay fields.

![Driver invoice with Orders total and Total due](https://docs.ordering.co/img/docs/discovery-ordering/scenarios/driver-invoice-order-value.jpg)

Enter the fixed amount in **Fixed fee per order** and **100** in **Delivery fee (%)**. In this example, 2.60 plus an order with a 10.00 delivery fee gives a Total due of 12.60.

![Driver invoice with a fixed fee per order of 2.6 and a delivery fee share of 100%](https://docs.ordering.co/img/docs/discovery-ordering/scenarios/driver-invoice-fixed-plus-delivery-fee.jpg)

Only completed orders count. Use **Payment methods** to separate card and cash orders, then **Download PDF**. To prepare every driver's statement for the same period, use **Invoice several drivers** (up to 50 at a time). See [Manage driver invoices](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/dashboard/reports/invoice-manager/driver-invoices/).

## 4. Pay automatically with Stripe Connect

The driver invoice is a statement: it doesn't move money, and it doesn't read amounts saved in a driver's Stripe account. To pay drivers automatically for card orders, open **Settings → Payments → Stripe Connect**, turn on **Stripe Connect payouts**, and use the same numbers in **Configuration → Driver payment**: **Per order** 2.60 and **Delivery fee** 100%.

![Stripe Connect driver payment rule with per order, delivery fee and tip fields](https://docs.ordering.co/img/docs/discovery-ordering/scenarios/stripe-connect-driver-payment.jpg)

The driver's share is transferred when the delivery is completed. Each driver needs a Stripe Express account that can receive transfers. See [Stripe Connect payouts](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/dashboard/addons/stripe-connect/payouts-v2/).

## Check that it works

- Place one test order in your cheapest zone and one in a longer zone, then complete both.
- On the driver invoice, check that Total due matches the table above for each zone.
- With Stripe Connect payouts on, place one test card order and confirm the driver's transfer in Stripe before your drivers start.

## Limits to keep in mind

- Cash orders don't go through Stripe. Settle them with the driver invoice for the period.
- Changes to the Stripe Connect rule apply to orders placed after you save.
- Tips are separate: set **Driver tip (%)** to 100 if drivers keep their tips.