Four collections, one van, one driver
Friday morning's pet taxi sheet has four dogs to collect from homes across the county before 11. One owner said 9am on the phone, one booked online for "morning", one has a gate code written on the back of an envelope somewhere in the office, and one lives down a farm track that the driver has never been to. The van has space for three crates.
By half past nine the driver is ringing the office to ask which house is next, the office is ringing owners to ask if they are in, and one owner who was told "morning" is standing at her door wondering if she has been forgotten.
A service run from memory
Pet taxi services often start as a favour for a few regulars and grow into a real part of the business without the admin growing with them.
- Taxi requests are written on the booking form or in a separate notebook.
- Times are agreed loosely by whoever took the booking.
- Addresses, parking and access notes live in the driver's memory.
- Van capacity, crate sizes and multi-dog households are not planned.
- Owners are not told when the van is coming.
Where it costs you
A missed or very late pick-up can ruin an owner's travel plans and their opinion of you. A driver without the right address or gate code wastes time that the next customer pays for in waiting. Unplanned van capacity means extra trips.
It also costs the office. On taxi days, whoever is on the desk becomes a dispatcher, fielding calls from the driver and from owners instead of looking after arrivals.
Pet taxi booking and a proper route
What we build turns the pet taxi into a planned part of each stay.
- The booking form lets owners add a pet taxi for arrival, collection or both, with address, access notes, parking, and a preferred window.
- Your van, crate sizes and driver hours are set up once, so a day's bookings are checked against capacity.
- Each evening, the system suggests a route for the next day in an order that makes sense, using a mapping service. Staff can reorder it.
- Owners get a text confirming a time window. On the day, the driver taps "on my way" and the next owner gets a text.
- The driver sees the route on a phone with addresses, gate codes, pets to collect and notes such as "dog nervous, owner to bring to van".
- Pick-ups and drop-offs are recorded with times, and any charge from your taxi price list is added to the booking.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Times agreed loosely | Window confirmed by text |
| Addresses on scraps of paper | Addresses and access notes on the driver's phone |
| Van capacity guessed | Checked against crates before booking |
| Owners unsure when the van comes | "On my way" text before each stop |
Driving hours, vehicle standards and animal transport requirements are for you and your adviser. The system plans routes and records trips. It does not advise on transport rules.
Friday morning, planned the night before
At 5pm on Thursday the office checks tomorrow's route, swaps two stops, and the four owners get their windows. The driver sets off with the farm track directions and the gate code on screen. Each owner gets a text ten minutes before the van arrives. The desk phone does not ring once about the taxi.
Is your pet taxi running on goodwill?
- Pet taxi bookings are kept on paper or in a group chat.
- Owners are given vague times and ring to check.
- The driver phones the office for addresses or codes.
- Van space has run out on a busy day.
- Taxi charges are sometimes forgotten on the bill.