What is Dispatch?
Dispatch is ezCater’s third‑party delivery solution for catering partners
Gives you access to professional catering drivers when you don’t have your own drivers or they’re at capacity
Available in all 50 states and covers about 97% of active locations on the ezCater Marketplace.
Managed by our Delivery team, who work with vetted delivery companies across the United States
Available for qualified orders that meet certain distance and timing requirements
Dispatch will provide delivery tracking for both customers and restaurant partners - helping you to automatically meet your delivery tracking requirements on these orders
Dispatch options:
On-Demand: request a driver up to 90 minutes before an order is due
Automatic: let us handle all of your deliveries
Configured: configure settings to have orders within certain parameters automatically routed to our drivers
How Dispatch works at a high level
Customer places a delivery order
Order comes through the ezCater Marketplace or Online Ordering
You accept the order in the Partner Portal
Confirm that you can prepare the food by the event time
You request Dispatch for delivery (On-Demand only)
In the order’s delivery section, you select request Dispatch
ezCater matches the order with the best available delivery partner in your area
You prepare the order for pickup
Have the food packed and ready at the scheduled pickup time
Dispatch driver picks up and delivers
The driver uses ezCater tools for navigation, communication, and tracking
Delivery status is visible to you and the customer
Order completes and fees appear on your payment report
Dispatch charges show up under Misc. Fees on your payment breakdown
Our Current Partners
Our current Dispatch partners include, but are not limited to:
Dlivrd
Elmas Enterprises
Falcon Xpress
RMDA
SeimDei Courier
Senpex
Skipcart
Zifty
DoorDash Drive
Driver expectations
Dispatch drivers are expected to
Arrive at the restaurant at the scheduled pickup time
Have at least two insulated bags for keeping food at temperature
Handle food carefully in transit
Act professionally at pickup and drop‑off
Follow delivery instructions on the order
Provide basic setup at the drop‑off when noted in the order
What we expect from your restaurant
To make Dispatch successful, we ask that you
Have orders packed and fully ready at the listed pickup time
Follow ezCater’s packaging guidelines so food travels safely
Provide pickup instructions in your Settings to help ensure a smooth hand-off process
Ensure the driver has all food and beverage items before they leave
If the order is not ready on time, the driver may arrive late to the customer, which can hurt the customer experience and your Operational Metrics
Cost and how Dispatch fees work
How Dispatch fees are structured
For Marketplace and Online Ordering orders:
Customers pay you a delivery fee on every order (learn more about Delivery Settings here)
You pay a separate Dispatch fee when Dispatch handles delivery (see below)
Dispatch charges show up under Misc. Fees in your payment breakdown
Standard Dispatch pricing:
$30 minimum for orders up to $300
10% of the order subtotal for orders over $300
Tips left by customers for Dispatch deliveries are passed on to the delivery partner, not kept by the restaurant
On-Demand & Configured
If there's any difference between the delivery fee paid to you, and the Dispatch fee we charge you, you are responsible for paying that difference.
To avoid having a discrepancy between these fees, you can match the customer-facing delivery fee to the Dispatch fee
Automatic
When utilizing Dispatch automatically for all of your deliveries:
We will set the customer-facing delivery fee to match the Dispatch fee
The customer pays you $X amount for delivery, and we charge you the same amount to utilize Dispatch
In essence, you are passing the customer delivery fee to ezCater to have the delivery handled for you
Order example: (screenshot or visual below)
Where you see Dispatch fees
In the Financials tab of the Partner Portal, each payout includes a breakdown that shows
Food total
Delivery fees paid by customers
Commission
Taxes
Miscellaneous fees – this is where ezDispatch charges appear
You can download a payment order report to see Dispatch fees at the order level for reconciliation
Signup and setup
On-Demand
There is no signup or setup process for Dispatch On-Demand. If you are set to self-delivery, you'll have the ability to request Dispatch for orders that you can't deliver yourself.
Drivers can be requested up to 90 minutes before the delivery time
Configured
To configure settings that route certain orders automatically to Dispatch, go to Delivery → Dispatch. Read more about Configured Dispatch
Automatic Dispatch
To sign up for Automatic Dispatch:
Fill out this form
OR
Email [email protected]
Partner Success will
Confirm coverage in your area
Review your current delivery settings and Operational Metrics
Coordinate any necessary configuration changes and confirm once changes are live
For some of our partners, Dispatch may be enabled by default to align with settings established at the brand level
Availability and order requirements
Dispatch is available in all 50 states and covers 97% of active locations on our platform. To confirm availability in your area you can email our Delivery team via [email protected]
Distance limits
Dispatch drivers can deliver orders up to 20 miles away from most restaurants
In some metropolitan areas (i.e. New York City) there may be restrictions or limitations on delivery distance
Please email our Delivery Team for any metro-specific questions
Timing requirements
You will have the ability to request Dispatch On-Demand up to 90 minutes before the delivery time, given that there is an available partner in your area.
The Partner Portal will disable Request Dispatch as an option when an order does not meet these basic criteria.
Additional Resources
Training Resources