Hacker News Reader

Beyond an initial effect when the delay is first implemented, adding a delay would increase the latency (waiting time) but not the throughput (utilisation of the system). It's queuing theory.

A way to think of it is that the drivers that are made idle by adding a delay will be kept busy delivering previously delayed orders.

View on HN

Consider that demand for food delivery is not constant throughout the day and night.

I believe throughput would actually be reduced every time demand increases, which would happen in the morning, at various meal times, around the different opening and closing times of various restaurants, etc.

I do agree that the throughput reduction would be more complex than “1 driver sits idle for <delay time> every 1 order”.

Throughput would still remain unchanged. Suppose that the "lunch rush" is from 11AM to 1PM, and imagine that it's uniform for the sake of simplicity. Then drivers would end up being fully utilized from 11:10AM to 1:10PM, instead of 11 to 1. The 10 minute lag at the end where drivers are still finishing the queue makes up for the 10 minute delay at the start.

Oh yeah that makes sense actually. Thanks for explaining.

Exactly .. the delay would be a one time event.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com