Drive-thrus are supposed to make grabbing food quick and easy. You pull up, place your order, pay, grab your bag, and head out. When everyone is ready and paying attention, the whole thing can take just a few minutes.

The trouble starts when one car brings everything to a stop.

A customer who isn’t ready to order, blocks the lane, digs through a bag for payment, or changes a large order at the window can hold up everyone behind them. None of these mistakes are usually intentional, but they can make a busy drive-thru much more stressful for both customers and employees.

The good news is that most of these habits are easy to fix.

Here are 15 things to avoid the next time you use a drive-thru.

Blocking the Lane

The drive-thru lane is meant for moving cars, not waiting around.

Stopping to send a text, reorganize your bags, check something on your phone, or wait for someone can quickly create a line behind you. Even a short pause can become a problem during the lunch or dinner rush.

If you need a few minutes to take care of something, pull into a parking space rather than blocking the lane.

Ordering Extremely Complicated Customizations

There’s nothing wrong with making a few changes to your order. The problem starts when a simple meal turns into a long list of substitutions, removals, additions, and special requests.

A complicated order takes longer to enter and prepare, and there is a higher chance of something being missed. If your order is going to take several minutes to explain, ordering inside may be easier for everyone.

Pulling Up Without Knowing What You Want

There’s nothing wrong with taking a minute to decide what you want. The drive-thru speaker just isn’t the best place to do it while cars are waiting behind you.

Take a look at the menu before you reach the speaker. If you’re ordering for several people, ask everyone what they want before getting in line.

That way, you’re ready when the employee asks for your order.

Arguing With the Staff

Mistakes happen. Maybe something was left out of your bag, or your order was entered incorrectly.

If that happens, explain the problem and give the employee a chance to fix it. Yelling or arguing usually won’t get your food corrected any faster. It can also make an already busy interaction much more stressful.

Most employees would rather fix a mistake than argue about it.

Asking for Items That Aren’t on the Menu

Menus change, and employees can’t always make every item someone remembers from five years ago.

You can ask if a particular item is still available, but don’t get frustrated if the answer is no. The same goes for complicated “secret menu” requests that employees may not recognize.

If you’re unsure whether something is available, ask once and go from there.

Staying on Your Phone While Ordering

Trying to have a phone conversation while placing your order is a recipe for confusion.

You may miss a question from the employee, give the wrong answer, or have to repeat yourself. The person taking your order then has to spend extra time sorting things out.

Pause the call for a minute and give the speaker your attention. You’ll probably get through the order faster.

Changing Your Order at the Window

Once your order has been placed, the kitchen may already be preparing it.

Adding several items or changing your entire order at the payment window can throw things off and may require the employee to enter the order again. It can also leave the cars behind you waiting longer.

If you realize you forgot something, ask politely. A small change may be easy to handle, but a major rewrite of the order is better dealt with before you pull away from the speaker.

Not Having Payment Ready

You’ve had time to wait in line, so use those few minutes to get your payment ready.

Have your card in hand or your payment app open before reaching the window. Digging through your wallet or trying to remember your password after you arrive can add another minute or two to the transaction.

It may not seem like much, but those extra minutes add up when there are ten cars behind you.

Playing Loud Music

If your music is loud enough to hear clearly outside your car, there’s a good chance the employee at the speaker is having trouble hearing you.

That can lead to repeated questions, incorrect orders, and a longer conversation.

Turn the volume down before reaching the speaker. You can turn it back up once you’ve pulled away.

Driving Off Without Checking Your Order

Nobody wants to discover a missing burger or drink after getting halfway home.

Before leaving the window, take a quick look in the bag to make sure you received the basics of what you ordered. You don’t need to unpack everything and hold up the line, but a quick check can save you another trip.

If something is missing, let the employee know while you’re still there.

Throwing Trash Out the Window

Cups, wrappers, napkins, and food containers belong in a trash can, not on the pavement beside the drive-thru.

Employees already have plenty to clean up during a shift. Throwing garbage out the window adds another chore and leaves the restaurant’s property looking messy.

Keep a small trash bag in your car if you tend to collect wrappers while you’re out. It makes cleanup much easier later.

Taking Too Long to Decide

Sometimes the menu has too many choices, and you need a minute. That’s fine.

What causes problems is sitting at the speaker for several minutes while trying to decide between five different meals when cars are waiting behind you.

If you really can’t decide, pull into a parking spot and look over the menu there. You can also order through the restaurant’s app if that’s an option.

Ignoring Posted Instructions

Drive-thru signs aren’t there for decoration.

If a sign asks you to pull into a waiting area, turn off your headlights, move forward after paying, or park in a certain spot, follow the instructions. Employees use those directions to keep orders organized and cars moving.

Ignoring them can leave employees guessing about where your order is supposed to go.

Driving Off Without Paying

It sounds like something nobody would do on purpose, but drive-offs can happen when a customer assumes someone else already paid or thinks the transaction went through.

Before pulling away, make sure your payment has actually been processed. If there’s a problem with your card or app, let the employee know.

Taking a few extra seconds to confirm the payment can prevent a much bigger headache later.

Forgetting Basic Courtesy

Drive-thru employees deal with long lines, impatient customers, incorrect orders, kitchen delays, and plenty of other things during a busy shift.

You don’t have to make a big production out of being polite. A simple “please,” “thank you,” or “have a good day” is enough.

The person on the other side of the window is just doing their job. Treating them with basic respect makes the interaction better for everyone, and it costs absolutely nothing.