A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a transport provider computing system , a plurality of item-provider submissions, wherein each item-provider submission indicates a corresponding item-provider account and a quantitative measure for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transport service for an item-source location at a future time; for each item-provider submission: (a) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a performance metric based on past usage of UAV transport services associated with the corresponding item-provider account; and (b) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a comparative measure for the item-provider submission using both the performance metric and the quantitative measure indicated by the item-provider submission; determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a ranking of the plurality of item-provider submissions based on the determined comparative measures for the plurality of item-provider submissions; based at least in part on the ranking of the plurality of item-provider submissions, determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a distribution of a plurality of UAVs , at the future time, amongst a plurality of deployment stations at different locations in a geographic area; and based on the determined distribution of the plurality of UAVs, dispatching, by the transport-provider computing system, the plurality of UAVs to the plurality of deployment stations. receiving, by a transport provider computing system , a plurality of item-provider submissions, wherein each item-provider submission indicates a corresponding item-provider account and a quantitative measure for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transport service for an item-source location at a future time; for each item-provider submission: (a) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a performance metric based on past usage of UAV transport services associated with the corresponding item-provider account; and (b) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a comparative measure for the item-provider submission using both the performance metric and the quantitative measure indicated by the item-provider submission; (a) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a performance metric based on past usage of UAV transport services associated with the corresponding item-provider account; and (b) determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a comparative measure for the item-provider submission using both the performance metric and the quantitative measure indicated by the item-provider submission; determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a ranking of the plurality of item-provider submissions based on the determined comparative measures for the plurality of item-provider submissions; based at least in part on the ranking of the plurality of item-provider submissions, determining, by the transport-provider computing system, a distribution of a plurality of UAVs , at the future time, amongst a plurality of deployment stations at different locations in a geographic area; and based on the determined distribution of the plurality of UAVs, dispatching, by the transport-provider computing system, the plurality of UAVs to the plurality of deployment stations. <EOS>