China’s economy is heading down, and the food delivery industry is facing increasing challenges. Delivery drivers lament, “The overall situation is not good, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Some delivery drivers born in the 1990s choose to work in the scorching afternoon just to make ends meet.
Recently, a food delivery driver named Xinyu (pseudonym) from Chongqing revealed to reporters that he chooses to deliver in the hottest time around 1 p.m. because there are incentives during that period. “In the afternoon when the sun is scorching, many people crave for milk tea,” he said. Luckily, he stumbled upon a local milk tea shop with promotions. Feeling thirsty, as a 90s kid, instead of buying a drink, he brought his own cup to the fried chicken shop to get free water to quench his thirst.
“I have to drink three or four bottles of water a day, otherwise my mouth gets dry, lips cracked, hands oily from sweating, and even my ice sleeves get all wet,” Xinyu said. On the 15th, he completed 16 deliveries, but on the 14th, he only managed 9, bearing all the hardships by himself. He mentioned a challenging instance when delivering to a remote residential area where an elderly person had passed away, “I was so confused there, unsure which block to go to.” After circling around, he finally found the customer’s location, but due to exceeding the time limit, he ended up making only 2 yuan on an order that was supposed to earn him less than 5 yuan.
“All the hard work for just 2 yuan…” Xinyu said, mentioning that if he encounters traffic issues during delivery, he still gets penalized for exceeding the time limit. “Though they say everyone is equal, in reality, it’s far from being fair. We have no choice but to comply with their arrangements and understand their rules in order to earn a living.”
He encountered even worse situations.
Suzhou-based delivery driver from the “Are You Hungry” platform, an 80s child, recently told reporters that he doesn’t earn much in a month, as there are now more people doing deliveries, resulting in fewer orders.
“I only had one or two orders this afternoon. Since it’s a part-time job, I have to keep working to avoid fines,” he said, recalling instances where he struggled to locate restaurants with similar names, resulting in an hour-long delay, fines, and the need to apologize to customers.
Li Liang, originally from Jiangsu now working in Shanghai, used to work in an office but switched to food delivery since 2021, now working for two platforms. He shared with reporters that he eats instant noodles for dinner as he can’t afford to splurge. “We have to make a living,” he said.
He mentioned that initially, the price per delivery was higher, earning him four to five hundred yuan a day, but now it’s reduced to two to three hundred yuan. Previously, no one would take an order below 5 yuan, but now even a 4-yuan order gets taken immediately.
“With more and more people joining the delivery business, every industry faces the same situation. The more people there are, the cheaper the services become,” Liang sighed, expressing that the current situation is challenging due to economic issues and the tough overall environment.
He even believes that adverse weather conditions are the best time for food delivery. “The food delivery industry across the country is similar now, with many unemployed individuals and an increasing number of delivery drivers, so everyone is almost in the same boat,” he remarked.