Earning 1.02 million in 3 years?The myth of food delivery that is difficult to replicate and the rider who is still trapped in the system

After the anchor created the "myth of creating wealth", a similar narrative began to emerge in the delivery industry.

Recently, the news that a Shanghai takeaway brother earned 1.02 million yuan in three years has become a hot spot on the Internet.

By interviewing takeaway recruiters, takeaways and related experts, the Blue Whale reporter tried to explore the real takeaway world behind the "three years million".

How hard is "three years and a million"?

According to the surging news report, Chen Si did not graduate from primary school, failed to start a business in his twenties, and came to Shanghai in debt for 3 years, and finally became one of Shanghai's "running orders", "earning 1.02 million yuan in three years".

What does this income correspond to?

1.02 million for three years, if the monthly income is basically 28,000, according to the current general unit price of 7-12 yuan in Shanghai, if all 1.02 million is earned from running orders, then the rider needs to run 93 orders a day for three years.

This kind of work intensity and the amount of running orders are almost unimaginable levels for normal people, and the Blue Whale reporter has called a number of rider recruiters to learn that under normal circumstances, 70 orders a day is already a lot, not to mention more than 90 orders a day, every day for three years.

Xing Bin, a teacher at the School of Literature of Linyi University, who once became popular for experiencing the life of a delivery man, remained skeptical about the authenticity of the "three years million" on the Internet, he told the Blue Whale reporter: "Running 15 hours a day is the limit, and I can personally run up to 80 orders. Now there are not so many orders, and the unit price is obviously decreasing in December. Recently, I saw them (other riders) say in the group that their income is more than 10% less than last year. ”

Many riders and netizens questioned the authenticity of "three years million", and even some netizens broke the news that "it is said that this takeaway brother was beaten by his peers", and his peers scolded while beating: "Tell you to brag again, tell you to brag again......" The picture of the post is a photo of Chen Si's nose bleeding.

However, Chen Si refuted the rumors this evening, saying, "I was not beaten by my peers, and the pictures on the Internet were because they were popular before." He said that he was working normally during this time, and he hoped that everyone would not spread rumors. In addition, according to surging news reports, Chen Si's income of 1.02 million yuan in three years has been confirmed from the data.

Riders are still "priced by piece", and the "annual fee" is 4000-8000 yuan

The Blue Whale reporter learned through a number of rider recruiters that the salary of a rider is mainly composed of unit price and bonuses.

The unit price in different areas is slightly different, at present, 7-12 yuan in Shanghai is the mainstream unit price, and the daily running volume of riders is basically between 50-70, "If you are very familiar with the area, the efficiency is very high, it is possible to exceed 70 orders per day, but the corresponding working hours will also be very long." ”

Specific to the bonus level, in addition to the novice period exclusive novice rewards, the takeaway platform also launched an "annual fee" for the situation of "fewer riders during the New Year", roughly between 4000-8000 yuan, "but this bonus is only available in the month of the New Year," in addition to the daily rewards that riders can get mainly include the full attendance award, etc., but the amount of this reward is limited, usually only a few hundred yuan, and individual sites will give cash rewards to riders with particularly outstanding performance, but there are certain differences.

To sum up, the salary of the rider is still mainly based on the "piece-based" salary model, although many platforms claim that the rider works 8000 and the minimum guarantee is easily over 10,000, but this "piece-based" model naturally prompts the rider to "roll the length" and "roll the volume".

Xing Bin told the Blue Whale reporter that the takeaway platform encourages "full attendance" and "multiple orders" in terms of mechanism, and "the platform will set up multiple orders on rainy and snowy weather holidays, such as 50 rewards for running 50 orders and 100 rewards for running 80 orders." Run for 7 days in a row and get a reward of 150. In addition, there will be some hidden punishment mechanisms, such as those who run fewer orders and have a low online time, so they will not be pushed and have no work to do. Many riders, in order to get the number of 100 rewards for running 80 orders, will run desperately in rainy and snowy weather and holidays, running for 15-16 hours. ”

Not only that, the special delivery riders are not as "free" as they imagined, Xing Bin said that the special delivery riders need to ask for leave 7 days in advance. "Even if you're sick, you have to find a delivery rider who is resting for the day, or a crowdsourced part-time rider who can run. ”

Behind the seemingly impressive income is a lot of working hours and a great sacrifice in one's own life.

The rider is still stuck in the system

In 2021, an article entitled "Food Delivery Riders, Trapped in the System" sparked a national discussion on business ethics, occupational risks, and user experience in the food delivery industry. Although at that time, the two major platforms Ele.me and Meituan both issued a reflection that they would give users the option of "waiting for 8 more minutes", and would increase capital and technology investment to ensure the safety and rights of riders.

But in fact, three years later, delivery riders are still stuck in the system.

According to Shangguan News, a recent complaint from Shanghai's 12345 citizen service hotline shows that there is another reason for the rider's retrograde behavior: the food pick-up and delivery route planned by the takeaway platform system is the retrograde route. In addition, the platform limits the time for food delivery according to the mileage of the retrograde route, so that riders have to follow the retrograde route to ensure on-time delivery. According to the reporter's investigation, the phenomenon of riders in some areas is concentrated, and there is the "credit" of the platform behind it.

Under this planning idea, the platform has adopted the strategy of "shortest path first", "the distance is near, the time is short, which not only sticks more users for the takeaway platform, but also compresses the delivery fee paid to the rider", but this route has a huge potential safety crisis, and it is easy to bring collision accidents during peak periods.

Not only the "retrograde route", Xing Bin told the Blue Whale reporter that when he was a rider, he found that there was a problem of "stealing distance" in the process of delivering orders. "In the beginning (five years ago), the cost of food delivery was calculated from the distance of the electric car from the business to the customer, then it became the distance of the bicycle and then the distance of the walking, and last winter, sometimes it even began to calculate the distance in a straight line in space (the distance from point to point in the sky). ”

"If my students are going to work as delivery boys, I will definitely tell them to pay attention to safety first, and try not to ride in rainy and snowy weather, because it is too dangerous." The second is to go ashore as soon as possible. Delivery riders have a low ceiling and are making a living temporarily. The third is not to be coerced by the 'logic of consumption'. If you understand the logic of the 'landscape society', you won't be so anxious anymore. The important thing is to follow your own pace and move towards your goals. ”