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Food Delivery has greatly increased its popularity in recent years as the Covid-19 Pandemic has wreaked havoc on many establishments, be it restaurants, shops, bars, or other markets.
There was a continuous demand for deliveries of any industry, and as a long-term Food Delivery Partner — Everyone was excited to tackle the streets for the people in need.
But what if I told you that this line of work wasn’t that well off everywhere during this pandemic?
Allow me to tell you a story.
In Autumn 2015, There was someone who never really cared about juggling 4 rocks like all the other neighbor kids. A young man recently crossed the 19 of age mark and was just months away from graduation and was learning to be a young IT specialist. He had stress building up. His graduation exams were just a couple of months away. He was severely unmotivated and had no grand goal in life.
That person was me 6 years ago. I met this girl online that I felt an immense connection with that changed the course of my life. I promise you, this is relevant in the story later on.
After meeting this girl, despite slacking off in my studies the past 3 years, blending in with the masses who were doing the same, I learned my hardest for the exams and scored very high marks and passed all 3 Modules of this Certification Exam that our school held as our final exams. I was motivated for some bizarre reason after hearing someone mention that if you pass just 1, you can graduate the school, but if you pass all 3 you can graduate, and receive a separate certificate to prove you are certified to meet European standards.
Despite this, I was just a poor young man who grew up on a farm. I wasn’t that well versed in hardware, and we barely learned any software things. To top it off, I’m incredibly bad at remembering things at times.
I had the odds against me. I knew that if I tried to move abroad straight after graduation, I would face many obstacles. So in my poor attempt to face them.
I enrolled in the Military. It was mandatory, I heard bad things about being called into the service at incredibly random times. And when the summons comes you are required to attend it. “I wouldn’t want to be called in right when I’ve finally settled in abroad” Is what I thought back then.
So I spent 11 months in the army training while my dear lady was studying at University. I was hopeful and I had grand plans in mind for when I got out.
But the reality wasn’t as nice to me. I spent eleven months in the army and I wasn’t allowed as much cellphone access as expected, at the same time my dear lady had run into hardships at university, and the distance between us as well as some other things drove her to have severe depression which led to her dropping out of her university.
After leaving the army I spent a year in an express Courier Company under extreme conditions, but the pay was good for my country so I endured, despite the incredibly high turnover rate. Near the end of that year, when I finally quit that job, despite some complications and other issues, I was incredibly calm — I could finally allow myself to be happy, even if briefly.
The past 2 and a half years, It was all for this moment. All the pain, hardships, and suffering will finally come to an end — is what I naively thought.
In August 2018 I faced a new obstacle. I moved abroad, a roughly 12-hour trip away from my parent’s farm, which was a huge deal for a young man like me. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with her and her parents for a short period to try to land a job and carry my weight in this new foreign area.
I desperately attempted to apply to every job application I could think of having a reasonable chance at. Even ones that required local languages. I thought- My native language isn’t too different from the language used here, they’re part of the same language group. So I could try to learn on the side and say when applying that I would accept a lower wage until my language skills are good enough. . . .
-Nobody answered.
This was the happiest I had been in years, finally no longer limited to seeing each other for a day or two at a time once every other month or so.
I was not willing to fail now and let it all go to waste, I was determined!
I was allowed to work and live abroad for up to 3 months legally and then I’d have to extend my stay at the migration office.
The timer was ticking — Which will happen first: Will the 3 months end, or will I run out of the money I saved for a year in a country that is much poorer than this one.
I struggled for an entire month, I had been a bit too optimistic and confident in my savings, but I stopped in the summer as I heard that she wanted to try again in the local university, to give it a 2nd go. I wanted her to feel supported, I was determined to not give her any distance-related stress and sorrow in her chance.
I would have probably saved up longer in my old job, but I knew I had to make the leap of faith.
When I was on my last day at my old job, I had plans to leave the country in the evening after I finished work, I had already said my farewells at home in the morning and was eager to start the next phase in my life.
However, when I got to my job an hour away, My boss informed me that I would have to pay around 200€ for some repairs to one of the work vans.
You see, the business had many middleman companies who had a set crew and vans responsible for delivery. But our middle-man company’s boss was a shady character and didn’t bother paying proper full-insurance on the work buses that were used by more trustworthy drivers who had a lot of experience. As I had truck driving experience from my 11 months in the army, I fell into that criteria as well. I was unaware that the boss had cheaped out and just got the cheap mandatory insurance that didn’t cover any accidents that damaged the van and just a few months prior there was an incredibly windy day that launched a branch to the windscreen of my work van while I was working, leaving some nasty cracks into it. During that time, the boss asked for some details and left it at that.
A bit agitated that I was billed for it when it was his responsibility for not having proper insurance on his vehicles and using shady practices. I continued the workday, it turned out to be a lot longer than I expected so I tried my best to hurry so I could finish the day relatively early still so I would have enough time to make it to my ship in the evening.
Due to the nature of my job, it was expected for us to not only use a phone while driving, but also we’d have to manage our routes and organize and select customers, look at their numbers and call them in advance while driving. Meaning we often had 2 hands occupied and were driving using our wrists or knuckles and near the end of my workday, I was caught doing so by a local patrol in that area. And was given another fine for reckless driving.
Already moving abroad on less funding than anticipated and earlier than originally planned, I was starting to near the end of my funds soon with no hope of getting hired.
I got desperate, I went to every grocery store or supermarket, any retail or simple workplace that I could think of, and they were all not accepting anyone at the time as I was too late.
It was a relatively small city with a population of 67 thousand people. But it had a couple of universities, many schools, and it was near the coast. Very popular to many students in the country.
And most of them sought part-time jobs during the summer to be secure during their studies.
I was too late…
Fearing I’d have wasted 2 and a half years for nothing and having to move back, I continued to desperately seek ANY job possible, and that is when I saw an announcement saying that this Food Delivery App was coming to our City and is looking for Courier Partners.
I had no clue what that was or what that meant, keep in mind I come from a farm in the middle of nowhere in a Slavic Wasteland Country.
I had come so far, Almost having to quit, and this last opportunity came as if the universe had given me one last ray of hope.
So I jumped on that train at record speed and applied. I went through the training and meetings — And finally, I received a job in this new area. I was finally safe.
But if I had known what would have come in the next 3 and a half years after that. Would I still have set on the same path? Would I have tried at all? What would I have done differently?
Various things I ask myself sometimes.
You see Becoming a Courier Partner at a Food Delivery Platform meant multiple things that would affect my life.
I became self-employed.
There were 3 options. I could work as a Freelancer employed under them, up until about 7000€ a year. And after that, if I wanted to earn more than that, I’d have to either sign up as a light entrepreneur or sign up as a company.
Because I was not Self-Employed, I had to pay taxes. I’ve never been an entrepreneur before, so I was used to living in a way that superiors paid any necessary taxes and such and so on.
Because it was a new city, the first year, especially the first few months were incredibly slow. And when there were no orders, we didn’t get paid. Desperately wanting to earn enough to provide for a living, I practically lived in my car. I drove off from her paparent’slace every single morning for a month or two and stayed in the city about 10–15 hours a day. I was aiming to save up to have savings so I could rent an apartment in the city so she would be able to live closer to the school, save us a 25min trip one way, and also start our lives together on our own.
To overcome the hardships, there was a possibility to be among the top in the city. The select few who made the most deliveries per week could select Shifts, which meant you would have to work in that period, but if there were no orders, at least you got paid 8€ an hour in gross income. Which was better than 0.
So I struggled and stayed on top, and I always focused the unpopular shifts, the very first one starting around 9 or 10 in the morning right during early lunch, and the ones right at the end of the day, going up to 9 or 11 in the evening or even 1 at night. That was my strategy because everyone knew that there was about a 90% chance you didn’t get a single order before 11 in the morning, or after about 6 or 7 in the evening.
Between those times, there was at least a chance of getting paid from receiving orders, and if I could and was fast enough, I sometimes grabbed some of those shifts as well. But even if I couldn’t, I knew I’d be guaranteed to make at least a couple of orders here and there.
So every day I would come pointlessly sit in my car for the morning and get paid if I was lucky to get the shift, and if not, I still came out of desperation, because I needed to stay in the top group and couldn’t fall behind. Even if I got no orders and didn’t get paid.
Eventually, it got a bit better. I continued working with a car for another year.
But there were more complications.
Even if I made about 40€ a day or max about 60 or 70 in 10 or 13 hours. I’m now an entrepreneur — this is gross income. I’m not using a company car, I’m not using company fuel, I don’t have company insurance, no health insurance, or anything.
Which eventually led to another big issue: Parking.
You see, in our training, the big food delivery company instructed us, that we should park in a way that didn’t obstruct anyone or cause inconvenience. Mark our vehicles with something to signal that we are food couriers in the company, and use marked parking spaces whenever possible.
Furthermore, we were instructed that if we were to receive a parking fine, we could try to counter it and if the city refused to take it back, then the company would pay for it.
I never received a single one of these parking tickets, this type of work was new in the city and we didn’t have many drivers, but as the business grew, we got a lot more cars and the city became less tolerant of this line of work.
We would receive constant parking tickets after parking tickets for either parking incorrectly or not using a parking meter.
We were under the assumption that we were just doing our jobs like other logistics companies etc and were just unloading and loading cargo as per the laws were concerned. We only stopped for a minute max.
So while we already had so many costs coming down from our eexpenses+ mandatory entrepreneur insurance that I forgot to mention, that goes towards retirement funds and sick leave.
We now had to pay for parking or gamble on receiving 50€ tickets multiple times a day.
Many went for the latter option and found out that to dispute the claims as the company instructed, we’d have to first pay the 50€ each time, which was very stressful.
We already made very little income and then a sizeable amount of it would be delayed to pay for these tickets and later be imbursed (Months later) by the company.
I worked for another year and a half for absurd hours, trying to save up until I was inspired by a fellow Courier. He got a scooter and started delivering with that. You could park those wherever you wanted in the city and didn’t have to worry about the ticket wardens.
In addition, the insurance was 10 times smaller for that and it took 4 times less fuel. So I took the next leap of faith and bought a used scooter.
I also tried various motorized bicycles and such but gave up on that as it was impractical, but a scooter may just work, I thought. A rival delivery company joined the city and I joined them as well as I heard good things about them. There I met someone who made decent money by that point on a bicycle and observed their actions.
I was doing good, but I knew it wasn’t meant to be…
You see, the Nordic winter was just nearing the horizon and I knew I wouldn’t be able to use the heavy scooter to do deliveries as I’d risk falling and ruining the food constantly. So I had to overcome an obstacle as I faced a very difficult choice. Either go back to heavy costs and use a car for the winter. Or take a huge leap of faith yet again and start using a bicycle.
You see, switching to a scooter meant I had fewer costs, so I had more profits per hour worked. What this meant was I could work fewer hours and stop overtaxing myself. I hated living in a car just to pay rent and stay afloat.
I hated having 0 free time or mental energy when I returned home.
This continued even after I switched to the scooter. I was used to working long hours and being mentally braindead — as I liked to call it.
I was at the lowest point of my life for the past few years since 2018, heck even 2016. But the main difference between 2016 and the time after 2018 was that after I had reached the point where I got the job and managed to afford to move in together — I lost my drive, my hope, my goal, my dream.
I had been so fixated on making this work now that I got so far. I had lost all passion. I became empty inside.
I used to like music, I used to play instruments, I used to be surrounded by animals, farm work, plant-related things, pets, I used to be pretty social, I used to play video games, I was a normal person.
All of that withered away due to this line of work. I needed this job to provide for 2 as she was trying to learn in university for the second time. But she couldn’t keep up this time either. Her depression got in the way again in a few months even in a different city. I was stuck struggling to provide. Stuck trying to pull me together, stuck trying to be the emotional support she needs — but I was tired — I felt like my mind was constantly numb, the work was something I couldn’t tolerate. I constantly have something playing in the background. Be it music, a podcast, or a tv show. Didn’t matter that I was driving. Didn’t matter to me that I worked near 80–90 hours a week at times for nonexistent results.
The Big Delivery Company that I was working under constantly kept hiring more Courier Partners. There were always problems, every time it started to go better when work demand went relatively good, they hired more people, or the competing firm launched a free delivery campaign and we were stuck fighting for demand which didn’t even exist cause who doesn’t want free food delivery — or well, Who doesn’t want free stuff, no matter what it is.
When it felt like it got better, It always got worse. I tried everything I could to optimize my time, to optimize my earnings. I was overworked, exhausted, completely worn out, but I still tried.
I kept track of my earnings, of my spending. Fuel, Food, Insurance, everything.
Even when I switched to using a Scooter, I kept that habit. Even now to this day, I have that habit. Even if I’m tired, I keep the receipts.
Sometimes I have so many piled up that I spend a literal hour or two just inputting the numbers into a spreadsheet. But I keep doing it.
Because I had a difficult choice to make — I had to look at the numbers.
I still have the same file I made for the spreadsheet, now in google sheets for easier access.
It shows how much in gross income I spend on various things.
It lets me choose how much I’d like to save up for various things and emergencies per year or other basic costs like food.
It lets me compare the same plan between costs with using a car or a scooter.
And the difference is huge.
When I was faced with winter, I decided not to go back to using a car ever again. I decided to stand firm and take it like a champ. I never intended to stay in this line of work forever. I’m now 25 years old. That means I have just shy of 40 years before I can retire.
And I can’t imagine myself pushing myself in my 50s and 60’s doing this same job and overtaxing my body and mind for 0 results.
That became my breaking point. Or well, at the very least the first little crack that started breaking down this hard shell I’ve built around me by joining this line of work.
Almost everyone who joined with me when they expanded to this city, who are still working this job — they are still working with a car. They are extremely toxic and always complaining and whining about the work situation, myself included.
How it’s always so bad in this city in this job. How the company always messes things up and doesn’t care about us.
Only recently, I took notice of this in the broader picture.
Couple of things to notice that I mentioned before:
This is a city filled with students and schools. As well as industries that expect people to have a good education.
And that level of education is not for me. I need to do something constantly over and over again and make it a muscle memory of sorts. I can learn for years or a paper, but even if I struggle and pass, I’ll still have an empty paper, because I know almost every test I learned while I was in school, almost all exams, ended up forgotten not too soon after.
My memory isn’t very detailed. It’s often focused on negative things these days. It’s always easier to focus on the negative, but extremely hard to give yourself at least a little credit.
So my desire was pretty clear. I want to be able to work remotely. Either from home or an office, doesn’t matter. I’m done freezing outside in -20C or more just waiting for orders that aren’t coming.
I’m done eating only once or twice a day just to keep costs as low as I can.
I’m tired of never having the energy to clean around the house.
Of living in a complete mess.
As I said, this city is full of students. And this line of work is aimed to rely heavily on students. These 2 don’t mix.
For example, what if the world’s biggest readers sat in a library and there were 5 million authors, even if they’d read 24/7, chances are most of the authors won’t even get paid.
You can’t make the demand higher,
You can’t change business strategy as you are an underling without any of the perks and all the responsibility.
Just crushed between the 2 rocks.
That means, not only are there many workers and too few orders in comparison. Any time the demand gets higher, any time you see a way out between the 2 rocks, a third rock always follows: People want to come study here.
What this means is that there are people who have already partnered with the company in other cities, and now want to move to a different city, for example, to study elsewhere.
That means they ask the company to be transferred so that they could enroll here. And since the company is trying so hard to be a platform and not a boss. They close their eyes and try to accommodate the best they can.
I understand it now. The city is popular with students, also it is an area filled with people who speak the 2nd language of the country as well, so another reason to gather here.
I get it now, Why it always felt so unfair — it was always because of this third rock.
The third rock — people applying and transferring here. It is fatally lined up with one time period. Autumn.
You see if you think about it logically. The slowest time in the food delivery industry is between the start of spring and the end of summer. Simply because the weather is usually nice and people feel outgoing. They feel energized and they want to go eat out. Meaning they won’t order delivery. Or do it very rarely.
And the absolute busiest time starts in September until the start of spring. It is the busiest, in theory. But since there are such high volumes of people transferring here. It is still very slow.
A simple example in comparison. Now in our current city, I make on average about 1–2.5 orders an hour depending on luck. Meaning I can have around 4–10 € an hour on average per day in gross income.
Now I work on an electric bicycle to minimize costs while being a bit kinder to my legs.
If I work 5 hours, I can make about 40–50 in gross income in winter. The road conditions are very bad here, all odds are against me.
A friend who I made in this city transferred to a different city now and he works the same hours for 5 hours and earns close to 100€ in gross income on a normal bicycle pretty much any day.
While it is extremely demotivating, I still carry on.
I can not move cities. I have become tied down here.
My lady is here, her family lives nearby. She gets a bit of interaction with them once in a while at least. The only thing that keeps her socializing in her situation.
That is my fourth rock.
And I’m not like the neighborhood kids from my childhood. I’m more of a swinging alone peacefully kind of guy.
If I attempt to juggle all four rocks, I’ll only end up dropping all of them.
I am an advocate for learning from other people’s mistakes whenever possible.
If you are young as I was at the beginning of this journey. I advise you to take your lessons seriously, don’t blend in. Focus strongly on what you want to learn or what you want to do — and commit to it.
I still struggle from lack of goal or passion, but at least the skies aren’t quite as dark on my path anymore.
Thank you for reading my story.
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