Ride Like Hell
In the 2012 movie Premium Rush a bike delivery driver races through the noisy streets of New York. The movie poster advertised the action-packed story that includes corrupt police and human traffickers with the slogan Ride Like Hell. Walking through a big city today, one can find something similar: Food delivery drivers working for one of the large food delivery companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
These riders are obviously not criminals like Ride like Hell’s protagonist. But as The Times reported in 2016, the slogan Ride Like Hell may just be as fitting. Back then, UK Deliveroo riders received criticism for having dangerous driving styles and unsafe bikes. But why are they all in a hurry? And why are they allowed to work with unsafe equipment?
A Changing Business Model
When it was founded six years ago, Deliveroo established itself as a student-friendly employer. They offer flexible work hours that can ideally be determined by the riders themselves. The first few years, riders received hourly wages, and extras for completed deliveries.
More recently, Deliveroo riders have a down on their employer. But ‘employer’ might not even be the proper term. Deliveroo gradually cuts contract workers and instead employs freelancers. In the Netherlands this began in 2017. The new system forces riders to buy and manage their own equipment, to pay insurance for themselves, and to manage their paperwork. Furthermore, riders are having a harder time to collectively voice complaints or fight for better wages.
This year, a Dutch court ruled that Deliveroo’s ‘freelancers’ are to be considered employees. Deliveroo wants to appeal against the ruling, so as of now, the freelancer system is still intact. Riders have to pay for all their work-related expenses, get paid per completed delivery, and are in competition with other riders.
This competition comes from the fact that riders with a good work statistic are more likely to receive the working shifts they choose. This incentivizes riders to do as many deliveries in as little time as possible. Ride Like Hell comes back to mind.
This is Hassan. He has a MSC(hons) in agriculture and rural development from the Agricultural University of Peshawar. Furthermore, he has completed an MA in development studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, with a major in agrarian food and environmental studies. He currently lives in The Hague, but his visa expires this summer. Also, he currently works for Deliveroo and let me follow him with my camera for a two-hour working shift. 
A Deliveroo shift announces itself 15 minutes before on the driver’s phone, making sure that it is started on time. As there is no order at the beginning of the shift, Hassan decides to bike from his home to the centrum. He is more likely to receive orders there, close to all the restaurants, he says. 
As we approach the centrum, the first order announces itself on Hassan’s phone. Orders are received on the go. Only small stops are taken to peek at the screen. 
When an order is dropped off, the interaction between rider and customer is kept to a minimum. Tips are sometimes given, Hassan reports. This customer was too fast for me to snap a shot of Hassan handing over their ice cream. Fun fact: the corner store in this street also carries the same ice cream. It does not have an online presence, however. 
After dropping off the order, eyes are back on the screen. When looking for orders, riders can always reject an offer. They can’t reverse their decision and can see one order at a time. When rejecting an order it can happen that one does not receive a new order for a while, Hassan reports. 
The deliveries often lead us through the crowded city centre. Biking through here is characterized by the sound of Hassan’s occasional whistling – a necessity to warn pedestrians, as there is no bell on his swapfiets. The costs for bike, bag, phone and all else are left to the riders. 
As the shift continues, Hassan start to pick up his normal working pace. At times I have to try to keep up with him as he rushes down the streets he is accustomed with. Through the Deliveroo job he has gotten to know The Hague’s streets better, he says. 
Riders sometimes reject offers because they know a restaurant to take long for the orders – or because the restaurant is known to be rude to them and their colleagues. Riders sometimes know one another and talk about experiences with restaurants. 
Once the sun has set, the magnitude of the food delivery industry becomes apparent. In the centrum it is almost impossible to not see someone with one of the characteristic bags on their back. In this fast food restaurant Hassan had a chat with two other riders while waiting for the food. 
After about two hours Hassan has completed four deliveries. It has gotten cold and dark, but we were lucky enough to stay dry – a luxury that is not always given in the Netherlands. He has earned 21.82€ before taxes, which is roughly at the level of the Dutch minimum wage – at best. 
A rider’s statistics are essential to the job. When new working slots for the week are made available on Mondays, a privileged few receive early access to the booking system. Even though Hassan’s statistic on the left seems to be perfect, he did not receive the early access. When his statistic was worse in one week, he received far fewer slots than usual, he reports. It usually takes two weeks to recover it, unless other local riders all have good statistics as well, he adds. 
Even though the delivery job is far below his qualifications, Hassan likes it for the flexibility it offers in the time before his visa expires. There’s many people like him, he adds, who use Deliveroo as a convenient way of making money in a short term.
Problems in Practice
The stress put on riders through the freelancer system is visible. Last year, the AD reported on a snackbar in The Hague that stopped working with Deliveroo. The restaurant complained that the riders were rude to workers and customers as they were only thinking in terms of “time is money”. Riders had repeatedly quit the restaurant when finding out that they had to wait a few minutes for an order to be completed. It was left to the snackbar to find a replacement for the riders, and to get the food to the customer.
The riders’ behaviour makes sense given the pay-per-delivery system. In their efforts to make as many deliveries as possible, riders strategically adapt their behaviour. This is most visible in city centres, or areas with many restaurants. Riders gather here as they are most likely to receive new deliveries, being closer to the restaurants.
The changed behaviour of riders has created ‘grey areas’: zones where few restaurants are, and where for that reason few riders go. The above mentioned snackbar is among the disadvantaged, being located in one such area. This and the issues with riders were reasons enough for the owner to quit the service altogether. Nowadays they work with a dutch contractor who does their food deliveries.