启程后美味送到你眼前, 归途中孤独辛酸留给自己 | Tears behind food delivery service

最近，一则外卖小哥的短信牵动了大家的心

杭州的一位外卖小哥在10日凌晨四点时接到一则订单，但当他到达送餐地址时却始终无法联系上顾客。无奈之下，他只能冒着大雨推着没电的电瓶车步行将近六公里回家。身心俱疲的他想到了放弃这份工作，给那位失联的顾客发送了这样一条短信：“谢谢你，让我彻底告别这一行。”

A takeout courier in east China’s Zhejiang Province braved pouring wet Sunday morning to deliver a food order that he received at 4:00 a.m. After not being able to reach the customer upon delivery, he started to go home, but then he discovered that his electric scooter was out of power. Frustrated and discouraged, he sent a message to the customer:

“Thanks for making me determined to wave goodbye to the job of a food courier.”

之前也曾发生过同样令人心酸的故事。2016年7月网络上有一段很火的视频：一位北京的外卖小哥因暴雨，未能将餐按时送达，被顾客在家门口足足数落辱骂了三四分钟，最后顾客还把饭菜扔在地上。

A similar, heart-rending story also happened in Beijing in July 2016. A viral video showed a customer humiliated a food courier for his showing up late, which was due to rainy weather. 

还有一位外卖小哥，一手拎着外卖，一手拿着手机看时间，眼看要迟到了，他在电梯里急得大哭。

Another short video widely circulating on social media last January captured a food delivery worker bursting into tears in an elevator after arriving late. In the video, the man couldn’t help but crying while checking the customer’s information. His plight elicited tremendous sympathy from netizens. 

“风里来，雨里去”: 残酷的生存现状

根据美团近日发布《2017中国外卖发展研究报告》显示，外卖市场2017年市场规模约为2046亿元，增长率23%；在线订餐用户规模接近3亿人，同比增长18%。

Recent statistics from Meituan, one of the biggest food delivery companies in China, shows that takeaway sales in 2017 reached about 204.6 billion yuan, an increase of 23 percent compared with 2016, while nearly 300 million Chinese order food on delivery service apps in 2017, with a year-on-year growth of 18 percent. 

而支撑着蓬勃发展的外卖行业的送餐员们却面临着“残酷”的生存现状：

负荷强| Heavy workloads

每天要工作13个小时左右，日接单40单以上；送餐高峰期需要接6、7个订单；很少有休假时间。

According Meituan’s statistics, a full-time courier is expected to do up to 40 deliveries in one 13-hour shift, usually with a time limit of under half an hour per delivery. Since they need to deliver six or seven orders during the lunch and dinner rush hours, they always have no time for meal. And they seldom have weekends off, let alone other holidays or vacation. 

罚款重| Penalty

外卖送餐员出现超时、食物漏洒等问题，罚款50元到2000元不等，累犯直接扣除当月工资甚至永久除名。

Besides work overload, food delivery workers also face harsh penalties. With the purpose of improving delivery services, major food delivery companies, including Ele.me and Meituan, introduced penalties to keep their delivery personnel in line.  

Penalties are usually incurred because of customer complaints about lateness or messing up the food packaging during the delivery process, with fines ranging from 50 yuan to 2,000 yuan.

Other violations, including untidy or poor appearance can also lead to penalties. If a courier violates rules several times, he might lose his monthly salary, be fired or even permanently blacklisted from the trade.

安全无保障 | Safety problem

催单抢时、恶劣天气送餐极易引发交通安全事故；一些外卖公司未提供保险，出现安全事故无法获得赔偿或报销。

Safety issues abound when making deliveries at such a rapid pace. The risk of road accidents ranks as the most dangerous part of being a courier, reported Beijing News in December 2016. 

Though couriers always take the blame for their injuries or even death for violating traffic laws, the reality is that late delivery penalties are a contributing factor to speeding, which in turn leads to accidents. Besides, food orders surge on rainy and snow days, so road conditions then are even worse. 

Worst of all, some food delivery companies do not always provide insurance or coverage for road accidents, thus placing the burden of cost on the couriers themselves. 

那些暖心的故事

Hardships and tears behind the prosperous food delivery industry have attached wide attention. Both food delivery companies and customers make some 

heartwarming efforts to help food deliverymen. 

“特制版”配送软件| Special message tool for deaf courier

前不久，饿了么公司宣布为送餐员使用的配送APP新增发送消息和录音电话通知功能，为听障外卖小哥联系用户提供便利。

Previously, Ele.me said it would develop functions of messaging and answering machines in their app to facilitate couriers who have hearing or speaking disabilities. With the functions, customers will be informed in advance that the delivery worker they communicate with cannot hear or speak, while the courier could resort to the cloud terminal to call the customer automatically with a notice to pick up.

“安全第一，速度第二”| It’s safety not speed that really counts

有网友为外卖小哥们留下了“安全第一，我不着急吃饭”的备注； 也有越来越多的网友们在网上呼吁恶劣天气的时候，尽量不要向外卖小哥催单。

Considering that many couriers are always in a hurry to deliver on-demand meals, some customers leave considerate messages for couriers, in which they said it was fine to deliver their order slowly and reminded couriers of safety.

There are also netizens appealing online that customers do not repeatedly urge the couriers to deliver the meal during severe weather, so as to avoid the occurrence of accidents.

爱人者，人恒爱之；敬人者，人恒敬之

愿人人都能多一份体谅，多一份包容