Cold
Good weather is usually great for business. More sunshine, higher temperatures, less humidity make us happier, make us go outside more and spend more than we would have at home. But food deliveries are not in the business of sunshine. They are in the business of rainy, stormy, snowy, freezing weather that makes us want to stay home and pull out our phones to order some pizza.
We have seen how December and early January are usually the best time to be a delivery service. However, if you plot the weekly Google searches for Deliveroo, Uber Eats and food deliveries in England over the past year, there is a one clear peak: the week of Feb 25th-Mar 3rd 2018. That week saw an exceptional amount of snow falling down in the UK, with London almost completely stuck in the white. Most people must have thought: oh well, I will definitely stay home and hope someone will deliver me some food.
The everyday life of a delivery driver is taming the weather. Cars are not great to move fast around big cities, hence most choose to ride a bike or a motorbike. But rain, storms and snow are not just an annoying, uncomfortable and dangerous part of a delivery driver’s life. They are the actual reason why many people order deliveries. Therefore, the worst the weather, the higher the demand for their service.
As a driver, Deliveroo literally spammed me that week with sms encouraging me to rack up as many hours as possible. They offered very good rates in exchange, with delivery fees going up from £4.50 to £6.50, even to £7.50. Great, but at what cost? It would have been quite hard and dangerous to go outside in the snow with a bicycle, probably also with a motorbike. Also, although you may make more per delivery, each order may take up much longer than usual, so you may end up making almost the same. The good news for those fearless drivers who have continued working during those days is that many people do generally tip better when the weather is bad, according to GrubHub.
This is the harsh truth of your delicious pizza on the sofa during the storm. The greater your convenience, the greater the effort and the danger the drivers are exposed to. Ultimately, as Ross Greer, member of the Scottish parliament, highlighted in that occasion: “For those in casual work, who are not paid if they do not turn up, the ability to stave off eviction, to put food on the table or cover energy bills is of serious importance. Indeed, many will feel they must put these issues ahead of their relative safety”. He called for delivery services to suspend services when during serious weather warnings.
