Paid for speed … because “people prefer their McDonald’s with the grease still hot”
BOSTON – With heavy coolers strapped to their e-bikes and mopeds, Boston’s delivery drivers shimmy up between cars at red lights, pop into bike lanes and up onto sidewalks, and cut through thin alleys and walking paths. It infuriates the city’s residents. It’s dangerous. On August 6, 64-year-old Minh Dang of Braintree was struck in front of the Boston Public Library and put in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. On September 10, he died. He was a husband and father to three children.
A little over a year ago, Police Commissioner Michael Cox sent a public letter to DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber addressing their employees’ reckless driving and lack of licenses and registrations. Six months ago, Mayor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance with the Boston City Council requiring that these companies obtain permits to operate in Boston. After Dang’s hospitalization last month, City Councilor Ed Flynn announced he would be filing legislation to ban all mopeds and e-bikes for third-party food delivery.
Despite being headline targets for nearly two years now, Boston’s moped and e-bike delivery drivers continue to grow in number. Third-party delivery has become a mainstay of urban consumerism in America. The National Restaurant Association claims 41% of all US consumers now rely heavily on food delivery, with “speedy delivery” being their number one concern. Herein lies the problem: people prefer their McDonald’s with the grease still hot, and these drivers are rewarded for making sure it happens.
Mohammed straddles his 150cc Razor moped on the shoulder of Boylston Street. Underneath his helmet he wears a black balaclava: only his mouth and eyes are visible. It’s 8:30 p.m., and he’s been zipping food orders around the city for the past 13 hours.
“Today has been a good day,” he says with a heavy Senegalese accent. He points to his earnings in the DoorDash app: $315.32, roughly $24/hour. He estimates that he’ll close out the week with anywhere from $1300-$1500.
After leaving Senegal last year, Mohammed arrived in Boston with no money. Delivering for third-party apps such as DoorDash and Uber was the work most immediately accessible. “If you have a phone and a bank account,” he says, “you can start working and getting paid right away.”
There are two key reasons for this: one, a driver can operate under an existing delivery profile of a US citizen and simply change the banking information to get paid. It’s an obvious opportunity for undocumented immigrants struggling to find employment. Two, many of these mopeds are bought secondhand with pre-existing license plates and registrations. E-bikes, which can reach the same speeds, don’t require either in Massachusetts.
Jason, a 19-year old from Dorchester, dropped out of high school in order to support his daughter. His friend was making good money doing DoorDash, so Jason spent $1500 on a moped and an insulated backpack cooler, which the shop offered as a package deal. He’s been delivering for three months now, enough time to learn that his earnings depend on speed.
DoorDash drivers are assessed using three factors: Acceptance Rate, Completion Rate, Customer Rating. Based on this information, drivers are then categorized as Silver, Gold, or Platinum—rankings that correspond with access to higher-paying deliveries. For example, Platinum tier drivers have priority on all catering orders, which are much more expensive and result in larger tips. Think 10% on a $300 boardroom spread in the Financial District—that’s a $30 tip for one quick delivery.
Jason is still only a Silver tier, stuck carrying single servings of Raising Cane’s chicken tenders and assorted snack bags from 7-Eleven. But he’s working hard to get his ratings up, which means receiving positive customer reviews and completing more deliveries in less time. “I’ve crashed my bike six times,” he says, laughing, “but I’m all good. There’s no room for the drink in the cooler, so I just gotta hold it in one hand and steer with the other.”
Beyond reckless driving, he explains that there are other elements of danger to the work. Occasionally, delivery drivers get their mopeds stolen when they go inside to pick up an order. But these thieves typically don’t work in the industry and aren’t aware that drivers use GPS trackers for this exact reason. “I’ll get on the back of one of my boy’s bikes and we’ll track it down,” he says. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to get my bike back. I don’t want my face being seen.”
Dave, a recent high school graduate from Roxbury, is taking a break outside the Sweetgreen on Boylston Street. He has his Airpods in and is watching videos on his phone. It’s been a light day by his standards: four hours, $115. His furthest order today took him out to Brighton, but he typically doesn’t accept deliveries over two miles away.
He explains that there is a competitive nature to the work. The money is best during lunch and dinner times when drivers will try to take multiple deliveries on the same trip. “Everybody waits for the orders to come in right here, so you have to try and get it before they do,” he says. “It’s about money and we all need it, so it can get pretty serious.”
Dave is trying to raise his grade point average in hopes of attending Bunker Hill Community College. He admits that delivering is a pretty good option for an 18-year-old: “It’s fun man, riding the scooter around Boston all day, listening to music. It’s more fun than any other job I can think of.”
But he’s also aware of the controversy surrounding his job. “I just hope it doesn’t get shut down,” he says. “It’s just making too much noise, too much of a scene. Someone is going to do something about it. But hey, we’re making our money, and they’re getting their food.”
This article was produced for HorizonMass, the independent, student-driven, news outlet of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and is syndicated by BINJ’s MassWire news service.
