The Chinese magazine Renwu just published a long feature on “algorithms and food delivery drivers”.

Apparently the delivery platforms ask drivers to follow ***walking*** rather than driving directions, so drivers have no choice but to go against the traffic, run red lights, etc.

Drivers say it’s impossible to deliver “on time” if they follow traffic rules.

And as the algorithm gets trained on past delivery times, there’s a race to the bottom — the platform makes ever more unrealistic estimates, and drivers take on greater risk in order to stay in.

Rainy days are the worst because people place more orders.

Once, 30+ drivers in an area fulfilled 1000+ orders in less than three hours.

Drivers and regional hubs that fail to deliver on time or quit on rainy days get punished by the system.

Office buildings and hospitals are also the worst because drivers spend a lot of time waiting in elevators, but the algorithm is bad at predicting how much time they’d have to wait.

One driver says he’s constantly making the trade-off between income and personal safety.

All of the major delivery platforms refused to be interviewed for the article.