Food delivery rider claims he made $8,500 in one month - is that even possible?

A photo of a food delivery rider's calculation of his alleged monthly earnings, at an eye-popping $8,500 in March 2022 has raised some eyebrows of late.

As a rough comparison, the average NTU Medicine fresh graduate starts with a monthly basic salary of $4,700.

The photo was posted on the online forum HardwareZone on Wednesday (April 6) and netizens began dissecting it.

The food delivery rider calculated that he earned an impressive $443.79 on his best day on March 12 and one netizen attributed these high earnings to the rider juggling between three different food delivery apps.

Based on the photo, it seems like he is an active rider for GrabFood, FoodPanda and Deliveroo, and the netizen felt that "Grab should ban or penalise anyone who does this".

While some might be skeptical of the claims of this delivery rider raking in this amount, it isn't entirely impossible.

In November 2019, a GrabFood rider clocked 30 trips a day and worked seven days a week to earn $5,000 that month.

A Reddit user shared his experience of being a food delivery rider, claiming he made "about $3,200 with 13 days of work".

For just under two weeks of work, that's a pretty fat paycheck but he warned of the potential pitfalls. 

"As a cyclist, it's really taxing on the knees, and wet weather gives good incentives but you are at the mercy of the rain," he posted.

What stood out for the food delivery rider who claimed he made $8,500 that month was the rest days he had, or lack of it. His schedule showed that he worked throughout that month, all 31 days of March. 

Such a hectic work schedule would simply lead to burnout, according to a netizen while a Reddit user posted: "All work and no play sucks. This is insanity."

Even Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the well-being of food delivery riders in his National Day Rally speech in Aug 2021, CNA reported.

An issue he raised was the lack of employment contracts for these gig workers and how basic job protection that most employees have would be missing for them.

So, is it possible for a food delivery rider to earn $8,500 a month? It probably is.

But whether it is sustainable is a different matter.

ALSO READ: Grab shares crash as revenue plunges on promotions, driver incentives

amierul@asiaone.com