The delivery guy has become a group with a high incidence of traffic accidents! Why is the ＂reasonable＂ algorithm ＂out of control＂？
Recently, the professional difficulties of some online platform takeaway brothers have attracted much attention to takeaway platforms and algorithm systems.
"Xinhua View" reporter survey found that takeaway brothers have become a high-risk group of traffic accidents, and the algorithm labeled as accurate, reasonable and optimized has triggered extensive discussion in the industry.
"The first thing I think of when I get up from a crash is not to time out"
In recent years, the booming takeaway industry has reshaped people’s daily lives and become an important breakthrough point for economic development and employment in various places. According to a report released by Meituan, in 2019, the total number of takeaway riders who earned income through the platform reached 3.987 million, an increase of 23.3% over 2018; in the first half of this year, the total number of riders who earned income on the Meituan platform reached 2.952 million, a significant increase of 16.4% year-on-year.
The relatively high income, stable salary payment and flexible working hours are the reasons why many workers are attracted to the food delivery industry. Wu Zhaoyun, a 35-year-old food delivery brother in Guangzhou, said that he has worked in factories, hotels and property companies. Since joining the food delivery team in 2017, he "feels that this career is very promising."
While the number of takeaway riders continues to grow, takeaway brothers have become a group with a high incidence of traffic accidents. In recent years, there have been vicious traffic accidents in many places in China where takeaway brothers have caused deaths due to running red lights and violating the rules.
The reporter learned from the Shenzhen traffic police department that in August this year alone, Shenzhen investigated and dealt with 12,000 traffic violations in the express delivery and takeaway food delivery industry, accounting for more than 10% of the total number of non-motor vehicle violations. The Shanghai medical emergency center healthcare workers said that they would encounter rider-related orders every week in August.
"Rush" is the core reason. One rider said the delivery time given to him by the platform around 2018 was 40 minutes per order, but it was later compressed to 30 minutes. "Sometimes it takes 20 minutes to get takeaway from the merchant, and the remaining 10 minutes I have to ride 3km, run into the community, and wait for the elevator to go upstairs," he said.
The main basis for the platform to compress time is the algorithm system based on big data and artificial intelligence. There is also a complete set of strict assessment mechanisms in cooperation with the algorithm system: on the one hand, the takeaway platform incentivizes takeaway riders to receive as many orders as possible with "price-per-order"; on the other hand, the platform strictly restricts riders through assessments such as on-time rate, bad review rate, and cancellation of order volume due to delivery reasons. The reduction in on-time rate means that takeaway riders lose the "order-taking advantage" in the platform’s algorithm, and will also be reduced in the internal ranking, missing various rewards.
This "algorithm plus assessment" mechanism has multiplied the psychological pressure of practitioners. One rider said that once he collided with an electric car, "the first thing he thought of when he got up was that he couldn’t time out, and he didn’t care about how the other party and himself were injured. Now I think it’s ridiculous."
Why are algorithms "out of control"?
Several industry insiders believe that the deep problems behind the "algorithmic dilemma" deserve attention.
On the one hand, the platform is "competing to the bottom", resulting in the "imbalance" of the algorithm.
Data show that as of the second quarter of 2020, Meituan takeaway and Ele.me have captured nearly 95% of the market share in the takeaway industry.
Ma Liang, a professor at the School of Public Administration of Renmin University of China, believes that the short and concentrated characteristics of the takeaway industry determine that competition among enterprises is increasingly focused on the speed of food delivery, resulting in algorithms that should have integrated multiple indicators, ignoring the safety and stress of riders.
"The food delivery industry has actually formed a’race to the bottom ‘, that is, constantly testing the bottom line indicator of delivery time. After exhausting all the competitive parameters, the pressure is pushed to the rider, resulting in the rider being at the limit and overloaded," he said.
On the other hand, complex employment relationships lead to the transfer of risk, resulting in the algorithm’s "default".
The reporter learned from the research that most food delivery riders have formed a complex employment relationship with the food delivery platform. Many food delivery riders often do not sign contracts directly with the platform, but sign contracts with third-party labor service companies through some apps, and the labor service companies change frequently. When an accident occurs, it is easy to lead to multiple parties kicking each other.
In a case of a takeaway rider hitting a pedestrian, the rider said that he joined a takeaway platform in September 2018. At first, the labor agreement on the app showed that the employer was Ningbo Yumi Company; in August 2019, the agreement on the app was changed to Hangzhou Bangmang Company. He did not know who the employer was. During the court hearing after the accident, neither Ningbo Yumi nor Hangzhou Bangmang admitted that Huang was his employee.
Liu Bo, the judge of the Huangpu District People’s Court in Guangzhou who was in charge of the case, said that in terms of the contract, the relationship between the rider and the labor service company is a labor relationship, but in fact the relationship between the labor service company and the rider is very loose. The platform uses the number of orders received and customer complaints to assess the rider, acting as an "employer." In the event of a traffic accident, the platform hides behind the labor service company and does not take any responsibility.
Under the current laws and regulations, the traffic police cannot punish the enterprise, but only the rider. In the event of a traffic accident, the rider, not the enterprise, needs to bear the cost of violating the law and the risk of disability and death.
Algorithms alone are not enough
In the face of social doubts, Ele.me said it would launch new features as soon as possible – "I am willing to wait 5 minutes/10 minutes more" buttons for consumers to choose from, while Meituan said it would improve the scheduling system to give riders 8 minutes of flexible time.
Some interviewees believe that to solve the dilemma faced by takeaway riders, the most important thing is that platform companies can face up to, respect, and truly protect the rights and interests of workers, rather than allowing algorithms to become cold tools that only make money for enterprises.
In recent years, in the face of the challenges of emerging business models, many places have begun to increase management efforts. For example, Foshan, Guangdong has built 89 fixed traffic safety education points to increase traffic safety education for delivery couriers and other groups; for takeaway enterprises with many traffic violations and weak traffic safety management, Foshan public security traffic police organized interviews with business leaders.
Ma Liang suggested that the emerging business will inevitably pose an impact and challenge to the existing laws and regulations, and the general laws involving the protection of workers’ rights and interests, occupational safety, and safe production need to be revised in a timely manner. Issues directly related to a certain industry also need to be responded to in a timely manner by new regulations.
In addition, the problems of the food delivery industry involve multiple departments, and the main regulatory departments should be further clarified to correct the disorderly competition behavior. Ma Liang also suggested that the food delivery riders belong to the "safety production problem in the flow" and should also be included in the assessment system of local governments to strengthen the local government’s supervision and law enforcement responsibilities. (Reporters Wang Pan, Ma Xiaocheng, Hu Lingguo, participated in writing: Mao Yizhu, Mao Xin)