Food delivery has become easier for some drivers during the pandemic

Bo Pan has been a delivery driver in Chicago for three years.

Linxin Wen, the CEO of food delivery service Chowbus said the number of delivery drivers on their platform in 19 cities around the country, including Chicago, has been doubled to around 6000 since the lockdown.

Bo Pan picked up orders from a cafe in Chinatown.

Bo Pan delivered orders. In apartment buildings like this, where the lobby was small and not well ventilated, he would wait outside.

Bo Pan said many apartment buildings in Chicago’s downtown have set up desks where deliverers can drop off orders.

Bo Pan took out the orders from the trunk

	By Carolyn Chen, Arts & Culture Editor, The Real Chi

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life and work much harder for a lot of people, but a delivery driver told The Real Chi making deliveries has been easier within the current social distancing guidelines.

Major delivery service companies, such as Chowbus and Grubhub, have implemented contact-free delivery, which means the orders are left at individuals’ door if they live in a house or in the lobby if they live in apartment buildings.

Bo Pan, 36, a driver working with Chowbus, said due to the new contact-free delivery method he no longer needs to deliver the orders upstairs in apartment buildings.

“Some janitors will not even let you stay too long in the lobby,” Pan said.

Pan also explained that there are much more empty parking lots near restaurants and the customers’ locations. He does not spend as much time waiting for the orders since there are no dine-in customers. He also noted most people are tipping well at this time.

However, despite these silver linings, delivery drivers can still feel worried while working. 

“I felt afraid seeing many people working freely outside,” said Darren Zheng, a delivery driver and manager of The First Station, a local food delivery company serving mainly in Chicago’s downtown.

The company, founded in 2017, had more than 10 drivers before the pandemic, but many of them are concerned with their wellbeing and decide to stay at home. Now fewer than five employees are still working but they get a higher paycheck than before the pandemic.

Food delivery services like Chowbus provide free personal protective equipment, including masks and disposable gloves to the drivers. Pan said he changes his masks twice a day on average to protect himself.