Weather Hot Enough to Melt Butter... Benches and Bus Stops Are the Only Rest for Delivery Workers [Workers in Crisis] ③

An Experience of Delivery Work in Extreme Heat
Difficulties in Meeting Delivery Deadlines
Apps Recommend Breaks, but Reality Is a Race

At 10 a.m. on July 9, when a heat wave warning was in effect, the first delivery order came in at a street corner in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The destination was a tteokbokki restaurant 1.9 kilometers away. The delivery app estimated a delivery time of 13 minutes, while the walking time on the map was 31 minutes.

The ground was as hot as a heated frying pan, and the heat radiating from below felt as if it would push my feet upward. I climbed an uphill road until I was out of breath, but still arrived at the restaurant four minutes late. The next delivery destination was another 1.4 kilometers away. Again, the assigned delivery time was 11 minutes. I grabbed the packaged food and ran again, but climbing the stairs to the third floor of a villa caused a total delay of 12 minutes. By the time I finished the delivery, my whole body was drenched in sweat. The money I held in my hand was 3,700 won.

On the 9th, items delivered through an insulated bag were placed in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Lee Eunseo.

From noon to 2 p.m., when the sun is at its peak, people are advised to stay indoors. However, for delivery workers, this is "peak time." The temperature exceeded 36 degrees Celsius, and only shimmering heat waves rose from the streets. The sidewalks were empty, but the delivery app was busy. Over 90 order notifications poured in during four hours. Just 10 minutes after starting deliveries, sweat began to stream down my body, and after about an hour, sweat was running in rivulets down my forehead and chin.

The order was for three hamburger sets. It took 45 minutes to walk 2.7 kilometers. Without a fan or a sunshade, I was fully exposed to the sunlight. I grew anxious that the cola in the delivery bag would spill or the hamburgers would get cold. My hair stuck to my forehead, and sunscreen ran down my nose and cheeks.

The delivery app assigns orders based on the shortest distance, but the map does not account for hills or stairs. My legs gave out while climbing a hill, but I could not stop. Arriving much later than the assigned time, I apologized to the customer, gasping for breath. The bright red delayed delivery alert on the app screen added even more pressure. I worried about falling while running to speed up, but the fear of falling behind was even greater. This contradictory situation repeated itself.

On the 9th, while making a walking delivery in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, I encountered an uphill slope. Photo by Eunseo Lee.

The next orders were for cosmetics deliveries, each 1.5 kilometers away. In the sweltering heat, sweat continued to pour without a break. When I entered an elevator and looked in the mirror, I was surprised to see my armpits soaked with sweat. Without time to worry about my wet clothes, I took a photo to verify the contactless delivery and moved on to the next location. The sweat-soaked cosmetic packaging stuck to my hands, and my phone screen became slippery, making it difficult to operate.

The last delivery was ice cream. I packed 12 ice creams, ice cups, and drinks?totaling 2.1 kilograms?into a 10-liter insulated bag. The zipper wouldn't close, and the shoulder strap dug into my skin. The midday road was heated to nearly 50 degrees Celsius, and going up and down hills made me dizzy. After four hours, sweat flowed into my eyes, causing not just stinging but burning pain. The sunscreen had already disappeared, and salty sweat left white stains on my face.

At 2 p.m., I placed a frying pan directly on the asphalt and tried melting butter. The surface temperature was close to 50 degrees Celsius. All 80 grams of butter melted in less than 10 minutes. My whole body felt as limp as that butter. My body slowly melted, and my mind gradually dulled. In that moment, I remembered the phrase "just a part-time job." But it was neither easy nor light. On the sun-baked streets with no shade, delivery was a matter of survival.

On the 9th, 80g of butter melted in less than 10 minutes on an asphalt road in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Eunseo Lee.

Over four hours, I walked 17,870 steps. But the money I earned was only 13,900 won?3,475 won per hour, or an average of 2,780 won per delivery. This is far below the minimum wage. The delivery fee per order is low, ranging from 2,000 to 3,700 won, and on foot, it is difficult to complete more than one order per hour.

The delivery app advises taking a 10-minute break every hour, but this is not possible. The more you run, the more you earn. Break time is lost opportunity. In fact, I missed more than 20 orders during a 20-minute break. The rare moments when my phone stopped vibrating actually felt like a relief.

Even buying a bottle of water was not easy. A 1,500-won sports drink would wipe out half the profit from a single delivery. The bottled water I put in my delivery bag became lukewarm in less than an hour, and by the last delivery, it was hot. When I got home after work, my face was flushed and my head throbbed.

Walking delivery workers are exposed to direct sunlight during their routes, with no shade or rest areas. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's five safety rules for heat waves apply only to workers with fixed workplaces. They do not apply to workers on the road. There was nowhere to cool down my exhausted body while on the move. The benches and bus stops where I briefly rested were my only breaks that day.