Food delivery riders brave monsoon rain for customers

Relentless downpours, gloomy skies and slippery roads. That’s the sight in Singapore over the past few days.

For food delivery driver who wants to be known only as David, the rain has made the delivering experience both “stressful” and “dangerous”.

“The pouring rain over the past few days has given us delivery drivers stress when driving because visibility on the road is bad,” the 54-year-old told The New Paper.

Additionally, the rain has presented another challenge as he moves the delivery items to and from the car.

“I have to make sure the food stays dry in the rain. I always end up drenched in order to save the food,” he lamented.

The relentless downpour poses physical risks to food delivery rider Javian Neo.

“My motorbike skidded and I fell a few times as there wasn’t much friction between the tyres and road,” said the 20-year-old student.

“That’s the dangerous side of working in the rain. Luckily, I escaped unscathed.”

However, there was a silver lining.

Mr Neo said: “I could get more orders more easily than usual as not many people wanted to work in this weather.” 

It was the same for David.

“The price for each order increased since not many riders were willing to work in this weather,” he explained.

Mr William Tong, a food delivery car driver with five years of experience, similarly reaped the benefits of working in the inclement weather.

“I had more orders and the price increased as delivery bikers weren’t taking orders,” he shared.

On Jan 9, PUB issued an alert stating that a monsoon surge was expected to bring rainy and windy conditions to Singapore from Jan 10 to Jan 13.

Singapore experienced more than its average monthly rainfall for January within just two days, on Jan 10 and 11.

Changi recorded the highest rainfall total of 255.2mm in these two days, surpassing Singapore’s January monthly average of 222.4mm.

PUB said the prolonged rainy weather, driven by the ongoing monsoon surge, is expected to continue until Jan 13.