Story of shipper profession in Western Nghe An

Hardship on the long road

Every day, no matter where you go in the mountainous districts, you can easily see shippers driving their vehicles at high speeds over steep passes. According to shippers, the mountainous region is characterized by a long distance from town to communes and villages, and people often go to the fields to produce, so there is no phone signal. Therefore, after contacting and setting a delivery time, you must drive your vehicle promptly, otherwise you will not be able to meet the customer to deliver the goods.

Mr. La Thanh Tuan in Ta Ca commune (Ky Son), a shipper, every morning ties the cargo box to his "iron horse" to go to the warehouse in Muong Xen town to receive orders.

Mr. Tuan shared that, to facilitate long-distance delivery to villages and hamlets, goods are divided into appropriate addresses from far to near. Mr. Tuan was assigned to deliver goods to customers from Muong Xen town, along route 543D to Ta Ca, Muong Tip, Muong Ai communes with a distance of over 80km.

According to Mr. Tuan, the shipper profession does not require many qualifications or skills, only good health, diligence, hard work, dynamism and alertness. All you need is a motorbike as a means of transportation, a smartphone for communication, the ability to pay by scanning QR codes and familiarity with the area... to be able to make a living from this profession.

“Although there is never a shortage of work, this job is no less difficult. First, the roads are difficult to travel. From the warehouse in Muong Xen town to the villages, you have to drive 70-80km on motorbikes, all of which are steep mountain passes.

Another problem is that many villages and hamlets have unstable phone signals, so sometimes it is impossible to contact customers. At that time, the only way is to ask for directions to the village to find a house to deliver the goods. The most difficult thing is that during the rainy season, when receiving the goods, the road is often eroded and we cannot get in, so we have to call the customer to sympathize...", Mr. Tuan confided.

Regarding income, Mr. Tuan shared that due to the long and bumpy distance, the "iron horse" has to operate continuously every day, so in addition to the costs of gasoline and oil, the inner tubes, tires, sprockets, etc. must be changed regularly every 2-3 months. This is also not a cheap expense. Every day, if he is very active, Mr. Tuan can deliver 50-80 orders, earning from 500,000 - 900,000 VND. Last September, Mr. Tuan earned nearly 10 million VND, after deducting the costs of gasoline, food and drink, there was still 6 million VND left, not including vehicle wear and tear.

Mr. Vi Van Cuong in Lo village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong), although he has only been a shipper for more than 3 months, cannot remember all the happy and sad memories in the job, even some "half-crying, half-laughing" stories.

Mr. Cuong said that on October 9, he received 83 orders, but only delivered 61, and had to take 22 home. The reason was that he could not meet the customers and some customers deliberately did not receive the goods. The most difficult thing was that the customers gave him a "fake" name, meaning they used someone else's name, so he could not deliver the goods. There were cases where he met the right recipient, but he was helpless because he had no money to pay and many stories that could not be told in words. However, he still delivered 40-50 orders every day, earning around 500,000 VND, minus 60,000 VND for gas, 100,000 VND for food, minus expenses, his average monthly income was 6-7 million VND.

The job of a shipper is hard enough for young men, but it is even more worrisome for women. Ms. Lan, a shipper in Tuong Duong district, said that “a woman on a long journey” driving alone in the “deep mountains and remote valleys” to deliver goods to customers often faces many dangers, especially when she has to return home at night, because she has to wait for customers to come back to receive the goods.

"Half-laughing, half-crying" story

The growing online shopping and business activities on social networks have created the shipper profession. Wherever, whenever, as long as the smartphone has wifi signal, people can view and order goods. The shopping habits of society are becoming increasingly "hot", the shipper profession has more work to do.

Therefore, in the town area of ​​mountainous districts, it is easy to see different delivery branches. Every morning, there is a large gathering of shipper teams to receive goods to deliver to customers during the day.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, manager of Viettel Post delivery branch in Thach Giam town (Tuong Duong) said: The branch she manages has 7 delivery staff in charge of all 18 communes and towns in the district. The longest route that the delivery staff undertakes is the route to the communes: Huu Khuong, Nhon Mai, Mai Son, Xieng My...

The shipper's income depends on the distance and weight of the order. Accordingly, the nearest distance is the town area, which receives 5,000 VND/order, in addition, the same price is 10,000 VND/order. However, it also depends on the weight of the order, from 2kg or less is 10,000 VND/order, over 2kg is an additional 500 VND/kg.

Shippers are young, healthy, agile, and hard-working people, so they can deliver a large number of orders every day, earning about 12 - 14 million VND/month (including expenses such as gas, food, etc.).

Ms. Hang still remembers many “half-crying, half-laughing” stories about the delivery profession in this mountainous region. For example, the story of a shipper drinking with a customer and getting so drunk that he didn’t know the way home. Then there was the story of a customer cursing and threatening to beat the shipper because the goods were not as expected, and they thought the shipper was a salesperson.

Therefore, every month, up to 10% of orders are returned, with the following reasons: Ordering for fun, seeing the goods not as advertised, not meeting the customer... Therefore, those who work as shippers are required to love their job. However, there are also cases where employees are forced to be fired, due to not being able to control themselves.

“There have been cases where men, while delivering goods in the village, met familiar customers and were invited into their homes to drink. Because they were too drunk, they stayed at their homes and were unable to deliver the goods. As a result, not only were they unable to deliver the goods to the customers on time, but the goods and money were also lost. Such delivery staff were forced to stop working,” Ms. Hang shared.

It can be seen that shipper is a profession that creates a legitimate source of income for a part of young workers in mountainous areas today. With the characteristics of the Western Nghe An region being a large area, difficult traffic, especially roads to remote villages and hamlets... this somewhat affects the income of this shipper team./.