The profession of transporting ornamental plants 'in season'

It has become a tradition that at the beginning of December, Mr. Ngo Van Dat, Nghi Thai commune, Nghi Loc district, prepares his cart and rope to go to flower and ornamental plant shops in Vinh city to receive gifts.Plant transport for hirefor customers. At this time, the amount of ornamental plants for Tet has arrived on all the streets, Mr. Dat's work is also busier because of that with many orders.

Plant transportation services are sought after by many people during the Tet holiday. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Taking a break after transporting 3 kumquat trees from Vinh City Central Park to Hung Loc Commune, Mr. Dat shared: “I have been doing this job for nearly 10 years now. My family is a farmer, so our income is unstable, so every Tet holiday, I do this extra job to earn money for Tet spending. Because it is a seasonal job, only lasting about a month, not only me but everyone else works day and night to have a more prosperous Tet…”.

Mr. Dat said that compared to 2 years ago when people shopped less due to the pandemic, this year the demand for transporting flowers and ornamental plants has increased. The number of delivery orders has also increased significantly, especially after the 15th of December. From 6am, transporters like Mr. Dat have been present at ornamental plant stores waiting for customers, some days they work until dark before returning home.

According to research, there are 2 factors that depend on the cost of transporting ornamental plants, including the distance traveled and the value and size of the tree to choose the appropriate means of transport. Currently, in Vinh City, there are 2 popular means of transport: cranes for large trees, worth tens to hundreds of millions of VND. The rest are trailers, carts, cyclos, etc., often used by freelance workers.

Bonsai trees are loaded onto a crane to be transported to customers. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Due to the high demand, the price of bonsai transportation services has also increased compared to previous years. For transportation services using cranes, which can usually carry large quantities and are safe, the price will range from 500,000 - 1 million VND/trip within Vinh city. If going to other districts, depending on the distance, the price can increase many times, depending on the agreement between the two parties.

For smaller bonsai, people often hire motorbike taxis, cyclos, etc. to transport them to save costs. On average, each trip costs from 100,000 to 500,000 VND. This price has also increased compared to previous years.

It is known that for large garden owners, due to the high demand for transporting Tet ornamental plants, there are times when customers need them urgently but cannot find transporters, so they hire people to do the transporting task for the store with a price of 10 - 20 million VND during Tet to proactively handle the work when needed.

Transporting ornamental plants is currently one of the hottest services during Tet. If you are diligent, arrange your time and travel distance properly, you can easily earn millions of dong per day. This amount of money is completely worth the effort you put in, because to have such a "huge" income, you have to stay up late and wake up early, always ready when customers need it at any time, even transporting on cold rainy nights.

Although the income is high, according to some transporters, there are many risks in the process of doing the job. Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Hung Dung ward, recalled: “In 2021, I received a job transporting Nhat Tan peach trees from the intersection of Dai Lo Le Nin and 72m road to Hong Son ward. When I reached the roundabout of Muong Thanh Phuong Dong hotel, due to heavy traffic, I collided with a car of a passerby, the rope tying the peach tree came loose, the tree fell onto the road, and their car was also scratched. Luckily, the car owner saw that I was a freelance worker, so he did not ask for compensation. However, the peach tree had broken branches and flowers, I had to pay a sum of money to the flower shop owner because the customer did not accept the goods anymore…”.

On cold and rainy days in Vinh city, the work of transporting ornamental plants is even more difficult, but the money they earn is worth the effort. Photo: Nguyen Chau

Cases like Mr. Hung are not rare, the job of transporting ornamental plants is quite risky, especially during Tet, when the traffic on the roads is very crowded. Therefore, the top criteria to do this job is to be careful, neat, the plants must be wrapped and secured, the driving process must always be careful. In fact, there are many cases where, because of wanting to transport quickly to have more "trips", unnecessary traffic accidents occur, the transportation fee is not enough to pay compensation to customers.