Since Saturday, Didi has suspended all online ride-hailing services at night, and passengers cannot use the Didi platform to order rides from 11am to 5am. However, the demand for night trips is not small, so who benefits from Didi’s policy? Are the drivers of other private car platforms "reaping benefits"?
Taxi Driver: OK.
"It’s very easy to pull at night now, you can earn an extra 200 yuan in one night!" A taxi driver told a Beijing Youth Daily reporter that after Didi stopped late-night service, he collected his car from 11pm to 2am, and could earn an extra 200 yuan a day.
Another taxi driver said that he would "pick jobs" near 11 p.m. and choose "big orders" that are farther away, because after 11 p.m., he would be subject to the randomness of the promotion and could not choose for himself. He also said that there are many people who call a taxi when 11 p.m. is approaching. "There are people who add 10 yuan and 20 yuan."
In interviews, many taxi drivers believe that the late-night outage of the Didi platform is "good" for them. On the one hand, passengers have no options such as express trains, and more people take taxis; on the other hand, there are still platforms such as Didi, Shouqi, and Feidi running, which can call taxis. If you want to pick big jobs, you are not completely dependent on Didi’s platform.
Shenzhou driver: The order volume has increased, but it is not obvious
A Chinese-owned driver said that after the Didi platform was suspended, the number of orders in the evening increased. "Before, I could pull about 3 in one night, but now it is almost doubled. But in fact, the money I earn has not increased too much, because the running time is limited after all, and the commission is not much." He said that he usually runs from 2pm to around 1am. Recently, after Didi stopped late-night service, the number of orders per night has increased relatively. "Before, sometimes I would wait for an hour to pull an order, but now there is no such long waiting time. But our commission for an order is about 20%, and I don’t get much personally."
Another Shenzhou franchised driver said that Shenzhou and himself are purely platform-sharing relationships, "We take 65% of each order by ourselves, and the platform takes 35%. I came out to run for a day on the evening of the 8th, and I earned an extra 100 yuan." He also said that the mechanism of Shenzhou’s special car is that the driver can only see the destination of the passenger after receiving the order and arriving at the place where the passenger gets on the bus, and at night, some destinations are in the suburbs. Orders he is unwilling to run.
Shouqi driver: The departure time is a personal habit and will not be easily changed
Shouqi launched the "Night Guarantee Operation" on September 8, and carried out guarantees in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities. A Shouqi driver told the Beijing Youth Daily that Shouqi called on the driver to leave the car from the 8th to the 15th, which is the stage of Didi’s night outage, to ensure the smooth and safe travel of passengers. For this, the company specially rewarded the driver who left the car.
However, he also said that the reward amount is not very high. "It is about double the points, about 5 yuan for one order and 20 yuan for three orders." He believes that the protection action is more of a responsibility and moral incentive. "For drivers, if I run more, I have to stick gas and stay up late, so I can’t make much more money at night."
Another driver of Shouqi’s car-booking said that because Shouqi’s car-booking vehicles belong to the company and the drivers are their own, most of them have a base salary of several thousand yuan, and they will only get extra commissions when they exceed the time and amount of work. In addition, the company only subsidizes part of the fuel cost, and the excess part has to be paid by themselves. Therefore, many drivers are not very motivated. "I usually choose to leave the car in the morning, because this can basically run two peaks in the morning and evening, almost 5 hours, and the income is relatively high. The company has adjusted the price, raising the price during peak hours and lowering the price during peak hours, so that the price during peak hours is almost the same as that of ordinary taxis."
Beiqing Daily reporter inquired that from 7:00 am to 10:00 am and 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm every day are the peak hours for the first car to book a car. The mileage fee is 3.8 yuan/km, which is higher than 2.3 yuan/km during the peak hours, and the duration fee is 1.0 yuan/minute, which is also much higher than 0.2 yuan/minute during the peak hours. However, from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am, there is also a "night surcharge", which is charged 1.5 yuan/km and 0.8 yuan/minute, and the fee is the same as during peak hours. One driver said that the departure time is actually a matter of personal habits. "It will not change personal habits and work and rest just because Didi is out of service for a few days."
Wen Jing, Beijing Youth Daily reporter
