[ Artyom ] Moscow has changed massively.
It feels like we’re in a movie
with no ending.
There’s a fear of getting coronavirus, we wear masks the whole shift.
I haven’t got any increase in income – fewer tips.
In Moscow an average courier’s monthly salary is
more or less 50,000 roubles.
Some clients don’t get the idea of contactless delivery.
Sometimes they fight about it.
If there are no couriers it will be chaos.
[ Artyom Karmanov, delivery guy ] Hi there! I’m Artyom.
And I’m going to tell you what it’s like to be a delivery guy during the coronavirus pandemic in Moscow.
I’m 22,
and I deliver pizzas in my own car.
It’s a new day. Our shift is from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today.
There’ll be a lot of deliveries to make.
I’m about to come up to the manager to check our body temperature.
He’ll write down all couriers’ temperatures in a journal.
We use gloves to hand an order over to a client.
The delivery guy that drives doesn’t wear gloves.
He puts them on when he gets to a client and is going to their door
to hand an order over to a client without contact.
[ Artyom ] Good evening! Dodo Pizza company. Contactless delivery.
[ Woman ] Thank you! Goodbye! [ Artyom ] You’re welcome!
[ Artyom ] Bye!
[ Artyom ] The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed
a courier’s daily routine.
More orders come in. Some clients don’t get the idea of contactless delivery.
Sometimes they argue about it. They say, “What is this? I don’t want
my order to be, like, on the floor!
Now pick it up and hand it over
or give back my money”.
Such a negative overreaction.
But in the end, the order has to be cancelled and refunded.
[ Artyom ] I’m coming back from a client whose reaction was a bit mean.
I put my delivery on a little bench
to make it contactless.
She said, “Is that really necessary? Is there a need to do it? You’re just pissing in the wind.”
It surprises me that there are still people
who don’t understand how serious the problem is.
[ Artyom ] Yeah, I heard that people draw parallels between doctors and couriers.
Delivery services are in higher demand due to the coronavirus.
If not for couriers, it would be trouble
with all these queues in stores
and panic.
Maintaining the standards of distancing
is really hard to control.
If there are no couriers it will be chaos.
[ Artyom ] Moscow’s changed hugely over this time.
Very few people in the streets, cars –
almost no traffic jams.
Everybody wears masks, and it feels like we’re in a movie
with no ending.
All public places are closed – you don’t even know… For instance,
I wanted to buy a pair of glasses a few days back,
I couldn’t figure out where to go, where to check my eyesight.
Or where to get my car fixed, change the oil.
[ Artyom ] It starts to rain a little.
For a delivery guy, that usually means more orders.
It’s not a pleasant walk in such weather, but a job is a job.
But today’s payment will be higher and no need to wash the car.
[ Artyom ] One time I put my bag on the bench,
knocked on the client’s door.
She opened it and laughed, called her husband to laugh too.
Such an inappropriate reaction.
Another client opened the door
wearing gloves, a mask, holding sanitizer and said,
“Please stand a few metres back”,
even though I already was.
He sanitised the whole thing
and only took the order after that.
We happen to get such mistrustful clients, occasionally.
I’ve seen the news that couriers
have a higher income because of a growing demand.
I don’t see that.
We have our bonuses retracted, order payments lowered,
delivery area extended, so we use more fuel.
We get a lot less tips, because clients got tight with money.
It’s getting worse and worse. And it won’t end anytime soon.
In Moscow an average courier’s monthly salary is
more or less 50,000 roubles.
I think that’s true.
I can say, that I got 18,500 for the past week,
but keep in mind the expenses for gas,
tax deduction of 4%.
Enough to live on though, it’s OK.
[ Artyom ] If I could stay at home self-isolated with some money in my pockets,
I probably would.
But my situation forces me to go to work.
I never thought this might have happened;
I didn’t have any financial cushion.
I lived from my paycheck to paycheck,
didn’t give much thought to my future.
But the situation happened so fast
I had to adapt, adjust myself to it.
I think 150,000 would suffice
to have both my feet on the ground,
to overcome anything.
Even if I bought the cheapest food, like buckwheat, rice,
bread and just a little bit of meat,
it would last me quite a long time – more than six months.
[ Artyom ] The fear of getting infected with coronavirus is there,
but the measures the company takes like gloves,
contactless delivery
and sanitizer supplies make you feel safe, at least.
That makes you feel you might make it out uninfected.
[ Artyom ] The work day is over. My feet feel a little tired.
I’m happy that our clients are kind and understanding.
Despite the quarantine running to the 30th of April,
the clients try to tip us something –
not as much as it used to be –
but they tip us, nonetheless.
[ Artyom ] The day when it all ends,
the lockdown is declared lifted
and coronavirus is gone, we’ll get together with our friends for barbecues
or we’ll go to some nice place
and celebrate life
without all these epidemics or pandemics.