Last Updated: July 10, 2026 | The following are based on the site administrator’s personal experience and estimates; actual figures may vary depending on the vehicle model, region, and driving style, and are provided for reference only.
Every now and then, someone in the group posts, “Ran for ten hours today and made 2,800,” followed by a string of envious comments. I used to fall for that too—seeing the day’s earnings in my account would make me feel great, as if I’d been incredibly productive that day. It took me a few years of running my business to gradually realize: that number is “revenue,” not “profit.” What you should really care about is how much your own hands actually earn per hour after all costs are deducted—which is what I call your “real hourly wage.” This post isn’t about financial theory; I’m just laying out how I calculate and view this issue myself. I especially want to give some mental preparation to friends who are still on the fence or who’ve just entered the industry and think, “This seems like easy money.”
Costs Not Recorded in the Daily Entries
One of the most easily overlooked aspects of food delivery is that “your bike is making money for you, but it’s also costing you money.” The first and most obvious expense is gas. We’re constantly stopping and starting all day, and with the weight of the insulated boxes and meals, our fuel consumption is much higher than for a typical commute; while others might get a week’s worth of riding out of a single tank, ours might run dry in just two or three days. In months with high mileage, fuel alone is a steady, fixed expense—you might not notice it day-to-day, but when you tally it up at the end of the month, the cost becomes clear. The second major expense is maintenance and consumables: motor oil, tires, brake pads, drive belts, and spark plugs. These aren’t free—it’s just that the costs are spread out over different months and don’t hit you every day, so it’s easy to ignore them. My habit is to estimate the total annual cost for maintenance and consumables for the entire bike, then divide it by the number of months—or even days. You’ll find that it’s actually quietly draining your wallet every day; you just haven’t factored it into your daily expenses.
Next is a cost that many people completely overlook, yet it’s very real—depreciation. A car will age and lose value after just a few ten thousand kilometers. Essentially, for every day you drive it, the car’s residual value decreases slightly—that’s a tangible loss of real money. There are also a bunch of small expenses that add up to a significant amount: using your phone for navigation and as a hotspot all day drains the battery, the monthly fee for unlimited mobile data, phone mounts and charging cables that come loose after a while and need replacing, rain gear that wears out, and insulated coolers that need replacing after prolonged use; the drinks you guzzle to get through the summer and the quick lunches and dinners you grab on the go—strictly speaking, these are all expenses incurred for work. Finally, don’t forget about taxes—delivery income above a certain threshold must be reported, and you’ll likely have to pay a tax bill at the end of the year. I recommend figuring out your income bracket and filing requirements in advance; if you’re unsure, contact the National Tax Bureau or consult an accountant directly—don’t wait until May of the following year to be shocked by the bill. Individually, these expenses may not seem like much, but when they add up one by one, they can quietly eat into 20 to 30 percent of your gross income. This is why so many people “seem to earn a lot but end up with little savings by the end of the month.”
Another factor that’s becoming increasingly important to factor in is insurance. Delivery riders spend a lot of time on the road, and their risks are inherently higher than those of the average person. Many riders only have the basic coverage provided by the platform, and when something actually happens, they find that the coverage limit isn’t enough or that claims take a long time to process. Taking out additional accident insurance, reimbursement-based coverage, or third-party liability insurance is a fixed annual expense—but I actually think it’s money well spent. It essentially transforms the major risk of “losing your entire income in one fell swoop if something goes wrong” into a small, predictable monthly cost. Only by honestly factoring insurance into your costs can you clearly see the true price of this job—rather than waiting until you’re lying in a hospital bed to regret having skimped on those few thousand dollars.
How to Estimate Your “True Hourly Wage”
The calculation isn’t actually difficult; the hard part is whether you’re willing to be honest about the numbers. My approach is to look at “an entire month” rather than a single day, because costs like maintenance and gas aren’t evenly distributed. First, add up all the payments received from all platforms for that month—this is your total income; Next, add up your fixed expenses for the month—such as gas, maintenance and supplies (including the amortization mentioned earlier), equipment replacements, and mobile data plan fees—to get your total costs. Income minus costs is the money you actually earned that month. Then—and this is the step most people overlook—divide that by your “online time,” which is the time you have the app open and are actually on standby for this job. This includes downtime like empty runs, waiting for meals, and waiting for assignments—not just the time when you’re actively working on an order. Because during those idle waiting periods, you’re still unable to do anything else—it counts as your working hours. The hourly rate calculated this way is usually significantly lower than you might expect, but it’s the true figure—and the only one that allows for an honest comparison with other jobs.
Keeping track of your expenses doesn’t have to be complicated. I just use my phone’s Notes app or a simple spreadsheet: I record one expense entry each day, noting the amount and mileage every time I fill up or get a service, and then spend about ten minutes at the end of the month to tally everything up. At first, you might be a little disheartened by the reality, but the real value of this lies in the fact that—after a few months of tracking—you’ll have a clear picture of which time slots, order types, and areas are truly profitable for you, rather than just relying on gut feelings or following the crowd. Especially since the specialized delivery law took effect, compensation has become increasingly time-based. I’ve summarized in the news section how time previously “wasted”—like waiting for meals or carrying orders upstairs—is now calculated. At this point, you should be even more focused on understanding the value you generate per minute, so you can determine whether the platform’s pay is fair and whether the breakdown matches up.
Let’s take a purely hypothetical example—you can plug in your own numbers: Let’s say you earned a total of 50,000 across all platforms in a given month—that sounds great. But this month, you spent 6,000 on gas, 3,000 on an oil change and a new tire (averaged out), and 1,000 on internet and miscellaneous equipment costs. Your total expenses came to 10,000, leaving you with a net profit of 40,000. And to complete these orders, you were online for a total of 220 hours (including all the time spent waiting for meals, making empty runs, and idle waiting). That means your actual hourly wage is around 180—which is a world apart from the “easy 3,000 a day” you imagined. Conversely, with the same 50,000 in income, if you cut your online hours down to 180 and keep costs to 8,000, your real hourly wage immediately jumps to around 230. You’ll realize all too clearly that what truly determines how much you earn isn’t how much you take home that day, but how much time and money you’ve spent to get it. I recommend that everyone who’s been driving for at least three months try this exercise. For many, it’s only after doing the math that they truly see for the first time whether they’re actually making money—or just trading their car and their body for the illusion of being busy.
That’s also why I rarely just mindlessly chased “online hours” after that. When I was younger, I always thought that the longer I worked, the more I’d earn. But as the hours dragged on, I’d get tired, my concentration would wane, and the risk of collisions and mistakes would rise—not to mention the increased wear and tear on the car. These are all costs that aren’t immediately apparent, but they’re very real. Rather than pushing through fourteen hours and diluting my hourly wage, it’s better to focus my efforts during those peak hours when there are actually rides and the money really rolls in—and during off-peak hours, rest when I should and perform maintenance when needed. Treat both your body and your vehicle as depreciating assets that need care. In the long run, your actual hourly wage and the number of years you can stay on the road will be far better than those who only focus on the day’s numbers.
Cost-cutting isn’t about putting things off whenever possible, but about cutting costs in the right areas.
Once you understand the cost structure, the key is to “cut costs in the right places.” The most important thing I want to emphasize is this: the one area where you should never skimp is safety-related maintenance. Driving on worn-out tires, putting off replacing brake pads even when they’re squeaking, or waiting until the engine oil is pitch black before changing it— the small amounts saved in these ways often result in much larger repair bills, or even a crash or a breakdown on the road—a trip that not only yields no income but may also lead to injury, customer complaints, or lost time. No matter how you look at it, it’s not worth it. On this topic, I’llThe Article on Motorcycle MaintenanceIt goes into quite a bit of detail—check it out if you’re interested. So what can you really save on? It’s the waste caused by your “driving habits.” If you stick to reputable gas stations and keep your tire pressure in check, your fuel consumption will stay consistent, and you won’t end up spending more money without realizing it; Get familiar with the routes in your main operating area and avoid taking detours—that way, you can handle one or two more orders in the same hour; know how to pick the right time slots and busy areas to reduce empty runs and idle wait times. This will lower the denominator in your calculation (time online), naturally boosting your hourly rate. These are all methods that cost nothing—and may even save you money—yet can tangibly increase your actual hourly wage. Other examples include running two or three platforms simultaneously to fill gaps in your schedule, memorizing the access codes and delivery routes for buildings you frequently serve, and organizing your insulated box into layers to minimize rummaging back and forth. These seemingly trivial habits, when added up, help boost your productivity per minute—rather than relying on endlessly extending your working hours to force a higher rate.
Ultimately, the more I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve come to realize that food delivery is really like running a “one-person company”: you’re both the boss and the only employee, your car is your business asset, and your time is your most valuable—and most limited—resource. When you start looking at things from the perspective of your actual hourly wage, you won’t get carried away by that impressive daily earnings figure, and you’ll be less likely to take on orders that “seem profitable but are actually wearing out your bike and costing you time.” This isn’t about becoming overly nitpicky or restricting yourself while driving—it’s about having a clear sense of how much your car and your own labor actually net you each month. If you’d like to read more real-world driving experiences and insights on cost management, feel free to check outDelivery CategoriesBy cultivating these habits little by little, you’ll be able to keep running for the long haul, take care of your body, and truly save money. Finally, I want to say that calculating your real hourly wage isn’t meant to discourage you or talk you out of driving—it’s meant to help you drive with a clear head: knowing how much you’re worth per hour, where your costs are going, and where you can still make adjustments. Only those who understand the numbers can make the right trade-offs for themselves in an environment where platform rules are constantly changing—rather than passively being led by the system and gas costs.