SOME delivery services in Davao City faced manpower woes as booking demand surged at the beginning of the enhanced community quarantine.
Kuya Juan Delivery manager Jacklord Yaun said while they have doubled the number of their riders and their staff taking orders, their orders have recently increased four to five times.
“May mga times na mga customers namin nagagalit kasi hindi naming nakikicater. Naaabutan ng cut-off (Some of our customers get mad because we can no longer cater their orders as malls reach their cut-off time),” he said.
He said the number of orders rose when the city implemented community quarantine (CQ) but skyrocketed a day before the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Yaun said about 80 percent of the orders that they received are groceries.
“Paulit-ulit na sinabi ni Mayor (Sara Duterte-Carpio) na di dapat mag panic buying pero sa totoo lang, nagpapanic buying talaga kasi around 80 percent ng mga orders namin ay grocery and we are not talking about groceries na pang ilang araw lang. The average na pina pa grocery sa amin around P6,000 to P7,000 (People seem to be panic-buying because most of our grocery orders are worth around P6,000 to P7,000),” he said.
Because of this, he has added about 11 more riders to the existing 13 riders and another seven on Monday, April 6 as well as two more staff to take orders.
“I have to keep on hiring even part-timers to help out with the orders. We have no choice,” Yaun said.
Despite the continuous hiring, he said they only received a few applicants to be their riders.
“I think the reason is the mandate to stay at home and fear of going out although we are following stringent protocols from the government and health officials like disinfecting and wearing masks,” he said.
Yaun said he might need around 40 riders based on the current demand but will still have to limit since the crisis will be just temporary.
“As much as I would like to do mass hiring, I have to be on a threshold because we do not know what will happen next,” he said.
Jason Tipanero, co-owner of new delivery service player MoveMoto Davao, said they now have about seven riders from the four riders they started with.
“Daghan pud nag-apply. Naay two nanawag sa ako to apply but as of now lisud mag-hire kay phone interview pa ang pwede nako ma-cater so ako ginadawat kanang kaila na jud sa ako mga riders (There were many applicants but it is difficult to interview through phone so I only hire those referred by my existing riders),” he said.
He said they have been receiving about 30 to 40 orders distributed to four riders but sometimes fail to cater to other orders.
Meanwhile, Drovr Delivery co-owner Raphael Rosal said each of their riders can handle the grocery orders of about eight to 10 customers per day but their hurdle is the long queues in malls which took them about one to two hours just to get to the supermarket.
“Nung nag community quarantine naging five na lang kase andaming tao sa mall. Nag panic-buying lahat. Ngayon nag na mag i-ECQ na, three to four customers nalang po per day mainly due to the long lines (The orders that the riders can handle was reduced to three to four from five orders per day due to long lines),” he said, adding that the mall is already closing after catering the fifth order.
Rosal added orders of customers reached an average worth of P10,000.
He said it is a boon for their riders who work on a commission basis.
“Since we need to follow the rules adjust nalang po rider namin talaga namin. Naiintindihan naman rin ho nila,” he said.
Yaun of Kuya Juan Delivery has strategized a way to address queuing and waiting time issues in malls.
He said they have partnered with a mall in Bajada who assigns personnel to prepare the orders for the rider to pick up which helps in cutting the waiting time.
Davao City Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (DCCCII) president John Carlo Tria urged the public who owned motorcycles to take advantage of the situation to apply in the delivery companies, noting that another delivery service Errands Davao has also experienced the same situation.
“It is important for a business to keep running, especially the ones that would supply daily commodities as demand remains high,” he said.
“This is good for our farmers as we enter the harvest season. They will have steady customers as demand continues to rise to meet supply, and good for our restaurants” he added.