Manufacturing differences of mobility: The division of food-delivery modes on food-delivery platform in China

Food-delivery riders have become an important part of urban transportation. The dangerous road behaviour of riders challenges traffic laws and presents a complex problem for labour protection. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a deeper understanding of how the mobility of food-delivery riders is shaped by power and inequality. This article claims that mobility issues should be central to understanding food-delivery labour, as existing research generally overlooks mobility theory. Chinese food-delivery giant Meituan’s management practice of dividing riders into different food-delivery modes provides a case study for examining how platforms create differences in mobility and intervene in riders’ labour practices. Between March 2023 and April 2024, the first author worked as a rider and conducted in-depth interviews with 20 riders in Beijing. This article first introduces the core differences between Meituan’s different food-delivery modes. Drawing on motility theory as an analytical framework, the study further finds that the division of food-delivery modes is based on the dominant power of food-delivery platforms over order allocation. Riders tend to choose the food-delivery mode with a higher order volume but lower unit prices and more management requirements to obtain more order resources. Consequently, the platform reduces labour costs by dividing food-delivery modes, while riders need to strengthen their mobility skills to meet the high mobility requirements of the mode they chose. For transport policy, more consideration needs to be given to improving riders’ access to mobility through transportation infrastructure and law enforcement to prevent riders from violating traffic rules as their preferred option for enhancing mobility.