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24.02.2026 13:31

Winter hazard season: the price couriers pay for your warm meal

Every winter, Finland freezes. Dalim Fakhrul, board member of PAM Couriers Finland, writes that while most people stay indoors, couriers are pushed harder than ever.

The colder it gets, the more customers order, leading to more of the platform’s profit. Yet the people doing the actual work carry almost all the risk and none of the protection. Winter hazard season isn’t a poetic phrase; it’s the reality couriers face every day as temperatures drop and conditions become dangerous.

Snow, black ice, freezing rain, and sub-zero winds transform a normal shift into a survival test. Couriers ride through sleet that blinds visibility, roads so slippery that one wrong turn can lead to an accident, and temperatures that cut through gloves and jackets while the car engines keep running just to get warm and fuel consumption rises sharply.

“The risk increases but the compensation does not”

The platforms know this. They watch the data every winter. They see the spike in orders, the increase in crashes, and the strain on workers and still, the pay stays the same or even drops. The risk increases, but the compensation does not.

Many customers assume the service remains smooth because the app looks the same. But behind the screen is a courier biking on ice, or a driver navigating unplowed streets while trying to keep your food warm, sometimes stuck in snow piled for hours trying to get out.

Winter doesn’t just slow couriers down, it exhausts them, endangers them, and wears them down physically and mentally. The companies, however, treat winter like free labour: more orders, same pay, zero additional safety measures.

There is no real partnership for couriers

Platforms love to claim that couriers are “independent partners,” yet they strip away every element of partnership. There is no winter hazard bonus, no weather compensation, no insurance strong enough to cover the real risks. If a courier slips and fractures a wrist, that’s weeks of lost income and insurance unclaimable, but to the platform, it’s just one more “inactive account.” Someone else will replace them tomorrow.

The harshest truth is that winter exposes the gap between what customers expect and what couriers endure. When a meal arrives late, people think the courier is slow. They don’t see the road coated in ice or the bike chain frozen in place, a car crashed or stuck in snow. When food arrives cold, they assume poor service, not the reality that the courier is battling slippery roads to avoid accidents or wind strong enough to push a bicycle sideways. Winter punishes couriers, yet customers are kept blind to the physical cost behind every delivery.

Convenience comes at a price

Meanwhile, the companies celebrate “efficiency,” push notifications reminding couriers to stay active during peak cold hours, and market themselves as champions of convenience. But convenience comes at a price and only the couriers are paying it.

Customers deserve the truth: your winter comfort relies on someone else stepping into conditions you would never willingly face. Couriers deserve fair compensation, real hazard pay, and recognition of the risks they endure. Without that, the winter hazard season will continue claiming bodies, bikes, and incomes. While the platforms pretend it’s just another busy season.

The cold is here. The danger is here. The platforms won’t protect us. So, we speak, loudly, clearly, and publicly. If they won’t acknowledge the price we pay, we will make sure everyone else does.

This blog post was written by Dalim Fakhrul, Board member of PAM Couriers Finland ry.

Keywords:

occupational safety Platform economy

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