On July 7, delivery driver Kim Jin-hyeok (alias, 27) was making deliveries in a residential neighborhood in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon [Financial News]
"Even when it is hot, there is no time to get tired."As the scorching sun beat down on his skin on July 7 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, delivery driver Kim Jin-hyeok (alias, 27) kept drinking water and said those words. In the sweltering heat, which was close to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, Kim spent more than 12 hours with his whole body soaked in sweat, moving nonstop from loading to delivery, pickup and sorting.
Around 7 a.m. that day, Kim arrived at the depot wearing a black face covering, arm sleeves and long pants. "It is an outfit that can only feel stifling in midsummer, but I have no choice. I need to protect my skin from the sun and prevent injuries that could happen while carrying packages," he said.
A vehicle is parked at a delivery depot in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on July 7 during loading work. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon After applying sunscreen in the office and wetting his throat with a sip of cold water, Kim immediately began loading. He scanned the parcels he would deliver that day from among the items laid out on the depot floor, then quickly loaded them into his vehicle. The heat was so stifling it felt like a sauna, and Kim would step in front of the air conditioner installed in one corner of the work area every time he moved two or three items to cool down briefly. The air conditioner was set to 64 degrees Fahrenheit, but the indoor temperature still would not drop below 86 degrees.
After loading all 40 or so items in about an hour and a half, Kim set off for his delivery route with a 1.2-liter tumbler and a 500-milliliter tumbler. "It is vacation season, so the delivery volume is relatively light," he said. "But when you are delivering large and heavy items, you can finish that much water in no time."
On July 7, delivery driver Kim Jin-hyeok (alias, 27) was making deliveries in a residential neighborhood in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon At around 8:40 a.m., Kim parked in a narrow alley in a residential neighborhood and lifted two sacks of rice from the cargo area. It was so hot that even standing still felt difficult, but he did not slow his pace. It took only about 30 to 40 seconds for him to run up and down the stairs to the third floor of a building without an elevator. In the meantime, the car seat left fully exposed to the sun had heated up like a furnace. Back in the driver's seat, Kim panted heavily and said, "Delivery is all about time," before starting the engine and heading to his next stop.
He continued carrying heavy items such as boxes of sweet potatoes and corn, an air conditioner, a large table and flooring material, moving up and down stairs at each stop without pause. After each delivery, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and he kept saying, "It is really hot." The water he had brought with him quickly ran low. It was not until around 10:20 a.m., when he entered a commercial district, that he encountered his first elevator of the day.
On July 7, delivery driver Kim Jin-hyeok presses the call button in front of an elevator marked "Under Inspection" on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon At around 11:30 a.m., Kim entered the underground parking lot of an apartment complex, his final delivery area, and turned off the engine as soon as he parked. Idling was prohibited, so he could not leave the air conditioner running while making deliveries. After delivering a mat to a family on the 13th floor, Kim stopped in front of the elevator. Seeing the notice that it was "under inspection," he sighed and headed for the stairs. Back at his vehicle, Kim took off his face covering for the first time that day and drank the rest of his water. By then, the temperature outside had climbed to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
On July 7, at a delivery client in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Kim Jin-hyeok loads pickup items onto a delivery truck using a forklift. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon After finishing deliveries around 12:30 p.m., Kim ate gukbap at a nearby restaurant in less than 30 minutes, then got back behind the wheel and began his pickup work. For more than four hours after that, he visited clients and collected items to be shipped, including printed materials, metal parts and label paper, loading them neatly into the vehicle. As the afternoon heat reached its peak, the air felt so hot it was as if his head were burning. "These days, even if I blast the car air conditioner, the cabin hardly gets cool," he said. "When there is so much cargo that it feels overwhelming, it is satisfying and rewarding to sort everything one by one and get it all done."
On July 7, items waiting to be sorted are piled up at a delivery depot in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Reporter Park Seong-hyeon Kim returned to the depot around 5:30 p.m., but his workday was still not over. After unloading the items he had picked up, he and his fellow drivers sorted parcels bound for destinations across the country. While moving bulky items such as bicycles, sinks and boxes of meat, sweat again ran down his face and neck. By around 7 p.m., Kim had finished sorting and went into the office to organize the paperwork and familiarize himself in advance with the items and route for the next day.
After battling the heat for more than 12 hours that day, Kim said on his way home around 7:30 p.m. that although the work was exhausting, he planned to go to the gym after dinner to build the stamina needed to work all day like this.
[email protected] Park Seong-hyeon Reporter
