China’s 7.48 Million Ride-Hailing Drivers Cry: “Fighting Over Sh!t—Grab It or Starve!”

Driving for a living now feels like fighting over scraps nobody wants. Get a ride and you feel sick. Miss it and you go hungry. You can't afford to sit out either. This morning, I saw a trip on the job board. 26 miles for just 39 yuan. Someone grabbed it instantly. There used to be too many drivers chasing too few fares. Now even the scraps are disappearing. A strange mismatch is emerging in China's ride-hailing industry. During the October 1st National Day travel rush, tourists at scenic spots couldn't get rides even when they offered to pay more. Meanwhile, other drivers stared at their phones, waiting for bookings. Passengers say fares are too high. Drivers say their pay keeps falling. No rides in Shanghai. No rides in Beijing. Bookings are plunging across cities. In Shanghai, daily gross revenue is about 500 yuan. Subtract 200 for the car rental, 50 for charging, 30 for lodging, and 40 for food. After more than 10 hours, you have just over 100 yuan left. That doesn't include rental charges piling up on days off or traffic fines. From major cities to smaller ones, from shopping districts to airports, more cars are driving empty. More drivers are waiting for orders. One user said in the comments, too many people are unemployed. People who used to book rides have lost their jobs and became drivers themselves. There are fewer customers and more drivers splitting the remaining rides. Of course there's less work. One user in Jiangsu said, I counted the cars on Shanghai's roads. More than 60% were ride-hailing vehicles. By July 2026, China had more than 7.48 million licensed ride-hailing drivers and 402 platforms. Their numbers were growing faster than demand. Beijing had about 580,000 gig workers in ride-hailing and food delivery, 250,000 delivery workers, and 330,000 drivers. In Guangzhou, average daily active drivers rose from more than 70,000 in January 2025 to over 100,000 in January 2026, an increase of nearly 30,000 in a year. Driver numbers have outpaced demand for rides. The industry, sometimes called a refuge for middle-aged men, is getting increasingly crowded. Ride-hailing really isn't a way to make good money. It's a fallback, a temporary option for some unemployed people. It's definitely not a long-term career. In 2026, daily ride-hailing bookings nationwide are increasing by 30 million, but 7.48 million drivers are sharing those rides. 80% of drivers work about 12 hours a day. After charging and rental costs, you take home roughly 5,000 to 8,000 yuan. The hardest part is working 12 hours a day. Sitting that long eventually damages your health. The influx of unemployed workers has pushed ride-hailing into intense, damaging competition. At its peak, drivers could earn hundreds or even more than 1,000 yuan a day and bonuses. Now, local governments repeatedly warn that their markets are saturated. Some have even stopped accepting vehicle permit applications. The Shenzhen Municipal Transport Bureau declared its market broadly saturated in April 2026. The city had issued nearly 395,000 cab licenses, while each ride-hailing vehicle averaged just 13 trips a day. In June, Wuhan's transportation authorities also warned of excess capacity and monthly declines in driver revenue. September figures from the Yongzhou Transport Bureau in Hunan were worse. Drivers in the central urban area worked more than 10 hours a day, but average daily revenue per vehicle was just 173 yuan. Authorities had even suspended ride-hailing vehicle permits in that area. Passengers say fares are expensive, while drivers say they receive too little. The gap between what passengers pay and drivers receive is drawing scrutiny. Zhejiang's 1818 GoldenEye news program covered a case involving Xu, a driver in Anji, Huzhou, whose suspected platforms were reselling bookings. He received 94.5 yuan for a trip. His platform showed that the passenger had paid 128 yuan, but the passenger actually paid 147 yuan. Xu suspected several platforms had passed the booking along and taken excessive commissions. It later emerged that the passenger booked through a Didi mini-app. The system also listed Hello Express as the provider, but Xu received the booking through the Yangguang driver platform. One user commented, passing bookings through platforms shows how chaotic the industry is. It's like subcontracting construction work. A Bandao News investigation in March 2026 found that one driver completed a 73-mile trip for which the passenger paid 210 yuan. After more than 20 yuan in tolls and platform commissions, the driver received just over 80 yuan. The driver said the platform's commission reached 46%. Another driver took an airport booking, covering more than 31 miles. The passenger paid 102 yuan, but the driver received only 62 yuan, a gap of nearly 40%. With bookings passed through multiple platforms and commissions deducted along the way, drivers found it harder to earn money from regular trips. Major platforms have introduced discount and fixed-price rides to collect more commissions, pushing fares lower. Drivers have shared booking records showing how low their pay has fallen. Maybe Didi just has too many drivers. Look at everything it's done. I've driven for Didi for years. There weren't discount rides at first. There were fixed price rides, and the fare didn't change. Then came discount rides. They said fares could change and you'd get paid for driving farther over the past two years. They added this flexible acceptance feature. Before that, they introduced vehicle scores. My car score dropped 20 points. A while ago, I said they were discarding us after using us. Now it feels like they are forcing drivers out. Forcing us out. I used to work hard and focus on this one platform. Now I can't keep doing it. These flexible acceptance rides are assigned automatically now. They send them whether I want them or not, at such low prices. Now they are assigning discounted inner city trips too. One person said, they're screening drivers. Didi wants people who reliably stay online more than 12 hours a day, accept low fares, and don't pick and choose. It doesn't want drivers who set a destination filter and wait for hours. Low prices to attract customers are the direction things are going. Look at the other platforms. Didi is maximizing revenue. You're treating it like a personal relationship. Driving for it for 10 or 20 years won't change that. I look completely defeated. I'm so angry my chest hurts. My first trip today was 14 miles for 22 yuan. For a moment, I felt like taking the passenger down with me. I actually said in front of the passenger that these rides keep pushing us past our limits. I was expressionless the whole way. I felt like I wanted to die. Nothing could cheer me up. After dropping them off, I turned off discount rides. I had enabled them because I live somewhere fairly remote. Then I got a pickup at a school. Traffic outside was terrible, but I was very close. The passenger called and asked me to wait two minutes. I could have waited two minutes, but after five, he still hadn't come out. I called him several times. I didn't want this trip. I wanted to cancel from the start, but AMAP left me no way out. I really wanted to cry. This could be where we all end up. Some cities are already experiencing a revenue inversion. You might not understand, but by inversion, I mean losing money on mileage. In many cities, daily earnings are now roughly equal to mileage earned. Even worse, in some cities, your daily earnings are less than your mileage earned. Several drivers recently told me that driving 186 miles in a day brings in just 278 yuan. Some make only 240 to 250 yuan for that same distance. One driver who told me this was in Shandong, and another was in Hebei. One user in Jiangsu shared his experience. Last night, a booking took me from No. 2 Hospital to Weizhong in Pizhou. It was 60 miles for 108 yuan, taking nearly two hours. Then I drove back empty. that's 121 miles in total for 108 yuan about 0.9 yuan per mile over four hours another user said i drove more than 155 miles today and grossed just over 200 yuan when i got close to home i stopped i had no motivation left two or three years ago driving 155 miles would bring in at least 350 to 360 yuan some drivers earn so little that they feel embarrassed to disclose it they They refuse to say exactly how much they make, and even warn others against entering the industry. How's driving for Didi these days? How much can you make in a day? I can't say. It's embarrassing. There's nothing embarrassing about it. I repair cars. I turn screws for a living. I'm not embarrassed. This pays less than turning screws. Less than turning screws? Why? Try it and you'll see. To make 500 yuan, you have to work from 7 am until after 9 pm. At least 12 hours. Then do the math. So 500 yuan a day, minus 200 in rental fees and 100 for food and charging. That's 300 yuan in costs. And the fines? Traffic enforcement in Shanghai is very strict. Yeah, damn. I've been fined twice for not using my turn signal. Exactly. When you work it out, there's not much left. Sounds about the same as my repair work. About the same. Maybe worse. I want to try it for a month. that's wishful thinking. The minimum contract is three months. They won't sign you for one month. You have to be able to stick it out and you need the deposit to rent the car. Car rental contracts can also trap ride-hailing drivers. A ride-hailing market report released by the Shenzhen Municipal Transit Bureau in the first half of 2026 warned about companies using promises of high revenue and high monthly pay to attract job seekers into rental contracts. Some advertise that earning over 10,000 yuan a month would be easy. But once drivers start working, they discover that earnings fall far short of the ads. Returning a car early can mean paying a contract penalty. Some companies also use so-called employee or guaranteed income arrangements. They collect and distribute drivers' trip earnings rather than sending the money directly to drivers' accounts. If the company runs into trouble, drivers may struggle to recover the money they've already earned. The report also warned about deposit disputes, unauthorized intermediaries, and rental companies failing to provide the insurance required by their contracts. For someone with a steady income, a rental contract costing several thousand yuan a month may be an ordinary business arrangement. For someone newly unemployed and desperate to earn money, a deposit of several thousand yuan plus ongoing rent could use up what little savings remain. Some people turn to ride hailing, hoping to escape unemployment. Before completing many trips, they've already paid rent and a deposit. Even after realizing they cannot earn the advertised income, they're reluctant to quit. Rental companies collect monthly rent. Platforms collect service fees on completed trips. Drivers alone bear the risks of getting no bookings. To cut costs, some drivers turn their cars into temporary homes. Some take rides by day and sleep in the car at night. Meals and rest revolve around the vehicle. Some passengers say opening the door releases odors of sweat, cigarette smoke, mildew, and even an indescribable sour smell. An investigative report archived by labor news website Gong Lao documented living conditions for some ride-hailing drivers in Shanghai. One driver, Sun Li from Anhui, pays 600 yuan a month to rent a room, but he never knows where his final trip will end. If it takes him too far from his room, he sleeps in the car. He says he spends about 15 nights a month in his vehicle. Other drivers live in their cars for extended periods to save on rent. Reclined seats become beds. Clothes and bedding fill the trunk. Meals and rests are arranged around the vehicle. Summers are stifling and winters are cold. Showering and changing clothes become difficult too. When some drivers cannot even count on decent housing and rest, simply demanding better service does little to address the pressures they face. and the cost of living and working in a car goes beyond hygiene. In July 2026, Chengdu released an expert consensus document on healthy working practices for ride-hailing drivers. It focused on demanding workloads, intense psychological stress, health risks, and a lack of physical activity. Long hours behind the wheel can cause lower back, neck, and shoulder pain. Many drivers eat at irregular times to fit in more trips during peak hours. Some even limit their water intake to avoid frequent restroom stops. Some drivers start before the morning rush and work until late at night to increase their earnings. When sleepy, they rest briefly by the road, then wake up and take more bookings. Prolonged sitting, little exercise, and irregular sleep all increase health risks. For middle-aged drivers already under financial pressure, illness can interrupt their income and add medical bills. I have driven ride-hailing cars for 10 years, and now I can't afford to eat fruit. You might think fruit is no big deal. I'll explain. The platform might not let me discuss it, so I'll keep it brief. It's all that sitting, staying motionless in the car. When I was younger, I didn't take it seriously. I just kept driving, day and night. I even slept in the car. I was in it around the clock. If I skipped a night shift, I felt I was losing money because nighttime fares were higher. I kept pushing and pushing. After years of that, I regret it now. But regret changes nothing. All I can do is pay the hospital. Everything I earned has gone into medical bills. That's how it ends, guys. One user shared a similar experience in the comments. I drove for four years and gained 77 pounds. I ate whatever I could find by the road. if there was nothing, I ate instant noodles at charging stations. I lived on takeout and developed acute pancreatitis. Now I don't dare to eat anything oily. Another person said type 2 diabetes and high blood sugar are common among drivers. High LDL cholesterol is another potentially deadly chronic health problem. It can increase the risk of sudden death. Under these pressures, drivers have little real control over their brakes. Resting longer could mean missing a booking. Eating on time could mean missing peak demand. Working fewer hours today will not reduce the rent due at the end of the month. Some drivers keep extending their hours. Their gross revenue may rise, but their health pays the price. This reflects the Chinese Communist Party's long-running extraction of private wealth, inadequate social protections, and a deteriorating economic system. In countries with strong legal protections and social benefits, workers can defend their rights through unions. Unemployed people have a safety net. In mainland China, monopolies collude with officials to squeeze workers and shift all operating risks and costs onto individuals. Now, driverless taxis are entering this already crowded market. Baidu's Apollo Go already operates commercially in Wuhan and other cities. In 2024, some conventional taxi and ride-hailing drivers in Wuhan voiced concerns about the expansion of driverless taxi services. In a 2025 response to a political advisory proposal, the Wuhan Municipal Transport Bureau disclosed that 433 Apollo Go vehicles were taking part in a commercial pilot. It acknowledged pressure on jobs and industry stability as new services competed with existing ones. More unemployed people are entering ride-hailing as autonomous vehicles take market share and rental fees eat into earnings. High-platform commissions are their biggest problem. Drivers buy the cars, pay for charging, and do the driving. They also cover depreciation, maintenance, repairs, and insurance. Platforms match them with the booking, but take 27%. On some trips, actual deductions reach 30 to 40%. Official regulatory meetings and platform promises to cut commissions amount to a coordinated effort to reassure the public and conceal the problems. An unemployed person in their 40s or 50s may lack the resources to learn a new skill or enter a different industry. Mortgage payments, children's education, older relatives' medical bills, and daily expenses don't stop when a job disappears. They have little choice but to keep driving.