Amazon delivery drivers are asked to drop off up to 200 packages a day, are paid less than minimum wage and urinate in bottles because there's no time to take a break, according to a new investigation.
Drivers told The Sunday Mirror that they regularly work longer than the legal-maximum 11-hour days and break speed limits to meet delivery goals, which don't take into account traffic jams, road closures or weather problems.
The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency has vowed to investigate after drivers complained about the conditions they face while delivering packages for Amazon.
Drivers for Amazon said they regularly work longer than 11-hour days and break speed limits to meet delivery goals, which don't take into account traffic jams, road closures or weather problems
Legal firm Leigh Day, which led a case against taxi giant Uber, is representing seven drivers who say the agencies used by Amazon are mistreating them.
While Amazon does not employ the drivers directly, the drivers, who are recruited through agencies, work via an Amazon app and follow delivery routes made by the company.
One worker told The Sunday Mirror: 'Amazon sent an email to all managers to try to stop drivers carrying bottles filled with urine. The security guards were reporting people for it.
'But the allocation and number of stops, and the volume to be distributed for any given day, lies entirely with Amazon.'
Amazon said that routes are calculated using 'sophisticated software', which takes into account traffic patterns and speed limits.
But drivers who are given up to 200 packages a day to deliver, say that traffic jams, weather and speed limits make it near impossible to deliver all of the parcels in a timely fashion.
Many skip lunch and urinate in plastic bottles, and some return to homes after their 9pm deadline in hopes of handing packages to their owners who weren't home earlier.
While Amazon does not employ the drivers directly, the drivers, who are recruited through agencies, work via an Amazon app and follow delivery routes made by the company
Several drivers are from the Kent-based Prospect Commercial Ltd have raised concerns over their work conditions.
The drivers claimed they work up to 12 or 14 hours daily, earning just £103 each day while paying £200 a week for van hire and insurance.
One driver, 50, said he took home only £160 one week after paying for van costs and fuel, which he is reimbursed for later.
An Amazon spokesman told the Sunday Mirror: 'Over 100 businesses across the UK are providing work opportunities to thousands of people delivering parcels to customers.
'We are committed to ensuring that the people contracted by our independent delivery providers are fairly compensated, treated with respect, follow all applicable laws and driving regulations and drive safely.
'Our delivery providers are expected to ensure drivers receive a minimum £12 per hour before deductions and excluding bonuses, incentives and fuel reimbursements.'
MailOnline has also contacted Amazon for comment.
A Prospect Commercial Ltd said: 'We work hard to provide a good service and supportive work environment for our self-employed contracted drivers.
'We provide competitive compensation to contracted drivers, who receive a rate in excess of the national living wage after deductions, and this is regularly audited.'
MemeLordCameron on December 10th, 2017 at 19:16 UTC »
I work at ups. Everyone is putting in crazy hours, but we get paid for it. I saw an upper level HR guy moving pacakages in a warehouse. It’s a float or sink situation right now.
spagheddie on December 10th, 2017 at 18:24 UTC »
I was once a FedEx delivery driver, so I don't know how it is for Amazon, but I would imagine it's similar?
At FedEx we got paid per package delivered, which means the faster you deliver your packages, the more you are technically getting paid per hour. In addition to this, you'd get a daily bonus for delivering the packages fast. We could take our lunches whenever, nobody cared as long as the packages got delivered. However, very few people ever stopped to eat their lunch. Most people would eat and drive. If there was a bathroom on your route, that's cool, but otherwise you are peeing in a bottle because you aren't trying to waste time searching for a bathroom when you could potentially deliver 4 or 5 packages in that time. All of this holds especially true at this time of the year, when guys are getting ran 6 days a week, with 200+ packages per day, and with the sun going down an hour earlier (night time delivering slows you way the fuck down).
Well what happens when you deliver so slow that you're making less than minimum wage? I don't know about Amazon, but at FedEx if you were so slow that you made less than minimum wage with your per package deliveries, you were simply paid minimum wage for that day's work.
Anyways, there are a lot of shitty jobs to have during the Christmas season but, in my opinion, this is the worst one of them all. The pay isn't bad if you have your route down; but goddamn you can't even enjoy the damn holidays because you're always on "go" mode.
HOLYREGIME on December 10th, 2017 at 17:28 UTC »
I honestly didn’t know amazon had delivery drivers. I thought they had agreements with ups since that’s who drops my package off.