Working conditions | Delivery industry: The burden of parcels

The night shift is drawing to a close. Inside the warehouse, conveyor belts hum as the last packages from around the world are sorted. The names of major online retailers flash by in the bright light on the conveyor belt, and the employees' faces clearly show their fatigue.

The Verdi trade union invited representatives to a site visit at the DHL depot in Rüdersdorf. Among them was Berlin's Senator for Labor and Social Affairs, Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD). She was there to experience firsthand how stressful the work in parcel delivery is – and thus support a union campaign demanding a weight limit of 20 kilograms per parcel . Deutsche Post also supports the initiative, but only under one condition: it must apply equally to all companies in the sector. What Kiziltepe saw during her visit was just a glimpse into an industry under constant stress.

Since the market was deregulated, the postal service has long since lost its monopoly. The boom in online retail is driving the parcel delivery business – and with it, competitive pressure. The price war between delivery companies is being fought primarily at the expense of their employees.

The hard work is frustrating.

Packages are allowed to weigh up to 31.5 kilograms – a weight that pushes many employees to their physical limits. Katharina Lemm grimaces as she thinks back to her first days at the company. "For me as a woman, that was very difficult," she says. "Back then, I worked 38.5 hours a week, and my weekend was ruined. I was completely exhausted." Today, Lemm is a team leader – and visibly distressed by the situation of her colleagues.

Despite state-of-the-art technology, much of the work at the parcel center remains manual. Scanners read addresses, machines sort by postal code – but the crucial tasks are performed by people. They lift the delivered parcels from the containers, place them on the conveyor belt, and stack them back into trolleys after sorting. Every minute counts: everything must be loaded by 7:00 a.m. so that the trucks can depart on time.

The pressure often leads to packages being lifted in a way that isn't good for the back, explains Lemm. "You feel the weight everywhere later, in every joint, especially in your back." She estimates that each person moves a good ton of weight daily. "For what you do to your body over the years, the pay simply isn't much," she adds. According to current job postings, a newly hired person at the distribution center receives an hourly wage of €16.60.

There are no official figures on workplace accidents or occupational diseases – neither from the postal service nor from the union. A notice posted at the gate of the distribution center only mentions the last accident in mid-October: a package fell on a worker's foot. The suggested measure is: "Work more carefully."

The German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Transport Sector (BG Verkehr) can also only provide rough estimates. Its statistics combine data from several industries, and there is no specific analysis for parcel centers. In the postal and telecommunications sector, BG Verkehr recorded between 2020 and 2023 28 to 63 cases annually related to back strain from lifting and carrying – of which the insurance company recognized at most one case per year. These figures contradict the experiences of employees like Katharina Lemm – and raise the question of whether the strain is underestimated or simply too rarely acknowledged.

Business is booming.

Since market liberalization in the 1980s, postal and parcel service providers have been fiercely competing for customers. While the letter market is shrinking, the parcel business – primarily driven by online retail – continues to grow steadily.

According to the Federal Network Agency, the revenue of parcel delivery services rose from eleven billion euros in 2020 to more than 15 billion euros in 2024. Last year, around 3.8 billion parcels were shipped – 1.6 billion more than in 2009. DHL, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, delivered approximately 40 percent of these.

Price competition has driven down wages. As early as 2007, a study by the Hans Böckler Foundation showed that employees of private delivery companies sometimes earned 30 to 60 percent less than those at Deutsche Post. The reasons for this are the lack of collective bargaining agreements and an opaque network of subcontractors, which often prevents unionization.

Little has changed in this regard to this day. "In the quagmire of subcontractors, we have virtually no chance of establishing works councils or unions at private delivery companies," says Aris Harkat of Verdi. The recent strikes at Amazon demonstrate how much competition comes at the expense of employees.

Despite the challenging circumstances , DHL strives to cultivate an image as a fair employer . The company works closely with unions and supports the campaign for a 20-kilogram weight limit. Spokeswoman Anke Blenn says: "We see ourselves as pioneers. But it's important that – regardless of which service provider the sender uses to ship their packages – everyone has the fairest possible working conditions."

Working conditions at DHL are far from ideal. Many employees refused to speak with the senator during her visit. They responded to questions about their work with only grim smiles. Team leader Lemm stated firmly that she felt no support from the company: "You can tell that some things are well-planned from above, but simply not feasible down here."

It's no wonder the profession is losing its appeal and there's a shortage of workers. Instead of improving working conditions, DHL and other companies are increasingly relying on temporary workers – many of whom have a migration background. Calls for simplified recognition of foreign driver's licenses are therefore growing louder. Nevertheless, the work remains unpopular. Those who can, look for another job. Turnover in the industry is high. In forums and chat groups for migrant women in Berlin, job offers are interspersed with warnings. Amazon, which is currently building its own delivery system, is particularly unpopular.

A hand truck won't help.

Senator Cansel Kiziltepe walks along the conveyor belts during her visit, briefly lends a hand, and lifts packages onto the belts. When she spots a particularly large one, she tries unsuccessfully to lift it alone.

After the tour, she praised Verdi's work and reminded everyone that they had introduced the 20-kilogram limit into the federal government's coalition agreement. She considered the FDP's proposal to move heavy packages with hand trucks instead unrealistic: "We've seen here that it's simply not manageable with such aids."

Even existing regulations are barely effective, says Kiziltepe. From January, packages weighing over ten kilograms are supposed to be marked – "but if the stickers are even attached, they are so tiny that they are barely visible." Union secretary Harkat adds: "That's precisely why we organize these visits, so that those in charge can see how hard the work really is and understand that the weight limit isn't just about delivery."

Back in August of this year, Verdi, together with Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU), organized a similar factory visit. Unlike the CDU at the federal level, Wegner supports the union's demands for better working conditions. However, tangible progress has so far failed to materialize – on the contrary: at the federal level, a trend is emerging that is further weakening workers' rights.

The demand for a 20-kilogram limit is met with resistance not only in politics – the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Transport Sector (BG Verkehr) also views the idea critically. "From the perspective of the relevant industry group, limiting parcel weights to 20 kilograms does not appear to be a sensible approach," they stated in response to an inquiry. The priority, they said, is to finally implement existing regulations – such as those concerning the labeling of heavy parcels – consistently. In fact, the proportion of parcels weighing more than 20 kilograms is currently only around 1.75 percent.

The employers' liability insurance association bases its skepticism primarily on potential side effects of such a regulation. It warns that heavier packages could be outsourced to other logistics sectors if a 20-kilogram limit is imposed: "The problem would not be solved if another group of providers, not subject to the protective regulations of the Postal Act, were to take over the delivery of the heavy packages."

While the merits and drawbacks of a weight limit are still being debated in Germany, other countries have long since taken action. As early as 1967, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a convention on the maximum permissible carrying load for workers. It states: "The carrying of loads whose weight could endanger the health or safety of the worker shall neither be required nor permitted." However, the convention does not specify a concrete upper limit. Based on this, Chile set maximum carrying loads of 25 kilograms for men and 20 kilograms for women in 2018 – other Latin American countries followed suit. International comparisons make it clear: regulations can provide guidance, but they do not solve the fundamental problem – the strain in the industry remains high.

Ultimately, a simple weight limit will hardly suffice. Only by improving overall working conditions and relieving the burden on employees can the situation in the parcel delivery sector truly change. As long as companies fail to take action despite staff shortages, the discontent among delivery drivers is likely to continue growing.