With the spread of express delivery services such as Gorillas, Flink and Getir in major German cities, the number of accidents involving courier drivers has also risen significantly. In Berlin alone, the number of accidents at work in delivery services has increased more than tenfold in the past five years, from 50 accidents in 2017 to 596 in 2022 “Capital” is available exclusively. It became public through a written request from the Green MP Christoph Wapler to the Berlin Senate Department for Labor.
“Unfortunately, Wild West methods still prevail in the industry,” says Wapler “Capital”. “The drivers are under incredible time pressure so that the advertising promise of the 10-minute delivery works,” said the labor policy spokesman for the Berlin Greens parliamentary group. At the same time, the couriers’ bicycles are often not roadworthy.
The precarious working conditions should not simply be allowed to get away with the company. “The level of control is far too low,” he says. The Green MP is therefore calling for more staff and an independent complaints office at state level.
According to the Senate Department for Labour, there have been several focus controls on Berlin delivery services over the past five years. The responsible state office for occupational safety has repeatedly found deficiencies in compliance with occupational safety and the legally prescribed working hours, for example with regard to break rooms, escape routes, work equipment, rest breaks and holiday work.
In 2022, a total of 7,170 euros in fines were imposed on delivery services in Berlin, and in 2021 it was even 12,640 euros.
Delivery services have boomed during the pandemic. Since then, many millions of customers have had their supermarket purchases and restaurant meals brought home by bicycle courier. Due to the boom in delivery services, the providers’ driver fleets have also grown.
In the past, the couriers have often denounced the precarious working conditions in the industry. Just last week, around 30 drivers from the Finnish delivery service Wolt protested in Berlin because of allegedly unpaid working hours worth several hundred thousand euros.
This article first appeared here in the business magazine “Capital”, which, like the stern, belongs to RTL Germany.
