Internet shopping is burning out couriers

• General News
• 2nd March 2012

Popular trucking magazine ATN ran an enlightening article recently about the boom in online shopping and the adverse effects it is having on delivery drivers.

ATN said drivers were being “burnt out” and as Christmas approaches there are warnings the industry will not be able to meet demand.

In the article Australian Air Express and Star Track Express driver, Billy Berka, says employee drivers and contractors are under increasing pressure from shoppers turning to the internet to purchase goods.

Berka says the number of parcels destined for private addresses has grown exponentially in recent years and drivers are working longer and skipping breaks to try and get the job done.

“When I first started in this industry a lot of the deliveries were to stores to fill orders, but nowadays there are thousands of deliveries to houses,” he told ATN..

“Last Christmas we had more deliveries to private addresses than what you had to businesses because…people were going on the internet.”

ATN quoted a survey which predicted the online shopping business would grow by $13.6 billion by the end of 2011, increasing to $21.7 billion by 2015.

The magazine also interviewed TWU national assistant secretary Michael Kaine who says the pressures usually seen in the interstate transport sector are happening at a local level and it is causing workplace injuries.

He said one-third of couriers in 2009 suffered chronic injuries to their back, limbs and shoulders while loading and unloading vehicles.

Kaine and Berka fear more drivers would suffer injuries and there will be a backlog of parcels if nothing is done in the lead-up to Christmas.

There has been a rise in the number of drivers suffering ankle and hip injuries from climbing in and out of their vehicles and more workers taking sick leave.

So spare a thought for the exhausted courier who calls at your door carrying your Xmas goodies during our sweltering summer heat.

Perhaps a nice cold drink would go down well – in fact it probably won’t even touch the sides.