MANNHEIM, Germany: Every half an hour, 50 vans sweep into Amazon's distribution center in Mannheim, Germany and sweep out again with up to 200 parcels and a precise delivery plan in each.
Raising salaries could help attract more drivers, Ahmad said:"But at the current rates we have, it's not easy to solve this problem."Amazon sends almost a third of the 1.4 billion parcels delivered to private customers in Germany each year, said Horst Manner-Romberg, head of logistics consultancy MDU. He estimates the parcel delivery sector overall is short of as many as 9,000 drivers.
Working days were as long as 12 hours, some drivers said, because there was no way they could deliver so many parcels in a standard eight-hour shift. A few drivers said they had to turn up at the depot well before they started driving and return undelivered parcels. The other two major logistics companies in Germany which both deliver for Amazon - Deutsche Post DHL and Hermes - have both hiked prices for parcel deliveries in the last year - citing the need to pay more to attract drivers.Melanie Kreis, finance chief of Deutsche Post DHL, said recently that few delivery staff are prepared to work for the German minimum wage of 9.19 euros per hour. DHL pays its employee drivers at least 13.37 euros per hour.
A German law is expected to pass by the end of the year making companies responsible for ensuring their contractors pay social security for their employees.