Couriers working for Britain’s biggest and most criticised, delivery firm earn as little as 45p per package as they battle on the frontline of the nation’s Christmas parcel delivery run.

A special MailOnline investigation discovered low rates of pay mean workers at delivery giant Evri handle up to 350 packages during backbreaking shifts.

It works out at more than 30 deliveries an hour – an astonishing rate of less than two minutes for every drop off.

The gruelling reality behind the multibillion-pound Christmas spending bonanza was laid bare as we discovered exhausted workers are encouraged to set themselves unrealistic targets in a bid to earn enough pay to make their working day worthwhile.

Such is the desperation to recruit extra workers for the lucrative festive season, we found that little training or background checks are required to sign up to play a key role at the sharp end of delivering precious gifts for the likes of Next, John Lewis and Debenhams.

A training video highlights how couriers are expected to shift between 25 and 30 parcels an hour within their first 14 days of service.

The rewards for these punishing schedules vary. In the UK the average pay for an Evri driver is above the national minimum wage at an average of around £13.72 an hour though there are regional differences.

Drivers in London and the south east earn more and experienced couriers can pocket £16.44 an hour.

They are paid per package but the rates are different depending on their routes, the distance covered and how long their round is. The pay is also influenced by the sort of parcels delivered.

While ‘portable packages’ that can be posted through letter boxes earn just 45p, medium sized packages, which are most common, are each worth 56p.

For a standard box it’s 75p and a heavy box is £1.

Drivers pay for their own fuel and maintenance costs. Uniforms branded with Evri logos have to be purchased but are available ‘at really affordable prices’ and are optional.

While each courier sets their own times, how many parcels they deliver and the hours they want to work, it’s an uphill battle meeting the demands of the Christmas rush.

Signing up with the firm comes with the promise of earning competitive rates of pay while operating to your own schedule and being able ‘to enjoy a great work-life balance’.

But drivers complained they were forced to turn themselves into ‘parcel delivering machines’ – working with a system where their every action is controlled and monitored by a series of mobile phone apps.

The technology dictates the speed they operate at – with settings ranging between beginner (slowest), slower, standard, faster and fastest.

While drivers set their own Estimated Time of Arrival, addresses on their route start highlighting in red when they are falling behind schedule.

Drivers said they felt pressure to cut corners – despite the checks and balances that are put in place – to ensure they manage to deliver all their packages before the end of their shift.

Traffic jams, 20mph speed limits and parking restrictions slow down the delivery process but the biggest hurdle is often tracking down neighbours or finding a safe location to leave packages when customers are not at home.

One Brazilian driver said: ‘I’ve been doing this for about five months. I can fit in about 350 packages in my van and sometimes I don’t get home until 10pm at night.

‘You have to try and deliver as many parcels as you can otherwise it’s not worth the money. We have to pay for our own petrol.

‘I don’t really pay too much attention to the ETAs because they are too unrealistic, you can only do what you can do.’

The company lures in recruits with the promise of a range of attractive benefits – and the opportunity to run their own successful businesses.

Their website states: ‘One of the best things about working with us is that you can plan your day around your lifestyle.

‘You can pop home for a cup of tea, meet friends for lunch, dedicate some time to studying, or do the school run.

‘As long as your customers are happy, its really up to you. You can set up your targets and become a successful business.’

It seems keeping customers happy has been a long-running problem for the firm.

The worst-performing parcel delivery firms named just ahead of the Christmas rush saw Evri finish in last place – for the fourth consecutive year.

Ofcom’s league table for customer satisfaction among parcel firms ranked Evri in last place with 32 per cent customer satisfaction, while Yodel were not far ahead with 38 per cent.

Evri also had a 39 per cent dissatisfaction rate, which was eight per cent higher than Yodel.

In 2022 the firm changed its name from Hermes, such was the company’s poor reputation for customer service, with parcels being delivered to the wrong address or left out in the open for thieves to snatch.

The company also ranked last in a league table of delivery firms by Citizens Advice at the end of last year.

Our reporter spent a week working at Evri’s depot in Tonbridge, Kent – an anonymous looking aircraft hanger-style warehouse known as a Delivery Unit.

When submitting applications, potential recruits are assured all they needed to start work was a smartphone, proof of right to work in the United Kingdom and access to a car or van with licence and insurance.

Our reporter gave genuine details of former employment including the hotel he worked in as a teenager, a stint at Dixons where he worked in the warehouse and work on building sites.

But he left out the 24 years he spent working as a journalist and the application was accepted with no questions asked.

Jobs were available straight away and our man reported for duty the following day at the depot, which is tucked away on an industrial estate between the River Medway and a retail park.

He found around 20 couriers stocking up their vehicles – mainly panel vans that can be packed with up to 500 parcels.

He was unable to start work immediately as he had to download a series of mobile phone apps.

One app allowed him to scan the various parcels but more importantly contains a Sat-Nav system which guides couriers around their routes.

He was told by the training manager that he would be given 30 parcels for his first day on the road to see how you get on’.

Recruits download an app called Evri Cognito which has a full map of Britain and Ireland.

They are required to watch bite-size online training videos which show how to pack vehicles, use the various apps, and how to set arrival times for deliveries as well as collections.

The training includes an interactive element – a sort of quiz – in which recruits are asked whether a certain spot is a good place to leave a parcel. Shed or porch – yes. Wheelie bin or on top of a gate – no.

The following day our reporter was ushered inside the depot and past several bright yellow boxes containing thousands of parcels ready to be delivered to homes.

He was directed to a metal cage with the number 56 where a delivery manager asked a colleague to briefly explain how to use the technology to scan barcodes on the boxes.

The Evri app arranges all the addresses on a courier’s round so that they can start nearest the depot and work their way along their routes.

Following instructions on the training video, our reporter checked the names and addresses on the parcels and loaded the first ten on the front passenger seat of his car.

A further 10 parcels were splayed out on the back passenger seats and the final ten in the boot.

When new couriers sign up they are told no experience is required as there would be face to face training along with the digital learning.

But before setting off our man tried to ask the delivery manager some final questions before he stopped in mid-sentence.

The manager said: ‘When you get to the address, just have a play around with the app, it’s all quite self-explanatory. You should have no problems, take your time as it’s your first shift.’

A mobile phone number was passed on in case of emergencies.

Before each delivery couriers are required to provide a start time and are expected to complete their rounds in an allocated time depending on which speed is selected.

Couriers are expected to complete their Estimated Time of Arrivals successfully on ‘standard speed’ within the first five weeks.

At the first delivery to a sheltered accommodation our reporter scanned his package before handing it over to the customer to specify how it was delivered.

The options include straight to the homeowner, leaving with a neighbour, letterbox or parcel box and leaving in a safe space such as a shed, enclosed porch, outbuilding or garage.

Each time a photograph has to be uploaded proving the manner of delivery.

Most of the time the homeowner is in and so the photo is merely an open door and ‘a pair of feet’. Couriers are warned not to take photos of people’s faces.

The reporter worked on ‘standard speed’ during his first day. He was scheduled to complete the round in 90 minutes but it took just under two and a half hours.

As the days progressed, the undercover man was expected to safely deliver 60 packages in just two and a half hours.

On his most successful day he managed 59 parcels in just over five hours working a nine-mile route.

Our reporter said: ‘Over the week my parcel volume doubled and my performance improved but I was still way off Evri’s recommended targets, which are frankly ridiculous and do not take into account a variety of factors.

‘Accomplished couriers have to reach the next address within three minutes but this is impossible to do if the homeowner is not in and doesn’t have a safe space to leave the parcel in.’

Further delays come as couriers attempt to find a suitable neighbour who can take the parcel before filling out their name and address on a note pushed through the homeowner’s door explaining where the package has been left.

Our reporter said: ‘As time ticks on and the addresses you are supposed to deliver to start being highlighted in red meaning you are behind schedule, the temptation is to just leave the package by the front door under any form of guttering, click the option of ‘enclosed porch’, take a photo and leave.

‘A cursory look on social media shows several dissatisfied customers around the country complaining of their Evri parcels – and those delivered by other companies – being left on doormats while they were at home without the driver bothering to knock.

‘I avoided doing that but taking the time to find a neighbour or checking to see if the back gate was open to leave the parcel in a shed or safe spot makes delivering 60 packages a ‘four-hour’ round rather than the preferred two and half hours.’

At Tonbridge, couriers started loading their vehicles from around 10.30am but during the run-up to Christmas there are long queues to get into the compound and pack vehicles.

Delays of up to 45 minutes meant less time on the road to get the job done.

Our reporter said: ‘By the time the car was packed and I was ready to start my rounds, it was closer to 1pm which meant there was only three hours or so of daylight.

‘Once the sun goes down, it is much harder to find addresses in the darkness, particularly on semi-rural roads where there are no street lamps.’

‘I have a new found respect for how hard Evri couriers work. I hope the head office tweak their targets slightly and bump up the pay for packets – especially as they’ve just announced they’ve doubled their pre-tax profits to £119million from £51million.’ 

An Evri spokesperson said: ‘Couriers are at the heart of our business and their wellbeing is our top priority. This is our busiest time, and they work hard to deliver up to four million parcels every day, more than 99 per cent of which are successfully delivered on time.

‘All new couriers are offered face-to-face training. Technology enables couriers to start the role quickly and learn as they deliver with on-the-go training videos with step-by-step guidance provided through our courier app.

‘The app also accurately calculates, based on the average delivery speed of couriers on similar rounds, how quickly deliveries will take on a given round.

‘We offer £1,000 starter payments to help supplement new couriers’ income whilst they get used to the role.

‘Couriers earn at least £17 an hour, but often much more at this busy time of year. We are the only parcel firm to offer our self-employed couriers holiday pay, pension, parental leave and insurance-backed paid sick leave, which Evri and the GMB announced on December 4.

‘This ground-breaking pay deal was augmented by festive support payments of up to £950 for self-employed union members.’