Due to illness I do not get out as much as I would like so rely on home delivery for shopping, appliances and tyres on the drive etc. We have two adult kids who use the services of Amazon. ASOS. Hermes almost daily.
My point is that this supposed shortage of labour that the UK is suffering doesn’t exist. Three out of four deliveries are made by drivers with English as a second language, most are very polite, helpful and will carry stuff inside the house for me. I appreciate them all.
Wheel Nut:
Due to illness I do not get out as much as I would like so rely on home delivery for shopping, appliances and tyres on the drive etc. We have two adult kids who use the services of Amazon. ASOS. Hermes almost daily.My point is that this supposed shortage of labour that the UK is suffering doesn’t exist. Three out of four deliveries are made by drivers with English as a second language, most are very polite, helpful and will carry stuff inside the house for me. I appreciate them all.
The shortage does not exist in that sector as most of these drivers are self employed, unable to exploit the track and trace/isolation fiasco, as opposed to the lazy snowflakes employed in the warehouses and factories who are quite happy to take 10 days paid off work repeatedly for a seasonal cold or false positive test
I think its a tad outlandish to base a whole view of the economy based on your front door… I’ve had quite a few parcels (Amazon, Hermes even Royal Mail) that are ‘out for delivery’ then all of a sudden they got rolled over to the next day.
Based on that judgement from my front door there’s no drivers, anywhere, doing anything.
It’s a different sector too. They are van drivers not HGV drivers and they’re also almost all self employed, no work no pay.
One benefit of the van delivery system is it being legal to keep increasing shifts per week. My last xmas at Amazon I can vaguely recall two bonuses based on working number of days through peak, I am guessing now but something like 35 and 38 days out of 42.
Back then Amazon’s in house delivery was probably one of the only ones working Sunday as standard, it wasn’t long before I would notice dpd and the like out more often over the weekend.
We must have different van drivers in Grantham , help you put stuff in the house , not ours , by the time you’ve got to the front door, there up the drive & at times in the van , what happened to signing for stuff ?
The secret to doing a low-paid job these days is simply having someone else in your household who’s on benefits…
If you are the chief breadwinner - “low paid work” - doesn’t get you across the poverty gap, so you just won’t be taking that job in the first place.
Sunak reduced the UC 63% taper down to 55% in the budget just past, which effectively means he’s just given back that so-called £80pm uplift - but only for those who are holding down a minimum waged job!
I can still remember the butcher and the baker delivering to the house using a grocery bike, even the local cabinet maker had one as he was epileptic, it was also great fun as kids watching him having a fit whilst carrying a wardrobe or dressing table 
I used to ride a tradesmans bike ,more than fifty years ago. If your delivery guys are helpful give them a gratuity as they are very low paid. Every little helps.
dozy:
We must have different van drivers in Grantham , help you put stuff in the house , not ours , by the time you’ve got to the front door, there up the drive & at times in the van , what happened to signing for stuff ?
They take a photo of the item on your driveway/in front of your door as proof of delivery and that’s likely better than a sig as the photo also shows location (courtesy of GPS).
ETS:
dozy:
We must have different van drivers in Grantham , help you put stuff in the house , not ours , by the time you’ve got to the front door, there up the drive & at times in the van , what happened to signing for stuff ?They take a photo of the item on your driveway/in front of your door as proof of delivery and that’s likely better than a sig as the photo also shows location (courtesy of GPS).
Rubbish!
A sig proves recipient contact, leaving a parcel on the doorstep, even with a photo gives parcel thieves a golden opportunity. The Internet is full of ‘ring door bell’ clips of thieves making off with parcels.
That said, our regular delivery guy photos the recipient holding the packet with the door open. No dispute that way.