Thousands of couriers face losing substantial portions of their earnings in the new year after managers at the delivery firm DPD vowed to force through rate cuts after the busy Christmas period.
About 1,500 drivers are thought to have stopped work on Tuesday after the company, which reported pre-tax profits of nearly £200m, announced a 65p cut in the rate for most of its deliveries in an early morning email on 29 September.
After meeting drivers’ representatives on Tuesday, managers decided to defer the reduction until after Christmas, saying they would begin on 5 January 2026.
The pay decreases represented “pretty much my childcare costs for the year”, said one driver as he sought to put the scale of the losses into context. He added that they would hit colleagues who were already struggling to make ends meet.
The company initially told drivers it was making the cut, up to £25 per driver per day, as well as getting rid of a £500 Christmas bonus. Drivers’ representatives said that was likely to add up to more than £6,000 a year for each driver – even as much as £8,000 for those who take on a lot more deliveries over Christmas.
“We don’t get holiday pay, we don’t get sick pay. So, even before the rate cuts, you still weren’t able to afford a family holiday or any time off,” said a spokesperson for the drivers. “To make ends meet, you had to work the full five days a week, 10 hours a day. And that’s pretty much just to get by.
“That doesn’t leave anything for savings, that doesn’t leave anything for a family holiday – we’ve not had a holiday for the last four years, just because we can’t afford it. And, with the cost of living crisis, everything else is going up and up and up. We’re a million miles away from having a holiday. It will [also] have a huge effect on Christmas this year.”
He added: “Directors are still receiving their bonuses.” DPD Group UK’s latest accounts show its highest-earning director was paid nearly £1.5m, including bonuses, in 2024. That represented a pay rise of more than £90,000 on the previous year.
Most DPD drivers are self-employed. They either operate as an individual contractor on behalf of the company, called an owner-driver franchise (ODF), or as part of a fleet of drivers. The operators of those multi-route franchises (MRFs) are paid by DPD to provide the fleet, and the drivers are often paid a day rate.
The cut applies to both groups, meaning the ODF drivers will have their rates decreased directly, while the MRF operators will need to decide whether or not to risk losing their drivers by passing on the cuts to them. According to the spokesperson, a cut of £25 per day per driver would wipe out many MRF operators’ profit.
Representatives of depots across the country, referred to internally as “service champions”, met company directors in Leicester on Tuesday to discuss the changes.
DPD said: “Following a meeting today with drivers’ representatives, an agreement on a way forward has been reached, meaning drivers that have chosen not to work today will return to work.”
He did not respond when asked to confirm the substance of the agreement, but correspondence seen by the Guardian showed it amounted to no more than a deferment until January.