Yodel responds to parcel ‘shot put’ claims

An investigation by Dispatches at Yodel’s sortation centre in Shaw near Oldham featured secret film of some sorters throwing parcels on and off the conveyor belts. Some employees were caught on camera using a variety of track and field-like throwing techniques. At various points they were filmed throwing items shot put, discus and javelin style. In one instance two workers were filmed throwing a parcel to each other backwards and forwards in an apparent game of pass the parcel.

The undercover reporter also witnessed a lot of good practice.

Parcels are transported around the depot in tall cages. The Dispatches reporter was taught by his Yodel trainers to fill closed cages from the top. Most workers he saw either threw or tipped parcels over the top of the cage, often meaning a drop. Heavier objects would then land on top of items at the bottom. One manager told him staff could open the cage door and stack the parcels and it should be done that way – but this was not enforced.

When loading delivery vans Yodel staff are taught to build a wall with larger containers and then place loose non-fragile parcels over the wall. Our undercover reporter filmed footage of parcels being thrown into the vans, bouncing off the roof.

Dispatches filmed a variety of boxes and heavy goods – including at one point a garden fork – being thrown onto the van on top of other parcels.

Yodel's Dick Stead told an audience of many hundreds of senior retail and delivery experts at The Delivery Conference: "What a difference a day makes. When we were invited to speak at this conference, we had no idea we had undercover reporters at one of our sites.

"But if I had foreknowledge, I would still be here. We are trying to be the most open carrier.

"Throwing parcels in sortation centres is disgraceful, it is unacceptable, and I take responsibility for that. It happened because Christmas is our busiest time and we had fewer supervisors than we needed, so we need to learn from that.

"That said, some of the practices highlighted, such as dropping a lightweight item into a cage is exactly what happens at any parcel company. That might sound harsh, but only one on 20,000 items we handle is damaged. If we opened the cage every time to place a package in, handling costs would jump by an estimated 50p per parcel.

"There are some practices we all adopt to make parcel handling as cost effective as possible given the relatively low risks of damage. This is the message we have to get out to the consumer, the vast majority of whom are satisfied with our deliveries."

The investigation by Dispatches at Yodel’s sortation centre in Shaw near Oldham in the run up to Christmas period featured the undercover reporter working as a sorter for more than two weeks, who secretly filmed over six days. He was contracted by a recruitment agency and was paid the minimum wage on a temporary contract. He received an hour long induction from Yodel staff, mainly focusing on lifting parcels safely and being fast on the job.