“We all have mortgages and bills to pay and are going to be out of pocket by around £500 per month” - the words of DPD drivers who have today (October 7) withdrawn their delivery service and were holding a demonstration outside of the company’s Washington depot following a change in their delivery rates.

Around 50 drivers gathered outside of the entrance to the depot from around 6am this morning after they were informed by a video link attached to an email that their delivery rate for small parcels will be reduced by 65 pence per delivery.

DPD drivers outside the company's Washington depot have been protesting about a change in their delivery payment rates. | Neil Fatkin

placeholder image — DPD drivers outside the company's Washington depot have been protesting about a change in their delivery payment rates. | Neil Fatkin

Drivers who spoke to the Echo also said they will also be losing their big push payments - the 50 pence additional per parcel payment they receive if they work 13 consecutive days delivering items in the busy Christmas period.

Drivers said they will on average be hit with a seven to ten percent pay cut of up to around £5,000 per year.

The company have responded to the day of action by informing us that larger parcels, or high-value or pharmaceutical parcels will not be impacted by these changes, while heavier deliveries will attract an additional payment of 65p.

The company also said they had “introduced a series of new incentive payments for drivers, designed to increase earnings all year round”.

However DPD driver Simon Robson, 57, who has worked for the company for 17 years and was speaking on behalf of the drivers, said: “Under these new terms we are going to be losing around £500 per month. This is going to have a real impact on people as we all have bills and mortgages to pay.

“DPD has generally been a good company to work for but we have had a number of changes imposed on us and after this latest announcement, enough is enough.

“We needed to withdraw our service today to show the company that they need to do something about it - we are feeling massively undervalued.

“All I would say to company bosses is please talk to us. We are willing to talk but the company shouldn’t just impose this on us without any discussion.”

The protest outside of the Washington depot has been mirrored by similar demonstrations up and down the country.

A DPD spokesperson said: “We believe our driver remuneration package remains among the best in our industry.

“We acknowledge that some drivers have raised concerns regarding the new arrangements, and these are being addressed.

“However, a small number of drivers at various depots have chosen to protest today. We do not expect this to have a significant impact on our service.

“For the Owner Drivers impacted by these changes, the average annualised net earnings are currently over £40,000.”

Simon added: “We hope members of the public understand our reasons as we would rather be doing our usual delivery service today.”