Drivers are delivering on a round trip of 340 miles for pay of a.. TENNER
ANOTHER FIRM ARE ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING THEIR WORKERS
A DELIVERY firm have been accused of paying Scots drivers as little as £10 for a seven-hour, 340-mile journey.
Rico Logistics offer a flat mileage rate of 43p to self-employed workers – then charge them £20 a month for use of a mobile app and uniform.
Desperate drivers operating out of the company’s base in Baillieston, Glasgow, say they are frequently left high and dry because the firm don’t guarantee a return delivery.
One worker, who didn’t want to be named, said: “You could be sent to Inverness – a 340-mile round trip – but aren’t given a job to take a parcel back to Glasgow. You’ll only be paid the mileage for 170 miles, which is about £73.
“By the time you subtract petrol costs – more than £50 – and other expenses including insurance, road tax and the charge for their mobile app and uniform, you will be lucky to be left with a tenner.
“You have drivers with kids who are desperate for any kind of work because they need money to feed their families. They take these jobs in the hope they will be given a return job – even though they know there is a good chance they will earn a pittance.
“Because we are self-employed, the company can get round any sort of minimum wage legislation. It is complete exploitation – an utterly disgraceful way to treat people. They get away with it because people are desperate for work and can’t get anything better.”
A number of reviews on the Indeed. com reviews website slate the company.
One worker said: “You’ll end up skint working for Rico. You supply yourself, a van, fuel, insurance, road tax and pay for vehicle repairs.
“In return, you get pennies compared to what you’ve paid out to get started. It’s about time the Government stepped in and sorted out this bunch.”
Another added: “I’ve been with four courier companies and this one is the worst of them all. You can get a nice 160-mile job, but they pay you about £80.
“You drive there in three hours then there is nothing to bring back.
“Nice job because you do a lot of mileage. If you have a electric car, you’ll make minimum wage.”
The headquarters of Rico Logistics – part of the Indian conglomerate TVS Logistics Services – is in Slough, Berkshire. They have a base at Springhill Business Park in Baillieston.
Much of the work given to drivers is delivering car parts and other industrial components around the UK.
Active directors of Rico Logistics are listed with Companies House as Paul John Roberts, Dinesh Ramachandran, Ravichandran Sargunaraj and Sanjive Sharma. The firm’s owner Rajesh Chauhan drives a Rolls-Royce and lives in a £1.4million villa in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
TVS Logistics Services are headed by mega-rich Indian businessman Suresh Krishna.
Carl Truscott, Rico Logistics Sameday warehousing managing director for UK and Ireland, said: “We pay our suppliers a variety of rates depending upon the client and the criticality of the delivery.
“Rates payable range between 0.43 and 0.70 pence per mile. In some instances, this is indeed in excess of £0.70p.
“The use of the app is essential for us to track suppliers and to try to allocate jobs that help them from anywhere they maybe in the UK.”
Truscott claimed the cost of the app was “in the region of £11” a month, but didn’t comment on the cost of hiring a uniform.
He added: “We utilise the services of approximately 1500 suppliers across the UK and Ireland and these suppliers are at liberty to provide services to us and other organisations.”
Yesterday, we told how drivers delivering Christmas presents for online giants Amazon face the sack for failing to hand deliveries straight to customers.
About 160 drivers have been left exhausted by the workload from Amazon’s depot near Bathgate, West Lothian.