Amazon to build its own courier network in Belgium

Amazon will develop its own network of parcel delivery companies in Belgium, thereby bypassing courier services such as Bpost. The American company is looking for subcontractors and will train them themselves. In the French-speaking part of the country, Amazon sends out one in five parcels.

More couriers required

Amazon Logistics is recruiting a “logistics trainer” in Brussels, according to Belgian newspaper De Standaard. Their job? To train couriers who want to deliver packages directly for Amazon as independent subcontractors. This way, the American e-commerce giant becomes less dependent on external logistics providers, such as current partner Bpost. 

“One single partner cannot continue to cope with the growing demand for parcel deliveries”, says Amazon spokesperson Julie Valette. In Flanders, Jeff Bezos’ company only has a small market share, but in Brussels and Wallonia, one in five parcels delivered by Bpost comes from Amazon. 

No social security 

The news is a thorn in the side of the postal service, but also the trade unions. They criticise that Amazon does not employ the parcel delivery staff as employees but as self-employed workers. The couriers, therefore, cannot, or barely, rely on social security, while they do bear the risks. For Amazon, on the other hand, the costs are much lower.

Amazon already works with a network of its own couriers in several countries, including Germany. In the United States, the division was recently in the news because delivery vans are now equipped with cameras that monitor the driver and their driving behaviour.