In 2016, then-Freightways CEO Dean Bracewell said a self-driving courier fleet would become a reality in the future (file picture).

Fourteen-hour days without a break, increased delivery numbers and no sick leave are new norms for courier drivers speaking out about an industry where contract drivers are treated "like slaves".

Courier drivers slammed for poor delivery standards in a recent Stuff article have come forward to reveal the difficulties of the job.

"We don't have breaks ... If we sit for lunch, we'll be late for everywhere else," one driver said.

Difficult customers? "Every single day."

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* Parcels push Freightways profit higher

* Fake signatures, courier packages left at the neighbours', all part and parcel of service

* Courier drivers 'virtually slaves'

A contract driver, who didn't want to be named for fear it would affect his business, said his day began at 5am with a trip to the Onehunga depot.

Elena Elisseeva A courier driver speaking out against difficult working conditions says he delivers up to 300 parcels on a busy day.

By the time he made his way home, sometimes as late as 7pm, he'd been back to the depot twice without stopping and could have delivered as many as 300 parcels.

Two hundred kilometres a day wasn't uncommon and diesel and mileage all came out of his own pocket.

If he wasn't able to get through all the parcels by deadline, it bit him in the wallet.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF New Zealand Couriers is one of 19 companies owned by Freightways, which has operated since 1964 (file picture).

"If we don't take the risk and we don't get the parking tickets, we don't finish the freight by the end of the day," he said.

"That freight still needs to be delivered, so the company calls another company and gives our freight to them … They charge [me] $80 an hour."

The other company, which wasn't in any hurry because they were paid by the hour, could take as long as three hours to deliver 10 parcels, he said.

It was the same issue if he got sick and couldn't find a driver to fill in - he could end up paying over $1000 for someone else to do his job for the day.

The addition of new suburbs to an already busy schedule had made the stress too much and he was quitting his company in the coming months.

Brent Keith, a courier driver from Oamaru who left the industry six years ago, agreed their was a public misconception that courier driving was an easy job.

From pick-up to drop-off, items could go through as many as 10 sets of hands, all taking a cut.The idea that a lot of parcels meant a lot of money for the driver was an illusion, he said.

"You're under the gun pretty much all day long … I would start at 4.30 in the morning and finish at 5.30 at night," Keith said.

On Facebook, one user responded to critics by describing courier driving as "an absolute nightmare of a job".

"You work 14 to 16 hours every day, with no sick pay, for less than minimum wage with your phone ringing constantly.

"Just remember, these couriers are like slaves."

First Union secretary for transport logistics Jared Abbott said he was not surprised to hear of the difficulties drivers had faced.

"There's a lack of regulation at the moment around companies' responsibility for dependent contractors that obviously opens up for exploitation," Abbott said.

A "dependent contractor" is a technical term where a contract includes stipulations, such as uniforms and branded vehicles that make it difficult for the contractor to work for other companies.

Freightways' general manager of express parcels, Steve Wells, responded to the concern over a lack of annual leave for drivers, saying his business compensated for that through minimum income structures.

Wells said he had spoken to the two largest organisations in his business, a parent company, and was unaware of other companies outside of Freightways delivering on the driver's behalf at the end of the day.

He said a third party was used if drivers didn't show up to work.

In February, Freightways reported a $31.4m profit for the half year to December 31, up 6.5 per cent.

The transport company owns New Zealand Couriers, Post Haste, NOW Couriers and Castle Parcels.

Three other courier drivers contacted for the article also confirmed their contracts provided no sick or annual leave, long days without breaks and paying up to $1000 for fill-in drivers if sick.

* An earlier picture of a delivery man has been removed from this story. That courier driver had nothing to do with the story. We apologise if the use of the picture caused him any distress.