Drivers for one of Europe’s biggest delivery firms, which works for Amazon, Ikea and DHL, claim they are being left with no option but to sleep in their trucks for months and are earning well below the minimum wage in most of the countries they visit, according to an Observer investigation. In a series of interviews conducted in Belgium in March, drivers at the Lithuanian haulier Girteka, which says it employs 19,000 people across Europe, said they had spent weeks at a time sleeping in cramped cabs, often sharing a bunk with a co-driver. They claimed the company did not adequately cover the cost of access to toilets and showers at rest stops, or to parking spots unless they were carrying a particularly valuable load. Drivers also said they had experienced fines for high use of diesel, including when fuel had been stolen or when they had been running the engine to heat their cabs during cold nights on the road. One driver has described how he collapsed with kidney failure and heart problems on Christmas Eve in 2020, after having spent the pandemic year on the road and sleeping in his cab. Instead of arranging transport to bring him home, Yurii Kryvonos claims he was left to co-drive his truck for three days, with a trainee, on an 800-mile journey from the Czech Republic to his accommodation in Lithuania. After being informed of the allegations, Ikea launched an investigation, saying it would “take any necessary actions” after assessing the situation. “It is essential that all workers transporting and handling Ikea goods have good and fair working conditions,” the retailer said in a statement. Ikea said it had last audited Girteka in 2021. There is no suggestion that Kryvonos was working for Ikea. From its three bases in Lithuania and Poland, family-owned Girteka operates more than 9,000 trucks that carry 880,000 loads a year across countries ranging from eastern Europe to the UK, and it employs drivers via numerous subsidiaries. Founded by the Liachovičius family, who started with one lorry in 1996, the group says it offers “responsible logistics” and prioritises “road safety, environment protection and community wellbeing”. It is signed up to the UN Global Compact on human rights, by which companies pledge to ensure they are not complicit in abuses. It also promises on its website the “opportunity to earn €1,995 to €2,480 per month” after taxes – which is about £1,750 to £2,200, just over the average wage in the UK. However, information gathered with the help of the FNV trade union confederation, based in the Netherlands, suggests many drivers are earning well below the minimum wage in the countries in which they are making deliveries. Girteka is legally able to pay the minimum wage for Lithuania where it is based – which is €5.14 (£4.53) an hour – despite drivers spending most of their time elsewhere. The legal minimum wage is £10.42 an hour in the UK, €12 in Germany and at least €8.45 in Spain. An FNV organiser, Edwin Atema, said: “Yurii is just one of thousands and thousands of drivers who suffer … working for this company and others like it.” He said that this state of affairs was “systemic across Europe”, adding: “Girteka and its customers have signed the UN guiding principles of human rights but this nice policy does not reach the drivers like Yurii.” He claimed local regulators’ systems did not always connect subsidiaries to the Lithuanian-based business ultimately responsible for pay and conditions of drivers. In a statement, Girteka said the local labour dispute committee had looked into Kryvonos’s case and found in favour of the company. Girteka said it “abides by the laws, rules, provisions, norms, and standards in every field and every country that we operate in” and that it follows the laws on fair pay. “We strive to follow best practices of the road freight transport industry, including placing more focus on driver’s working conditions and wellbeing,” it said. “And while we are by no means perfect, we are open and willing to move forward with any inquiries or discussions regarding any area of our operations.” Kryvonos, 46, began working for Girteka in 2018. He says that when he moved from his native Ukraine to Lithuania to take up the job, he was in good health. “All my life I was doing sport and I had not had these kind of problems before. I was not smoking or drinking, it was like a taboo to me.” In the winter of 2020, after months on the road, he began to feel unwell. “It was during Covid. Every time the company was asking me to work a bit more, and every month I got a new student [trainee driver]. When you work alone you can’t work a lot of hours – you can work more with a student. A lot of time I was working in the night, of course … everything going to my health.” After collapsing with heart and kidney failure, he was taken to hospital in the Czech Republic on Christmas Eve, and remained on the ward for several weeks. Once he was well enough to leave hospital, he says doctors recommended he have dialysis every other day. He turned to his employers for help getting home. Instead of arranging a car, or a private ambulance, he says he was asked to return to Lithuania in a truck. The other driver was a trainee, and Kryvonos said he occasionally had had to take the wheel, and that the pair had been expected to pick up loads en route. By the time he arrived home, he was very sick. He says his health and finances have been ruined as he is no longer able to work. Girteka says it “did not receive any medical documentation that would have indicated the need to organise special transportation”. It said a company investigation into the incident “did not uncover any evidence that our work relationship with Mr Kryvonos led directly to the deterioration of his health”. Kryvonos is not the only employee to have raised concerns. The Observer spoke to more than 10 other drivers working for Girteka at truck stops on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, who brought up a range of problems. They said they had not been given money for hotel accommodation while on the road. All said they had slept in their trucks en route – often sharing bunk beds with co-drivers in a 2 metre by 75 centimetre space less than 2 metres in height. Most said they also cooked their meals on small gas stoves which they set up inside the cabs, or in a storage space under the side of the lorry, and had to pay out of their own pocket to use showers and washrooms, if available, in most countries. Under current EU rules, drivers should take breaks of at least 45 hours every fortnight outside their vehicle in “suitable gender-friendly accommodation with adequate sleeping and sanitary facilities”. After four weeks on the road, it is also the duty of the employer to organise drivers’ work in such a way that they can return home, or to the country of employment, for a break. The rules state that “any costs for accommodation outside the vehicle shall be covered by the employer”. Kinazi, a driver from Belarus, said he had spent up to three months on the road sleeping in his truck. “The company never pay for accommodation,” he claimed. “They only sometimes pay for parking.” He said the company sometimes imposed financial penalties on drivers, for example if they used more fuel than expected. He said he had been fined €450 for “using lots of fuel”. Maxim, also from Belarus, said drivers sometimes turned on their engines to keep the cab warm while sleeping. But he says doing so could lead to fines: “Then you lose [fuel] and you have to pay for it.” Drivers say fuel use can also affect pay. They can earn more per day by accumulating “eco-driver” points – awarded for fuel efficiency and other factors – and using air conditioning can damage that rating. The daily pay rate is tiered, with those on platinum earning most, those on bronze least. Despite rising living costs across Europe, wages were cut last month by up to 5% – from €80 a day for platinum and €71 a day for bronze. Even at the platinum level, this is still less than €8 an hour of driving and less than €6 an hour if other work including loading and unloading is included, according to the FNV. All the drivers the Observer spoke to claimed that they did not receive holiday pay, even when on compulsory rest breaks in Lithuania between driving shifts. Rasul, originally from Kyrgyzstan, said he had spent up to two months on the road without returning to base, sleeping in his truck the entire time. In between each stint he would take only about 10 days’ break before heading off again – but sometimes only two or three, as he said he did not receive holiday pay. He said he visited the UK about twice a week delivering for various companies. Even with the €17 extra a day he said Girteka paid for UK shifts, he still earned less than £9 an hour. In a detailed response to the claims, a spokesperson for Girteka said its employment package states that after four weeks on the road, drivers should come back to the country where they are employed. But it said it could not oblige them to do so. “We always instruct our drivers to return to base every time they complete their four-week driving schedule. However, drivers retain the right to refuse to do so. We cannot and do not force our employees to return if they have stated their refusal.” Salaries at the firm, it said, “correspond to the average in the country of their employment, and not to the general international landscape”. On the subject of fuel, Girteka said: “Any unexplained fuel usage is treated as a violation of the existing procedures and policies. Since we have experienced some malpractice in recent years, we take this issue very seriously and each case is investigated and judged individually, and results in an outcome that is proportionate to the magnitude of the offence.” It said expenses for using facilities while on the road were included in a daily allowance. “Aside of salary, each of our drivers gets a daily allowance. This daily allowance covers expenses during cargo transportation, including the use of various facilities, as mentioned previously.” All drivers were entitled to paid annual leave “which is around one month in most European countries where they are employed”, Girteka said. “If they decide to have a longer break, we need to find a temporary replacement for them to continue delivering cargoes to our customers. In such cases the driver gets an unpaid leave.” Ikea’s supply chain operations division said it was in contact with Girteka and was “currently investigating” the issues raised by the Observer. It said it would “take any necessary actions” after assessing the situation. “It is essential that all workers transporting and handling Ikea goods have good and fair working conditions,” it said in a statement. It added: “As a global company we are committed to integrity and upholding human rights. Based on this fundamental principle, our supplier code of conduct contractually obligates all our service partners to comply with business principles, which include remuneration and working conditions.” The code of conduct stipulates transport workers have time off and are paid responsibly. DHL said: “If there are observations of concern we will start a robust investigation and should evidence of infringements or violations of our supplier code of conduct come to light, we will terminate the cooperation with the supplier concerned.” Amazon said it expected all of its delivery partners to comply with applicable laws and its code of conduct, which included fair wages, appropriate working hours and compensation. It said in a statement: “We expect our partners to provide a great work experience and take immediate action if we find a partner is not complying with that expectation.” So why do drivers stick with conditions they aren’t happy with? Many have paid thousands of euros to secure the job and so must try to earn that back, and more, before they can go home. One Girteka driver from Kyrgyzstan said he had spent €2,000 to secure his job, including fees for a visa, accommodation and travel. He said he earned €70 a day. Other drivers at the Belgium-Netherlands border had also had to pay agents to help apply for their jobs, with many spending well over £1,000. So quitting once on board is unlikely – they have to earn that money back and more to help their families waiting at home. Several talk of having spent two or three months as a trainee, effectively on half pay. The low wages mean that many newer drivers tend to be from central Asia – Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – replacing Ukrainians and Belarusians, many of whom have been drawn into the war in Ukraine. Belarusians have also reported difficulties in getting visas for European countries, including the UK, as a result of the country’s alignment with Russia in the war. And while they may be earning poverty wages on the road, many drivers are able to earn more than they could in their home countries. Maxim, in his 20s, who is married with children, said he would like to earn more but “this is better than Belarus”. Speaking at a roadside parking spot with large trucks thundering by, he said he planned to work as a Girteka driver for two or three years. “I want to finish building a house and after that I will leave this kind of work.” He said that at home, driving a milk lorry with hundreds of kilos to load and unload a day, he had earned just €200 a month. Working for Girteka, he earned more than €2,100 a month.