Heavy parcels: Politicians disagree: parcel carriers will not be relieved for the time being

For the time being, delivery drivers will not be relieved of their burden when it comes to lugging particularly heavy parcels. Representatives of the SPD, Greens and CDU/CSU parliamentary groups were unable to agree on a regulation that stipulated a weight limit of 23 kilos: from this weight onwards, shipments should always have to be delivered by two people. So far, such a requirement only applies from 31.5 kilos. The Verdi union warns of back damage and other health risks for employees as a result of the heavy packages.

The CDU/CSU had proposed the reduction to 23 kilos from the opposition bench last year, but was unable to convince the traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP that still existed at the time. The FDP was against such a weight limit; in their view, one-person delivery with technical aids should be possible even for particularly heavy packages.

Union is not making common cause with “pedestrian traffic lights”

After the traffic light broke, the minority government made up of the SPD and the Greens presented a legislative proposal in December 2024 that stipulates the 23 kilo weight limit. In the 20 to 23 kilo range, one-person delivery should still be possible, but only with technical aids.

This legislative proposal has now failed because the CDU/CSU did not want to go along with it. The CSU MP Hansjörg Durz said that they wanted to differentiate: the 23-kilo regulation should apply for deliveries over several floors, but for deliveries at ground level it should still be possible for heavy parcels to be delivered by just one parcel carrier. The government rejected that. The aim of the CDU/CSU is to address the amendment to the postal law after the federal election and to free the regulations from bureaucracy, said Durz.

Criticism came from the Greens. The Green MP Sandra Detzer accused the CDU/CSU of a contradictory blockade stance, which was “a slap in the face” for delivery workers.