Driving and Delivering: In and Out of a Van Two Hundred Times

Delivery work is an unusual physical job. It combines the sustained sitting of a driving job with the repeated lifting of a manual one, and the lifting happens in the worst possible circumstances, from a low or awkward position, in a confined space, often while turning, and at speed because the round is timed.

The three loads

Sustained sitting between drops, holding the hip flexed and the mid-back rounded.

Repeated lifting and lowering, often from below knee height or above shoulder height, which are the two most demanding positions.

Twisting under load, which is the big one. Reaching into a van from the side door, picking something up and turning to carry it out is a lift combined with a rotation, and that combination is the one most associated with back injury.

Add a step up and down from the cab a couple of hundred times a day and you have a fairly demanding physical job that nobody trains for.

Technique, which matters most

Do not twist while holding weight. Move your feet. This is the single most useful sentence on this page. Turning under load is where backs get hurt, and it is entirely avoidable with a habit of stepping round instead.

Get close before you lift. Load held away from the body loads the back far more than the same weight held close. Reaching into the middle of a van floor and lifting from there is the highest-risk movement in the job.

Hinge at the hips. Push the hips back, keep the back long, let the knees bend. Not a rounded back and not a deep squat with the load far in front.

Slide before you lift. Move a parcel closer along the van floor before picking it up, rather than lifting at full reach.

Break down loads where possible. Two trips is faster than an injury.

The strength side

If your job involves lifting, you need the capacity to lift, and stretching does not provide it.

Twice a week, fifteen minutes:

Hinges. Deadlift pattern with any weight, or just bodyweight done well. This trains the exact movement the job demands.

Squats and step-ups. The step up into a cab, repeated, is a real load.

Carries. Hold something heavy and walk. Loaded on one side, deliberately, on both sides.

Anti-rotation work. Holding a resistance in front of you and resisting the pull to turn. Directly relevant to the twisting problem.

This is more protective than any amount of stretching and it is the part that never gets done.

The fifteen minutes at the end

Hip flexor length, half-kneeling with the pelvis tucked first. Ninety seconds each side. The most valuable item after a day of sitting.

Thoracic rotation, lying on your side, two minutes each way.

Upper back extension over a rolled towel across the mid-back.

Legs up for five minutes, especially if you have been in and out of the cab all day.

Ten slow squats, which sounds like the opposite of what you want and reliably makes the legs feel better.

During the shift

At a stop, stand up properly and extend backwards with hands on the lower back. Three breaths. It takes ten seconds and directly opposes the driving position.

Change seat position slightly every few days. Not to find the right one, but so that no single one is the only one.

What needs someone else

Back pain that travels down a leg with numbness or weakness, any loss of bladder or bowel control, or pain following a specific lifting incident that is not settling. Also worth knowing that if you are lifting at work, a manual handling assessment is a reasonable thing to ask your employer for.

Where a teacher helps

The hinge is the movement the whole job depends on, and almost nobody can tell from inside whether their back is staying long or rounding. Two minutes of someone watching you hinge changes how the next decade of the job treats your back.

Sessions are live on video, thirty or sixty minutes, which fits an evening without travel.

Questions people ask

What is the most dangerous movement in delivery work?

Lifting while twisting, particularly reaching into a van and turning to carry something out. Moving your feet to turn instead of rotating under load is the single most useful habit to build.

Should I stretch or strengthen?

Both, and strength is the neglected half. A job involving lifting requires the capacity to lift, which stretching does not build. Hinges, squats, carries and anti-rotation work twice a week are more protective than any stretching routine.

What should I do at the end of a shift?

About fifteen minutes: hip flexor length, thoracic rotation, upper back extension, some slow squats, and five minutes with the legs raised. Do it before sitting down for the evening rather than at bedtime.

Is it worth doing anything during the round?

Ten seconds at a stop, standing properly and extending backwards with hands on the lower back, directly opposes the driving position. Repeated through a shift it makes a genuine difference.