Fair working conditions for subcontractors. GO! Express & Logistics is committed to this with the legally compliant PQ CEP seal of approval.

GO! is the quality leader in the CEP industry. This is due to reliable and motivated employees and a trusting working relationship. Drivers and couriers play a central role in this, which is why their working conditions are so important to us, because they are ultimately the prerequisite for good quality performance. In order to guarantee this across company borders, the members of the Bundesverband Paket und Expresslogistik e. V. (Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics), among them the German Express and Courier Association (BIEK), established a working group about 1.5 years ago. (BIEK), including us, initiated and developed the legally compliant test seal PQ CEP. The seal of approval is awarded by the independent testing organisation ZertBau GmbH, which not only tests the reliability of the contractual partners working for GO! but also important social standards.

"The prequalification of subcontractors, along with other measures for social responsibility in the company, is an important factor for equal market access conditions for all providers," explains Ulrich Nolte, Managing Director of GO! Germany. Especially in the CEP sector, which has to struggle with prejudices regarding working conditions for drivers, prequalification measures such as the PQ CEP seal of approval are an important signal to show transparency.

"Motivated and satisfied employees, drivers and couriers are an important part of our quality promise. This applies not only to our direct employees, but also to the subcontractors who work for us every day. Therefore, fair cooperation at eye level is part of our corporate philosophy," Ulrich Nolte continues.

The procedure is implemented in our liner network and has already completed it without any complaints for all subcontractors in 2020, the first year of the introduction of PQ CEP. Through the prequalification procedure, subcontractors provide proof of fair working conditions for their drivers. To this end, they undergo an annual inspection. All companies working with us have passed this without any problems. New contractors are audited by ZertBau within the first three months of working together. With successful prequalification, the companies are also included in the register of prequalified companies (www.zert-bau.de/kep).

 

Uncomplicated process - trusting cooperation

Bob Lutz, Authorised Representative and Operations Manager of EluEx Express UG & Co. KG from Weiden in der Oberpfalz, has been supporting us as an independent service partner since 2018. His company has also already successfully passed the prequalification twice. He praises the fast and uncomplicated prequalification process: "We have to submit various documents, including the business registration, tax certificates and valid clearance certificates from the health insurance companies and the employers' liability insurance association. As soon as the required proofs were submitted, the certification was carried out quickly and without any problems."

Bob Lutz appreciates the fair cooperation with subcontractors at GO!: "Most of our other customers are corporations, so you notice that you can only be a number as a service provider because of their size and structure. Since GO!, as a medium-sized company, has a completely different, flatter structure, everything is much more personal. You have long-term contacts who know your own situation. This means that you can talk openly about your own concerns and it is desired - almost a matter of course - to bring your own suggestions into the daily business. This is the only way to meet the growing demands of our customers. This is a commitment that goes far beyond the requirements of the seal of approval, says Bob Lutz: "What I particularly appreciate is the cohesion and the respect that is shown to you as a service provider, even in challenging times. You are not immediately put on the sidelines, but together we find a mutually appreciated solution. This makes working with GO! a lot of fun."