Is Nighttime Work in Logistics Delivery Truly Unavoidable? (Jan. 2026)

Kim Hyeong-ryeol, MD

Specialist in Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Steering Committee Member, Working Time Center

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health

Translated by Jaehyun Oh

2026

Recently, the issue of nighttime work—which has continued to expand in our society—has become the subject of social debate, alongside discussions such as banning dawn delivery or extremely late-night delivery. The Working Time Center, which has long raised concerns about the problems of nighttime work, has organized this special feature on workplaces in order to address the major issues, points of contention, and possible alternatives related to this topic.

In this feature, we aim to diagnose the current state and problems of nighttime work occurring in the logistics industry, explain why nighttime work is problematic, and discuss possible alternatives, including legal regulations that could address these issues. In addition, we examine the current regulatory status of nighttime work both in South Korea and abroad, and based on this review propose practical measures to regulate fixed nighttime work. We hope that this discussion will expand more broadly within society.

Nighttime work: The “innovation” of a 24-hour logistics system?

The logistics industry encompasses the entire process through which goods move from the place of production to the place of consumption. It includes not only physical activities such as transportation, storage, and cargo handling, but also supporting activities such as packaging, sorting, and information processing. This includes freight transport services using roads, railways, maritime routes, and aviation; the operation of logistics facilities such as warehouses, refrigerated storage facilities, and terminals; and services such as customs brokerage, cargo handling, packaging, and inspection. According to the 2023 Transportation Industry Survey conducted by Statistics Korea, the number of workers in South Korea’s logistics industry is estimated at approximately 851,000. A significant portion of these workers perform their work at night.

The 24-hour logistics system operates at night in order to enable deliveries during the day. Overnight, packaging and sorting take place in logistics warehouses, and the sorted goods are transported to intermediate hubs and final delivery destinations. In this process, logistics center workers, line-haul freight truck drivers, and delivery workers complete a single flow of work at staggered times. In this way, the logistics industry is structured as a system in which labor across multiple stages is tightly interconnected. Therefore, it is difficult to discuss working conditions or labor intensity by looking only at delivery workers in isolation. Sorting and loading work in logistics centers, long-distance freight transport, and last-mile delivery labor all influence one another and together form a single system. Ultimately, the labor conditions of the logistics industry cannot be understood through a single occupation alone but must be understood within the structural context of the industry as a whole.

The parcel delivery industry where long working hours are widespread

South Korea’s parcel delivery industry is led by companies such as CJ Logistics, Hanjin Express, Lotte Global Logistics, Logen, and Coupang Logistics Services (CLS). These companies deliver goods to consumers at the request of shippers (the owners of the cargo). Among them, Coupang CLS differs from other courier companies in that the shipper is its parent company.

In the past, there were cases in which delivery workers directly employed by the shipper handled deliveries. Currently, however, many parcel delivery companies establish contracts with delivery workers through subsidiary companies or agency structures. A large proportion of delivery workers work under special employment arrangements through contracts with these agencies. Coupang likewise operates through a structure in which its subsidiary, Coupang Logistics Services (CLS), contracts with agencies, and those agencies in turn contract with delivery workers.

Traditional parecel delivery companies primarily conduct daytime deliveries. However, daytime delivery requires line-haul freight transportation and intermediate sorting operations that take place either at night or earlier during the day. Daytime delivery workers begin their work early in the morning and, on days with large volumes, continue delivering until late at night. For many years these workers have worked extremely long hours—six days per week and as much as 70–80 hours per week.

In 2021, a weekly cap of 60 hours was introduced through a social agreement, but it still remains necessary to examine whether working hours have actually been sufficiently reduced. According to the 2024 Survey on the Status of Living Logistics Services conducted by the Korea Transport Institute, parcel delivery workers work an average of 11.7 hours per day (10.5 hours of work and 1.2 hours of rest), and an average of 24.6 days per month. Considering that the majority of workers perform daytime deliveries, it is highly likely that work exceeding 60 hours per week is still taking place. In fact, according to a survey by Song Gwan-cheol (2025), the average daily working time of 679 Coupang daytime delivery drivers was 11.6 hours, confirming that workers who work six days a week exceed 60 hours of work per week.

The expanding trend of nighttime delivery labor

In South Korea, the first company to introduce dawn delivery was Market Kurly. Its “Morning Star Delivery,” launched in May 2015, allowing customers to place orders until 11 p.m. and receive them by 7 a.m. the next morning. Coupang introduced a dawn-delivery service in 2018 centered on fresh food, with orders placed by midnight arriving by 7 a.m. the following morning. Currently, companies such as SSG.com and Oasis Market also operate night-time and dawn-delivery services.

Coupang handles everything from product sales to delivery within a single corporate group. As of the first half of 2024, it held approximately 37% of the parcel delivery market, making it the largest operator in South Korea. Coupang’s delivery operations are carried out through its subsidiary Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) and are divided into daytime delivery and nighttime delivery. Recently, the proportion of nighttime deliveries has continued to increase and is estimated to account for more than 60% of the total volume.

A typical work day for a nighttime delivery worker begins around 9 p.m. After arriving at the delivery camp, workers spend about an hour sub-sorting goods transported in rolltainers and loading them onto vehicles. They then begin the first round of deliveries at around 10 p.m. After completing deliveries around midnight, they return to the camp, repeat the sorting and loading process, and depart again for a second round of deliveries at around 1 a.m. Around 3 a.m., they return to the camp once more, go through the same process, and begin a third round of deliveries at around 4 a.m., completing deliveries by the 7 a.m. closing time. In this way, work continues for approximately 9.5 -10 hours per day. Work schedules vary and include five-day weeks, six-day weeks, or alternating five- and six-day weeks every other week. In most cases, nighttime delivery workers work exclusively at night on a fixed basis.

Although it varies by region, workers deliver on average around 300 parcels per day, and sometimes as many as 500 parcels. In addition, they must collect the insulated fresh-food delivery bags (fresh bags), sort them, and place them in washing machines for cleaning. Market Kurly also conducts night deliveries, but operates a two-round delivery system, and the daily volume handled is generally around 100 parcels. As with Coupang, many workers are not directly employed but work under special employment arrangements through contracts with agencies. Because they are paid on a per-delivery basis, they must handle large volumes in order to secure sufficient income.

Life-threatening nighttime deliveries

A study by Baek Hee-jeong (2025) presents the results of a health survey conducted among dawn delivery drivers. The proportion of respondents who reported their subjective health status as “good” was 30.3%, lower than that of the general adult population (47.6%). The rate of underweight workers was 6.7%, while 32.9% were obese. The smoking rate was 52.3%, far exceeding the average for adult men in Korea (36.1%).

Lifestyle indicators were also unfavorable. The proportion who drank alcohol at least once per week was 54.9%, and 68.7% reported that they did not exercise at all. Eating patterns were irregular: 75% reported eating two meals per day, while 25.6% reported eating only one meal per day. The average sleep time was 6.1 hours, and 66.2% reported that their sleep was insufficient. Factors that interfered with sleep included light, surrounding noise, and mobile phones.

In the presenteeism analysis, 63.6% reported having worked while sick, and 6.7% reported having been unable to work because of illness. Among respondents, 40.6% had been diagnosed with a disease by a physician. Digestive diseases (44.2%), arthritis (23.3%), and insomnia (11.1%) were the most common.  The most frequently reported work-related health problem was eye fatigue (56.4%), followed by skin problems (39.0%). Weight loss was experienced by 70.3%, with the maximum weight loss reaching 13 kilograms. The rate of work-related accidents was 23.6%, and among these accidents, traffic accidents accounted for 78.3%, the largest proportion.

To date, there has been almost no systematic investigation of the health impacts on delivery workers, whose number is currently estimated to be around 100,000. However, even these limited survey results suggest that their health is likely to be vulnerable in terms of sleep, mental health, and cardiovascular disease.

Is nighttime work a matter of individual choice and responsibility?

Nighttime delivery workers work only at night for about 24 days per month on average. They repeat approximately 10 hours of nighttime work per day, around six days per week. In order to meet delivery deadlines, they must deliver at a near-running pace, continuing highly intensive physical labor. This inevitably raises the question of how common such fixed nighttime work is around the world. In many other countries, even unavoidable nighttime work is subject to strict regulation. Average daily working hours are limited to eight hours, weekly working hours are limited to 48 hours, and upper limits are placed on both consecutive night shifts and the number of night shifts per month. In contrast, South Korea has almost no regulations on nighttime work. It is also necessary to ask whether deliveries must necessarily take place at night. In many countries overseas, night deliveries either do not exist or are operated only on a very limited basis. Nevertheless, in South Korea a structure in which nighttime work far exceeding eight hours per day is repeated more than 24 days per month is spreading under the name of “innovation.”

Nighttime delivery workers choose this job despite the harsh fixed nighttime work, heavy physical burden, and deteriorating health conditions it entails. This is because there are not enough alternative jobs that provide a living wage. Companies take advantage of this labor market reality, using nighttime delivery as a source of competitiveness and presenting it as a new form of innovation. Yet behind that innovation lies someone’s nights and someone’s health. This is why nighttime work in the logistics industry can no longer be left merely as a matter of individual choice or adaptation.