Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1029686
www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 24, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 15 S AT U R D AY, O C T O B E R 1 3 , 2 0 1 8 / / / 8 A M MARATHON / HALF MARATHON / TEAM 26.2 RELAY / CHARITY 5K / FITKIDS HARTFORDMARATHON.COM Media Sponsor E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 9 4 : E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 9 4 : "We are very mindful of the compe- tition," she said. "You don't survive in this industry without being a little bit paranoid." In the face of rising competition, Stop & Shop has not launched same-day de- livery service, but nothing is set in stone. It offers customers next-day delivery. "We are constantly testing innova- tions, new products and services," Bienkowski said. Drivers wanted Investments in online grocery de- livery have created demand for order fillers and drivers. Peapod has 600 workers in Connect- icut, while Shipt said it intended to hire more than 200 personal shoppers for its Target rollout this year. Walmart has said it has more than 18,000 delivery shoppers across the country. It can be hard to fill driver posi- tions, said Sarah Baird, Peapod's vice president of operations. Though delivery trucks are small enough to not require a com- mercial driver's license, the job in- volves lifting 40-pound packages many times a day, and there's a background check, drug screen and physical exam. The starting wage is $12 an hour, but Peapod tells applicants they can clear more than $20 an hour including cus- tomer tips. "We haven't lost a lot of driv- ers [to churn]," Baird said. 'We have trouble get- ting them in the door." The growing demand for gro- cery delivery may mean some Peapod drivers get poached, but the company hopes its jobs will stand out from com- petitors. At Peapod, all workers are Stop & Shop employees, and they drive company trucks, Baird said. They're also unionized. That's an exception, as other delivery services, such as Shipt and Instacart, hire drivers as independent contractors using their own vehicles. Instacart, which last year paid $3.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that it misclassified employ- ees as independent contractors and improperly pooled tips, has said it offers workers the option of being part-time employees rather than inde- pendent contractors. Instacart did not respond to an in- terview request for this story. Jeremy Dion surveys the Cromwell Stop & Shop's Peapod "wareroom," a private section of the store. Peapod's Jess Kennedy hunts down a delivery order in the wareroom.