How big is the impact of the epidemic on the express delivery industry? How does the courier company resist risks?

At present, all walks of life are gradually entering the stage of returning to work. On the one hand, major express delivery companies ensure the health of employees through various protective measures, on the other hand, they are also trying to resume production. However, due to the epidemic, the progress of resuming production is slow.

So, how big is the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the express delivery industry? How does the courier company resist risks?

On February 3rd, in Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province, Jingdong Express collectively measured the body temperature before delivery. Xinhua News Agency

The express delivery industry faces multiple dilemmas.

According to the reporter, the express delivery industry is currently facing the following four dilemmas:

First, it is difficult for people to rework: the express delivery business provides the whole network service, covering the whole country. In many areas, couriers come from Hubei Province and other places, and many employees will pass through key areas such as Hubei, Anhui and Henan on their way back to work. According to the requirements of the local government, it is necessary to observe in isolation for 14 days, and it is impossible to return to work normally. There are also some couriers who are worried about the risk of infection and take the initiative to postpone returning to work. Take a large express delivery enterprise as an example. As of February 6, the return rate of the whole network transshipment center was less than 40%, and the return rate of employees was less than 30%.

Second, the lack of protective equipment: express delivery is a labor-intensive industry with high contact frequency. The demand for protective equipment such as masks, goggles, disinfectant and gloves is huge, but the purchase channels and quantities are extremely limited. According to the current arrival rate of about one quarter (1 more than 1,000 people) in the direct operation system of a courier company, more than 20,000 masks are needed every day, and other protective equipment is in short supply, which restricts the first-line couriers, drivers, operators and other employees from officially taking up their posts.

Third, the collection and transfer institutions are stagnant: in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, local governments have implemented strict traffic control measures. Some places expressly stipulate the detention of vehicles unrelated to epidemic prevention, and even some places directly cut off water and electricity to the transshipment center, which makes it difficult to carry out the express delivery business normally.

Fourth, the cost of enterprises has risen: affected by the epidemic, the operating costs of express logistics enterprises have increased significantly, and internal prevention and control and frontline personnel need to purchase a large number of protective materials. During the period of isolation, the labor costs of employees in various places should still be paid normally. For example, the total monthly salary of 59,000 employees who only directly operate the system in a courier company exceeds 300 million yuan, while the total number of employees in the whole network exceeds 400,000, which is a huge labor cost pressure.

Many courier companies were blocked from returning to work.

Zhou Shaoning, Chairman and CEO of Best Group, admitted that for express delivery and express delivery business, the biggest difficulty at present comes from the traffic control effect of closing cities, villages and high-speed restrictions in key epidemic prevention and control areas, which makes some front-line staff unable to arrive at their posts and the rate of returning to work at outlets affected to some extent. In areas seriously affected by the epidemic, it is difficult to return to work and recruit workers. As of February 10, the resumption rate of distribution centers and outlets of Baishi Express was 50%, the resumption rate of distribution centers was over 50%, and the resumption rate of outlets was 85%.

The person in charge of Suning Logistics told the reporter that the existing problems mainly include the following five points:

First, there is a shortage of epidemic prevention materials, and it is difficult for cities to purchase masks and disinfectant to varying degrees.

Second, traffic restrictions on major traffic arteries. At present, different standards of transportation and distribution restrictions have been introduced in various parts of the country in combination with the local epidemic prevention and control situation, which has caused certain obstacles to the transportation and distribution of materials; Terminal distribution is affected by local epidemic control policies, villages are closed, travel is limited, and distribution is more difficult.

Third, affected by the self-isolation policy of returning to work, the time for personnel to return to work is still uncertain. At the same time, all localities have strengthened the control of rental houses, and in some areas there are cases where distribution service personnel have no fixed address.

Fourth, due to the closure of the park, offices and workplaces cannot work normally.

Fifth, due to the influence of the Spring Festival holiday, there is a large turnover of employees, and the pressure of epidemic risk investigation after employees return to work is great.

The relevant person in charge of Shentong told the reporter that in the short term, the impact of the epidemic on the express delivery industry is mainly reflected in the following aspects: First, the impact on employment, due to the implementation of traffic control in various places, the flow of personnel has certain restrictions, and the timely return of personnel is affected; Second, the impact on timeliness. Due to the influence of the current regulatory policies in various places, it has a certain impact on fast-forward and fast-out and transportation timeliness. In particular, many residential areas at the end are closed, and couriers can't get in, which has a great impact on the end timeliness; Third, the impact on the market, because many enterprises have not officially resumed work, the distribution orders are reduced, the upstream manufacturing stocks are tight, or the business volume obtained by the express delivery industry is reduced.

However, in the long run, the relevant person in charge of Shentong said that anti-epidemic has promoted the penetration rate of online consumption, and consumers' dependence on express delivery has become more prominent, which helps to improve the penetration rate of online shopping and indirectly catalyzes the demand of express delivery industry. Secondly, it will help to promote the change of delivery mechanism and delivery method in the express delivery industry in the future. This epidemic will obviously curb consumers' offline consumption demand. E-commerce may use this window to increase marketing in non-standard areas such as fresh food and home building materials, and the demand for distribution in the same city will increase. Consumers' demand for delivery quality is also getting higher and higher, which has given birth to related express delivery demand. Third, boosting the intelligent popularization and application of express delivery industry, especially terminal delivery, may become the key to the future competition of express delivery enterprises.

The relevant person in charge of Zhongtong told the reporter that it still takes a process for the production capacity to fully return to the pre-holiday level. At present, there are some practical difficulties: first, the conditions and restrictions for enterprises to resume work are different due to different epidemic situations in different places; Second, most of the front-line employees of express delivery come from rural areas, and all localities have closed villages and roads. After returning to the city, you still need to accept the isolation of 14 days; Third, there is a lack of protective materials, especially masks. As a result, the time limit for express delivery in the near future will be postponed. The first reason is the influence of epidemic prevention and control measures in various places, and the second reason is the need to give priority to ensuring the transportation demand of medical relief materials.

According to the Securities Times, Zhang Longwu, secretary of the board of directors of YTO Express, said that first of all, the e-commerce industry was dragged down by the epidemic, and the delivery orders decreased, and the inventory of its upstream manufacturing industry was tight, or the orders obtained by the express delivery industry decreased; Secondly, at present, the government needs to take many measures to prevent and control the epidemic, such as traffic control and people flow restriction, which makes it difficult for transport drivers, operators and couriers to return to their posts, which has a certain impact on express transport, sorting and delivery; Third, at present, most urban communities adopt closed management in epidemic prevention, which limits the access of couriers and will have a certain impact on terminal delivery.

Express companies take various measures to promote production.

The express delivery enterprise has fully resumed work on February 10.

As for Baishi Group, Zhou Shaoning said that at present, Baishi has introduced a number of measures, such as interest-free financial support, employee epidemic prevention insurance, adjustment of assessment methods, emergency rescue management, etc., to promote enterprises to resume work as soon as possible and ensure smooth delivery service channels.

Zhou Shaoning said that in view of the special situation of the current epidemic situation, human resources and transportation resources have been affected, and the Group requires all branches to thoroughly investigate the problems and difficulties existing in regional outlets and do a good job in adjusting the operation mode and integrating and optimizing resources. Express introduced the financial policy of outlets, canceled some assessment measures, flexibly adjusted all assessment contents such as delivery, arbitration delay and customer complaints, and launched an epidemic prevention insurance plan to front-line employees of the whole network.

"In view of the contradiction between the huge demand for employment and the inability of personnel to return to their posts in a short period of time, on the one hand, according to the requirements of various places, we are now allowing employees to return safely as soon as possible, and employees in different places will also return to their isolated state as soon as possible and put into work. On the other hand, we are stepping up personnel recruitment, taking measures to shift schedules and controlling attendance. " Zhou Shaoning said.

Suning Logistics has also introduced corresponding management measures: in terms of prevention and control organization, a leading group for epidemic prevention and control has been set up to coordinate and guide all kinds of epidemic prevention and control work, make all kinds of prevention and control work in depth and detail, and supervise and inspect at all levels to ensure all-round coverage of prevention and control work, leaving no dead ends; In the aspect of personnel investigation and sorting, strengthen the investigation and sorting of returned personnel, check the abnormal situation of employees every day, check the individuals in detail, and establish the abnormal contact person and personal information file registration of each employee; In terms of material support, the headquarters has set up a special procurement team to purchase materials through overseas procurement and other channels. Centralized procurement of masks, disinfectants, thermometers and other protective equipment to ensure the protection of all employees; In terms of park management, all office and operation parks are semi-closed, and vehicles are checked in and out. 100% of the staff are taken for temperature measurement. Strictly control personnel with abnormal signs and vehicles related to epidemic areas; In terms of supporting facilities, the Group fully cooperates to provide all-round guarantee and support for employees' office, catering and accommodation. At the same time, strictly strengthen the management of disinfection, prevention and control inspection in the park, and strengthen the management of process prevention and control to meet the living needs of employees and ensure their safety.

On February 7th, Suning Logistics released the "Talent * * * Enjoy" plan, providing jobs such as sorting, packaging, community riders and express delivery. For people affected by the epidemic, the work cannot be carried out. The working place is located in 46 urban logistics centers and express delivery stations in 350 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hefei, Jinan, Chengdu, Tianjin, Wuxi, Chongqing, Qingdao and Dalian.

In terms of Zhongtong, the above-mentioned relevant person in charge said that at present, on the one hand, it is necessary to focus on epidemic prevention and control, and on the other hand, it is necessary to resume production. In terms of returning to work, we will increase the support for the return to work of outlets in various ways, and set up an epidemic protection fund of 1 100 million yuan, which is mainly used to protect the epidemic situation of front-line employees. If you are infected at work, the maximum amount of protection is 500,000 yuan. In terms of epidemic prevention and control, Zhongtong has strict disinfection requirements for express parcels, vehicles, venues and equipment: employees in all aspects of receiving, sending and transit take their body temperatures twice a day and wear necessary epidemic prevention supplies; When the parcel is collected, the receiving outlets should be disinfected, and the parcel should be disinfected twice before delivery; The center requires disinfection of vehicles, places and equipment where the package passes.