At present, all walks of life have gradually entered the stage of returning to work. On the one hand, major express delivery companies have taken various protective measures to ensure the health of their employees, and on the other hand, they are trying to resume production. However, due to the epidemic situation, they have made slow progress in resuming production.
So, how big is the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the express delivery industry? How do express delivery companies resist risks?
On February 3rd, in Xi 'an, Shaanxi Province, Jingdong Express collectively measured the body temperature before distribution. Xinhua News Agency
The express delivery industry is facing multiple difficulties
According to the reporter's understanding, the express delivery industry is currently facing the following four difficulties:
First, it is difficult for people to rework: the express delivery business provides services throughout the whole network, covering the whole country, and couriers from many areas come from Hubei Province and other places. Many employees will pass through key areas such as Hubei, Anhui and Henan on their way back to work, and they need to be observed in isolation for 14 days according to the requirements of the local government. There are also some couriers who are worried about the risk of infection and take the initiative to delay the return to work. Take a large express delivery enterprise as an example. As of February 6th, the return rate of the whole network transshipment center was less than 41%, and the return rate of employees was less than 31%.
Second, there is a lack of protective materials: Express delivery is a labor-intensive industry with high contact frequency, and there is a huge demand for protective materials such as masks, goggles, disinfectant and gloves, but the purchase channels and quantity are extremely limited. According to the current arrival rate of about one quarter (over 11,111 people) in the direct operation system of a courier company, more than 21,111 masks are needed every day, and other protective equipment is in short supply, which restricts the employees such as front-line couriers, drivers and operators from officially taking up their posts.
Third, the collection and forwarding agencies are stagnant: in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, local governments have implemented strict traffic control measures. In some places, it is expressly stipulated that vehicles unrelated to epidemic prevention will be detained, and even in some places, water and electricity are directly cut off to the forwarding center, which makes it difficult to carry out express delivery business normally.
Fourth, the cost of enterprises has increased: affected by the epidemic, the operating costs of express logistics enterprises have increased significantly, and both internal prevention and control and front-line personnel need to purchase large quantities of protective materials, and the labor costs of employees in various places still need to be spent normally during the isolation period. For example, the total monthly salary of 59,111 employees in a franchised express delivery enterprise only directly operated the system exceeds 311 million yuan, while the total number of employees in the whole network exceeds 411,111, which is a huge pressure on labor costs.
many express delivery companies are blocked from returning to work
Zhou Shaoning, chairman and CEO of Baishi Group, said frankly that the biggest difficulty for express delivery and express delivery business at present comes from various traffic control effects such as city closure, village closure and high-speed traffic restrictions in key epidemic prevention and control areas, and some front-line staff cannot arrive at their posts, which has affected the rate of returning to work at outlets to some extent. In areas seriously affected by the epidemic, it is difficult to return to work and recruit workers. As of February 11, the resumption rate of Baishi Express distribution center and outlets was 51%, the resumption rate of express distribution center was over 51%, and the resumption rate of outlets was 85%.
The relevant person in charge of Suning's logistics told the reporter that the existing problems mainly include the following five points:
First, there are insufficient epidemic prevention materials, and it is difficult to purchase masks and disinfectant in different degrees in various cities.
Second, the traffic restrictions on major traffic arteries. At present, different standards of transportation and distribution restrictions have been issued 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; The terminal distribution is affected by the epidemic control policies in various places, and the villages are closed, travel is limited, and distribution is more difficult.
Third, due to the policy of self-isolation for returning to work, the time for personnel to return to work is still uncertain. At the same time, various localities have strengthened control over rented houses, and some areas have the situation that distribution service personnel have no fixed address.
Fourth, due to the closure of the park, the office space and work site can't 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 greater.
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 traffic control and certain restrictions on the flow of people in various places, the timely return of personnel is affected; Second, the impact on timeliness. Due to the influence of the current control policies in various places, it has brought certain impact on fast-forward transit and transportation timeliness. In particular, many residential areas at the end are closed and couriers cannot enter, which has a great impact on the end timeliness; Third, the impact on the market, because many enterprises have not officially resumed work, the delivery orders are reduced and the inventory of the upstream manufacturing industry is 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 can promote the online consumption penetration rate, and consumers' dependence on express delivery is more prominent, which helps to improve the online shopping penetration rate and indirectly catalyzes the demand of express delivery industry. Secondly, it will help to promote the changes in the delivery mechanism and delivery mode of the express delivery industry in the future. This epidemic will obviously inhibit consumers' offline consumption demand. E-commerce may use this window to increase the marketing of non-standard areas such as fresh food and home building materials, and the demand for distribution in the same city will be increasing. Consumers' requirements for the quality of distribution are also getting higher and higher, thus giving birth to related express demand. Third, boosting the popularization and application of intelligence in express delivery industry, especially in 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 needs a process to fully restore the production capacity to the pre-holiday level. At present, there are some practical difficulties: First, the epidemic situation varies from place to place, and the conditions and restrictions for enterprises to resume work are different; 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, they still need to accept 14 days of isolation; Third, the lack of protective materials, especially masks. As a result, the time limit for express delivery will be delayed in the near future. 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, firstly, the e-commerce industry was delayed due to the epidemic, the delivery orders were reduced and the inventory of its upstream manufacturing industry was tight, or the orders obtained by the express delivery industry were reduced; Secondly, at present, the government needs to take many measures such as traffic control and people flow restriction to prevent and control the epidemic, which makes it difficult for transport drivers, operators and couriers to return to their posts, which has a certain impact on the transportation, sorting and delivery of express mail; Third, most urban communities currently adopt closed management on epidemic prevention, which restricts the access of couriers and will have a certain impact on terminal delivery.
Express companies take many measures to promote production
Express companies have fully resumed work on February 11.
As for Baishi Group, Zhou Shaoning said that at present, Baishi has introduced a number of measures, such as interest-free fund support, employee epidemic prevention insurance, adjustment of assessment methods, emergency assistance management, etc., to promote the resumption of work and production as soon as possible and ensure smooth delivery service channels.
Zhou Shaoning said that in view of the special situation of the current epidemic, 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 assessments and other measures, flexibly adjusted and handled all the 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 labor and the inability of personnel to return to work in the short term, on the one hand, according to the requirements of various localities, we are now allowing our employees to return safely as soon as possible, and the employees in different places will return to their own isolation and put into work as soon as possible. On the other hand, we are stepping up the recruitment of personnel, taking measures to arrange shifts, and controlling the attendance at the same time." 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 the epidemic prevention and control work of all staff in a unified way, and all prevention and control work has been carried out in depth and detail, and supervision and inspection have been carried out at all levels to ensure that the prevention and control work has no dead ends and all-round coverage; In terms of personnel investigation and sorting, strengthen the investigation and sorting of returned personnel, check and feedback the abnormal situation of employees every day, check the details in detail to individuals, and establish the abnormal contact of each employee and the registration of personal information files; In terms of material support, the headquarters set up a special procurement team to purchase materials through overseas purchases and other channels. Focus on purchasing protective materials such as masks, disinfectants and thermometers to ensure the protection of all employees; In terms of park management, all office and operation parks are semi-closed, vehicles are checked in and out, and people's body temperature is measured by 111%. Strict control of personnel with abnormal signs and vehicles related to epidemic areas; In terms of supporting, the Group cooperated with all resources to provide all-round guarantee and support for employees' office, catering, accommodation, etc. At the same time, it strictly strengthened the management of disinfection, prevention and control inspection in the park, and strengthened the process prevention and control management to meet employees' living needs and ensure employees' safety.
On February 7th, Suning Logistics released the "Talent * * *" plan, which provides jobs such as sorting, packaging, community riders, express delivery, etc. for people who cannot start work due to the impact of the epidemic. The working places are distributed in 46 city logistics centers and express delivery stations in 351 cities in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hefei, Jinan, Chengdu, Tianjin, Wuxi, Chongqing, Qingdao and Dalian.
As for Zhongtong, the relevant person in charge said that at present, we should focus on the prevention and control of epidemic situation and the resumption of work and production. In terms of returning to work and production, we will increase the protection for outlets to return to work through various means, and set up an epidemic protection fund of 111 million yuan, which is mainly used for the epidemic protection of front-line employees. If they are infected at work, the maximum protection amount is 511,111 yuan. In terms of epidemic prevention and control, Zhongtong has strict disinfection requirements for express parcels, vehicles, venues and equipment: the employees in all aspects of receiving and transferring have their body temperatures taken twice a day and wear necessary epidemic protection articles; When the package is collected, the receiving outlets should be disinfected, and the package should be disinfected twice before delivery; The center requires disinfection of vehicles, sites and equipment where the package passes.