Recently, it was reported that a resident of Hanyang District in Wuhan reported that he had a package carried by Zhongtong Express that was delivered to the station on March 5th, but there was no delivery for a long time. And many residents in the residential area have encountered similar situations, that is, the delivery has been to nearby branches, and no one has been delivering since then. On the same day, topics such as "a large number of resignations of delivery personnel at a station in Wuhan and delayed delivery" surged on the hot search. In response to this, the headquarters of Zhongtong Express stated to reporters from Nandu, "Currently, Zhongtong's overall network is stable and services are normal. If consumers have any issues with express delivery services, they can call the official service hotline of Zhongtong or contact local Zhongtong branches."
It is reported that the delivery station corresponding to the community in question is the Zhongtong Express Mo'er City station, which is responsible for the Zhongtong Express delivery business in more than 20 areas around Wangjiawan in Hanyang. The station manager stated that since the implementation of the "Express Market Management Measures" recently, there have been cases of express delivery personnel resigning, with 4 areas having no delivery personnel due to their resignations. Currently, they are deploying manpower through other sites. The provincial company is also coordinating with surrounding branches to conduct centralized cleaning, and it is expected to clear the backlog of packages within about 3 days at the earliest.
The reporter from Nandu contacted the above-mentioned site regarding this matter and received a voice reply stating that the human seat was busy and the transfer was not successful. A person familiar with Zhongtong Express explained to Nandu reporters, "This branch is in an abnormal state, and only the person in charge of the branch is delivering, so the delivery is very slow. Currently, customer service is helping to clean up the parcels in the warehouse, so contacting them may not be able to answer the phone in a timely manner." Regarding the issue of whether the above-mentioned branch and the responsible area can still receive and send parcels, the other party said, "The area where the branch is responsible is no longer accepting parcels, and it is unlikely that orders can be placed normally. They need to clean up the existing parcels in the warehouse before they can operate normally. It is expected to resume normal operations by the end of March."
The "Regulations on the Administration of the Express Delivery Market" will come into effect on March 1, 2024. The provision that "express delivery drivers may be fined up to 30000 yuan for delivering packages to stations without the user's consent" has attracted widespread attention as to whether it can be implemented effectively. For a long time, due to the large volume and low delivery fees of express delivery, many couriers have been accustomed to delivering packages to collection points such as express cabinets or stations to complete daily work assessments. It is reported that after the implementation of the new rules, some couriers complained that the express delivery that was delivered 30 minutes ago now takes 12 hours, but the income has only increased by 60 yuan. After learning about the new regulations, some couriers resigned due to concerns that they would be fined more money if they could not complete their daily workload.
On the user side, after the above methods were launched, Southern Metropolis Daily reporters interviewed multiple users and learned that since March, it has been common for couriers to default to delivering packages to cabinets or stations without the consent of users. A Wuhan user filed a complaint on March 1st, stating that due to the delivery not being delivered to their doorstep after the package arrived, it was left at a post station without notice, and demanded that the postal management department impose a penalty of 30000 yuan in accordance with regulations. On March 5th, a reporter from Nandu learned from insiders that a branch of China Post Express Logistics EMS Shanghai Branch was issued a "warning" and fined 3000 yuan by the Shanghai Postal Administration for violating the above measures by "confirming receipt of parcels on behalf of users without their consent.".
Regarding how to ensure the implementation of the new regulations, several companies have previously responded to the reporter from Nandu. Among them, SF Express, JD Logistics, and Cainiao Express stated that the company respects the personalized delivery needs of different consumers by establishing "door-to-door delivery" service standards in advance, giving consumers the right to choose preferred delivery methods, as well as post supervision and a set of service tracking processes. The relevant person in charge of Zhongtong stated that they will deliver on demand, and customers who request door-to-door delivery will come to their doorstep. "Even without new regulations, we are reducing the burden and quantity of our assessment of couriers to ensure service quality." (For details, see multiple companies responding to the new regulations on express delivery. Can we change the old model of "punishment instead of management"?)
According to official statistics, since 2016, Zhongtong Express has maintained its industry leading business scale for 8 consecutive years. By the end of 2023, it became the first express delivery enterprise with an annual business volume exceeding 30 billion yuan. As of June 30, 2023, Zhongtong Express's network covers 99% of cities and counties in China, with approximately 6000 direct network partners nationwide, operating over 31000 pickup and delivery outlets (the number is basically the same as the end of 2022), and over 100000 terminal stations (the number of stations increased by 20000 within six months).
For various express delivery brands, tens of thousands of outlets are spread across the country, and there have been frequent operational abnormalities or suspensions in express delivery outlets for a long time. Similar situations have also occurred in branches such as Yunda, Shentong, and Yuantong. Reporters from Nandu have found that poor management, survival difficulties, and bosses running away are the most common reasons for these branches, leading to problems such as employee turnover, backlog of parcels, delays or inability to deliver. Zhongtong's financial report mentioned in the risk section: "If the service of the sorting center or branch is interrupted, parcel sorting, parcel collection and delivery may be delayed, suspended or stopped."
For example, in February 2023, Yunda became a hot search engine due to issues such as "over 2000 Yunda Express branches closing down" and "abnormal delivery of a large number of express deliveries.". At that time, the reason given by Yunda for the delay in regional delivery was also due to a shortage of manpower, but the reason for the shortage was the short-term situation caused by the delayed return of couriers after the holiday. In 2022, the Jitu Express Jiangsu branch experienced a backlog of parcels due to employee salary arrears, which was later handled by the Jitu agency. After Jitu acquired the business of Baishi Express in China, there have been occasional news related to operational disputes between Jitu and Baishi's grassroots branches.
In 2019, a franchise express delivery network in the Pearl River New Town in Guangzhou did not send any parts for nearly a week, which caused great concern at that time. At that time, the brand responded to a reporter from Nandu that this branch was unstable due to operational issues, resulting in a surge in service complaints and a serious impact on the brand's reputation and service quality. The company headquarters has decided to change the operating rights of the branch in accordance with regulations. During the handover process, due to the other party's failure to follow the transfer agreement process normally, some parcels were backlogged.
A person in the express delivery industry once told a reporter from Nandu that the reason why express delivery companies with a different direct operation model often suffer from backlog problems is that they are self reliant on profits and losses, accustomed to extensive development, and have different development rhythms and profitability in different regions, making the experience uneven. At the same time, if the company headquarters lacks sufficient control and supervision over first level agents and end point branches, Further squeezing of profit margins will also make similar problems more frequent. For the widely distributed multi-level network of cities, counties, and townships, sufficient network stability is one of the basic prerequisites for ensuring the quality of express delivery services and even enhancing brand image.