Concerns over new moves on express delivery

A worker clears up parcels at Shentong Express Company’s distribution center in Guangzhou, in South China’s Guangdong province. CHEN YEHUA / XINHUA

New national standards on express delivery, effective on Tuesday, may not substantially improve service as expected, but may increase the cost, experts said.

The eye-catching details of the new standards include deadlines set for deliveries according to distance, the amount of fines if delays happen and how to sort parcels.

Under the amended standards, addressees are encouraged to open the package for inspection before they sign their names to check if the item in the package has been damaged.

"This is the first time the requirement of inspecting the package first has been written into the national standard," said Shao Zhonglin, deputy secretary-general of China Express Association, a non-profitable organization for major express companies.

"It specifies the rights and duties of all participants in the delivery industry, which is a good move for the healthy development of the business, especially at a time when many people are using the service and an increasing number of disputes are happening," Shao said.

But many experts and couriers doubt its effects in improving the efficiency of deliveries.

"Under the new standards, couriers are forbidden from leaving packages at gatehouses or giving them to others to pass on to addressees. As a result, it sometimes will take more time for couriers to wait for the receiver to sign for the packages. As a courier can deliver fewer packages a day, the express companies have to hire more people, thus leading to a larger cost for the company," said Xu Yong, an expert in logistics at China Express and Logistics Consulting website (cecss.com).

"The new standards are not laws but a guideline for the delivery industry. Without enforcing its implementation, I'm afraid that the standards would become useless," he added.

Meanwhile, express delivery companies and couriers said they felt nothing different after the new national standards took effect.

Zhou Ye, manager of the information office of Yuantong Express, which delivers more than 2.6 million packages every day, said they had asked employees to let clients open packages for inspection long before the national standards.

"We'll offer clients compensation if the items in the packages were damaged. We'll also punish those who were responsible for the damage," he said.

Zhang Wencong, a courier at Shentong Express in Beijing, another express company in the country, said he still left packages at the gatehouse as usual.

"I don't have time to wait for every client to come in person, and I can guarantee there will be no problems. You know, if a client issues a complaint about my service and the complaint is proved to be true, I have to pay a 10,000-yuan ($1,600) fine. I can't bear that amount."

"I usually ask the delivery man to put my packages in the reception room. You don't have to run out to sign for them when you are at work," said Kong Cong, a 24-year-old worker in Beijing, adding that her colleagues always did that, too.

She said she did not know about the release of the new national standards, but she supported them.

"It's time to make rules for the delivery industry. Some delivery men are irresponsible," she said.

zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn