Logistics companies inching toward normalcy in Wuhan

Postal and logistics firms are resuming operations in Central China's Hubei province, the region hit hardest by the novel coronavirus outbreak, experts said.

JD Logistics, the logistics unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD, said its deliveries in Hubei province rose threefold in March on a monthly basis, even surpassing the numbers in the same period last year.

The company said its express delivery service has already returned to normal in the provincial capital Wuhan, and orders placed by downtown consumers on the JD platform are being executed on the same day.

The company said there has also been a significant shift in the product categories being ordered online in Wuhan. While most of the orders during the epidemic period were for rice, noodles, cooking oil, pots and pans and home appliances, other diversified categories like clothing, cosmetics and travel supplies are also turning up in shopping lists.

JD Logistics said all of its frontline staff in Hubei province have come back to work, while the newly-recruited employees will also be on duty to cater to the growing demand for logistics services.

Jia Shengzhi, the head of JD Logistics' operating station in Huangpu of Wuhan, said the number of orders has increased from over 1,000 to 2,700 each day, and 19 deliverymen have returned to work. Moreover, three new employees have been added.

In February, the company said it was planning to create more than 20,000 first-line positions, such as warehouse workers, pickers, couriers and drivers. So far, it has transported more than 70 million emergency medical supply items, with a total weight of 30,000 metric tons.

Pan Wei, general manager of SF Express Hubei branch, said the company continued its operations in Wuhan during the outbreak, and undertook 60 percent of the delivery business in the city.

According to Pan, 5,396 employees, or 88 percent of staff, have resumed duties in downtown Wuhan. The company has been arranging chartered cars in Wuhan since March 19 to ferry the employees to their offices.

Statistics from the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing showed that the logistics prosperity index (LPI) came in at 51.5 percent in March, up 25.3 percentage points on a monthly basis, while China's warehousing index reached 52.7 percent in March, up 13.7 percentage points from a month earlier.

Suning Logistics, the logistics arm of Chinese commercial giant Suning.com Co, said its small parcel delivery services for individuals in Wuhan reached 100 percent of the normal capacity in late March, with laundry detergents, snacks, milk powder and other supplies accounting for the bulk of the orders.

Other courier companies including ZTO Express, YTO Express, STO Express and Yunda Express have also returned to normal operations in Wuhan. They have provided protective gear, subsidies and preferential measures for employees to support work resumption in the courier sector.

According to the Hubei Provincial Postal Administration, the major courier companies in Hubei province will return to 100 percent normal operations this month. It is expected that about 90 percent of the express operations in Wuhan will resume this month itself.

"This means that the e-commerce enterprises in Wuhan and online retailers' warehouses that are located in the city are capable of delivering goods to the whole nation," said Zhang Yawen, an official from the Wuhan Municipal Postal Administration.

"The all-around resumption of delivery services is convenient for people's daily lives and helpful for the prevention and control of the epidemic."

Zhang said the number of deliverymen that are on duty in Wuhan has increased from about 5,000 before the Spring Festival holiday to more than 30,000 so far, while courier companies have resumed 80.21 percent of normal delivery capacity.

According to the Hubei Provincial Postal Administration, as of Tuesday, 92.13 percent of delivery service networks in Hubei province have resumed work, with 82,039 employees (93.07 percent) returning to work. About 36,048 express employees (85.83 percent) have rejoined work in Wuhan and 75.24 percent of the parcel service sites have restarted operations.

Chai Hua in Shenzhen contributed to this story.