The new model of no-car carriers has arrived, and the freight industry has ushered in great development

Not long ago, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Transport on Doing a Good Job in Monitoring the Operation of Pilot Projects of Truckless Transport", which publicly announced 283 pilot companies of truckless transport.

Recently, the concept of car-free carriers has excited many people in the logistics and transportation industry. But are car-free carriers really that amazing? What changes can car-free carriers bring to the logistics industry? What impact will it have on the commercial vehicle industry?

What is a truckless carrier?

Truckless carriers evolved from American truck brokers 20 years ago, which led to a huge change in the global logistics and freight model and created the big name CH Robinson (CH Robinson Global Logistics Co., Ltd.). Today, CH Robinson is among the world's top 500 companies, one of the world's largest road freight companies, and the largest third-party logistics company in North America. However, such a large-scale logistics company does not have a truck. At present, there are 15,000 truckless carriers in the United States.

Truckless carriers generally do not engage in specific transportation business, but only engage in transportation organization, cargo distribution, and selection of transportation methods and routes. Their income mainly comes from the freight price difference generated by large-scale "wholesale" transportation.

For a long time, my country's road freight industry has been characterized by "many, small and scattered". Most truck drivers are individual drivers. This group is often limited to face-to-face transactions between acquaintances, and the efficiency of matching goods and vehicles is not high, resulting in excessively high logistics costs.

According to industry insiders, my country's logistics industry is often subcontracted. Generally, bulk cargo users outsource their cargo to large logistics companies, which in turn subcontract to various trunk logistics companies, which in turn subcontract to various branch logistics companies. After being transferred through various layers, the cargo is finally delivered to private truck owners.

In view of the characteristics of tiered logistics outsourcing, launching a pilot program of car-free enterprises engaging in transportation will promote the adjustment of the circulation industry structure, maximize the release of circulation potential, and reduce circulation costs.

"Trunk transport is prone to the emergence of a carless carrier model, such as point-to-point transport between cities." The head of the Transportation and Logistics Engineering Research Center of the Highway Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport told a reporter from China Automotive News that the trunk transport model is not very complicated. Carless carriers use various social relationships to obtain cargo sources and outsource transportation to relatively fixed individual transporters. Relatively speaking, large companies have higher management costs for fleets and drivers. From the perspective of drivers, theft of oil and seeking gray income have brought many difficulties to management. Individual drivers have lower comprehensive costs and greater flexibility, which also shows that the carless carrier model has certain advantages.

Policy support for pilot projects of truckless carriers

The multi-level subcontracting model of my country's logistics industry has led to high freight costs, and the overly long chain has seriously affected transportation efficiency. According to data provided by the Highway Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, my country's logistics costs account for as much as 16% of GDP and 25% to 30% of total product costs. my country's logistics industry is in a state of high cost and low profit.

The person in charge of the Transportation and Logistics Engineering Research Center of the Highway Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport said that we hope to organize scattered transportation capacity through carless carriers, improve the organizational level of the logistics industry, and thus improve logistics efficiency. At the same time, as the core link of transportation, carless carriers must have certain organizational and regulatory capabilities.

In order to encourage the innovative development of non-truck carrier logistics, accelerate the improvement of the system and mechanism adapted to the new economic form, enhance service capabilities, and promote the cost reduction and efficiency increase of the logistics industry, the Ministry of Transport has launched a pilot project for non-truck carriers in road freight across the country. In September 2016, the General Office of the Ministry of Transport issued the "Opinions on Promoting Reform Pilots to Accelerate the Innovative Development of Non-truck Carrier Logistics". The pilot project started in October 2016, and the implementation phase was from December 2016 to November this year. In December this year, provincial transportation authorities and pilot enterprises should summarize and evaluate the pilot work respectively.

Has a significant impact on freight development

Promoting the pilot program of truckless carriers will help eliminate the middle links in transportation, improve the efficiency of the logistics industry, reduce empty driving rates, and reduce transportation costs.

Dai Dingyi, executive vice president of the China Logistics Society, believes that my country's road freight market has entered a period of development dominated by structural adjustment, with deeper division of labor and cooperation. The country's promotion of the pilot program of non-truck carriers conforms to the current market structure adjustment and rapid changes, and promotes the deepening of social division of labor and cooperation. The pilot program of non-truck carriers will have a significant impact on the development of freight.

"The decentralized transportation resources based on the Internet have solved the current prominent problems in the freight logistics industry, such as empty vehicles and long waiting times for goods." The person in charge of the Transportation Logistics Engineering Research Center of the Highway Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport told reporters that relevant state departments are promoting the pilot program of truckless carriers across the country to improve logistics and transportation efficiency and thereby reduce transportation costs.

Promoting the model of truckless transport will allow individual transport operators, small and medium-sized enterprises, and cargo owners to gradually move from closed to open, which will be beneficial for my country's logistics market structure to gradually move from dispersion to concentration, and form a new business model of "zero but not chaotic, scattered but orderly".

As a new business model, the pilot program of truckless carriers has received policy support. Wang Jian, rotating chairman of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing Highway Freight Branch and general manager of Xinjie Logistics Group Co., Ltd., said that there are several types of companies that are qualified to become truckless carriers, such as IT companies, express delivery companies, and truck manufacturers.

As truck technology advances, some truck manufacturers may become truckless carriers. Wang Jian believes that Internet of Vehicles technology will be widely used in vehicles manufactured and sold by truck companies, which may form a real-time dispatchable transportation capacity system under the guidance of manufacturers. Truck manufacturers can use the user data information they have to provide a series of value-added services to car owners.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.