Behind The Sharp Crisis Of Less Than Carload In Henan: The Pain Of "Long Tail" In Express Market

Calf, who has been a courier for a period of time, was deeply attracted by a recruitment advertisement of a logistics company when he returned home to look for a job during the Spring Festival.

"The driver's income is guaranteed to start at least 10000 yuan; Fuel and toll are all paid by the company; The more operating mileage, the higher the income; The income of drivers for 4-meter-2 model is 10000-13000, that of 6-meter-8-meter model is 15 thousand, and that of 9-meter-6 model is 18 thousand; No matter how much goods are pulled, the salary will be settled according to the attendance... "

Calf heart, joined the logistics company - Henan Youchi freight transport Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Youchi Wanli"). But soon after, the storm came. After only five months of operation, with five distribution centers, nearly 400 trucks and more than 200 franchise outlets, the head of Youchi Wanli was suspected to have lost contact shortly after it was rated as a national AAA logistics enterprise.

Nearly 400 truck drivers and a number of employee agents who left behind more than a month's wages were in arrears. Youchi Wanli, which was defeated, has become a fleeting spray in the blue ocean of trillion LTL express.

AB side of LCL Express

As the central nerve of East-West and North-South logistics transfer, Henan has inherited the opportunity of industrial transfer in the east by virtue of its population and plain advantages, and has become a "logistics province".

Data shows that as of December 31, 2020, there are more than 38000 logistics enterprises in Henan Province.

The market is huge and competitive, but the management is chaotic and the personnel are scattered. It is the AB side of the logistics industry in the Central Plains region which is "sitting on the truck". Of course, this is also the general situation of domestic LTL express industry.

In this province where goods run faster than people, in addition to the leading enterprises in the express industry such as annang, Debang, Yimi Dida, Tiandi Huayu and manbang, the truck drivers, porters and network personnel of the second and third tier logistics companies are also more common busy people who travel between cities and provinces.

At present, there are more retail investors and self-employed groups in domestic road transportation. Shen Yuan, a professor and head of the Department of sociology at Tsinghua University, believes that this "self-employed system" is a group characteristic of truck drivers. Its source of goods, high uncertainty of the route, long-term mobility and decentralized "atomization" survival mode form a sharp contrast with the labor of workshop workers.

Under the "self employment system", more than 90% of China's logistics enterprises average less than 5 vehicles (including affiliated vehicles); More than 90% of the operators engaged in road transportation are individual businesses; The running efficiency of vehicles is low. 60% of the vehicles are within 5000 km / month and more than 80% are within 10000 km / month.

Under the "long tail effect", truck drivers and cargo owners are extremely dispersed, and there is a high degree of information asymmetry. This is the pain point of the industry and a new business opportunity.

In September 2019, the Ministry of transport and the State Administration of Taxation issued the Interim Measures for the operation and management of road freight transport on network platform (hereinafter referred to as the measures), which requires to promote the intensive integration and efficient utilization of logistics resources. This group of truck drivers also came to the turning point of industry transformation.

Manbang, the "first digital freight forwarder", has sensed an opportunity to reach out to the 13.7 million truck drivers at the other end of the supply chain, trying to change the highly fragmented state of supply and demand, helping drivers and shippers to achieve rapid matching, and directly attacking the industry pain points such as high driving rate and rising cost during the driver's return journey.

Manbang is a leader in trying to integrate this long tail market, but more truck drivers have become victims of many enterprises doing the same thing.

"Pancake" for truck novice

A year ago, Youchi Wanli continued to put a large number of advertisements for "recruiting truck drivers with high salary" on watermelon videos, fast hand videos, shaking music videos and social platforms.

The publicity in the advertisement is dazzling: the lowest income of drivers is 10000 yuan; All fuel and road tolls are borne by the company; Monthly income according to the operating mileage, the longer the line, the higher the income... This moved the newcomers including calf who want to engage in logistics transportation.

According to the advertisement, there are three ways to join Youchi Wanli: to buy a car in full, to buy a car with a loan, or to pay a franchise fee to those who own the car.

Xiaoniu told the 21st century economic report that he bought a 4-meter-2 truck by way of loan. In March this year, he hastily paid a deposit of 5000 yuan, and then paid a down payment of more than 40000 yuan, including licensing fees. Finally, the calf applied for a 105000 loan with a monthly repayment of 3450 yuan. According to the calculation, in two and a half years, the calf can pay off the car loan.

Another driver provided the 21st century economic reporter with a "loan script sheet" printed with "Youchi Wanli". The purpose of this "script table" is to explain to customers that the price of approval may be lower than the price of application for car loan, and it is written that "the above content is to avoid the risk of signing a loan contract after approval, so customers must understand it".

The calf has been delivering goods at Hebi distribution center since March, but he has gradually discovered that the truth is not as good as the recruitment advertisement says. He paid the loan in the first month, and his salary was only 6000 yuan. What's more surprising is that after communicating with other drivers, the Mavericks only know that for the same model, it only takes about 700000 for the outside car shop, and it only takes about 100000 to complete the whole set of procedures.

In Hebi, he met Lao Wu.

Lao Wu bought his car from a car shop. As Lao Wu belongs to the group of self-supporting vehicles, joining Youchi Wanli needs to pay 38000 franchise fee. However, in the process of signing the contract in March, the staff members told them that the franchise fee was different. Sometimes they said 36000, sometimes they said 35000, and finally Lao Wu paid 38000.

Lao Liang was one of the earlier truck drivers to join the company. In February this year, he and the company signed an order for the purchase of a car, and agreed to buy the car with a full price of 148000 yuan, with a deposit of 9000 yuan.

Although Lao Liang knew that the same model in the local car shop for only 89 million, but from Youchi Wanli to buy a car, you can immediately apply for the license plate and obtain the business qualification, and take up the post as soon as possible. Lao Liang has been running special line passenger transport for some years. His monthly salary is only 7000, 000, and he can't drive a bus after he is 60 years old.

In mid April, Lao Liang paid in full. What he was puzzled about was that the other party only provided a handwritten receipt instead of an invoice for the purchase of more than 100000 cars.

On April 14, laoliang and Henan Youchi cargo transportation Co., Ltd. signed several contracts. It includes the "income guarantee agreement" that the monthly income of drivers who normally work for 26 days of regular bus departure and transportation tasks is no less than 10000 yuan (excluding fuel and road tolls). In addition, he signed the agreement on the carriage of goods by road for a period of one year.

Sudden running crisis

Youchi Wanli has made the promise of "full line next day delivery, 3 times compensation for overtime". Behind this promise, however, is backed up by a strict fine system for truck drivers.

Lao Wu also hesitated. However, if he wants to be affiliated with transportation and enjoy the minimum wage, he must sign the "overlord clause" called "Youchi Wanli vehicle management system", including "accept the work arrangement of vehicle dispatcher, obey the command, and leave the train on time. In case of violation, a fine of 100 yuan / time will be imposed. "“ The vehicle must arrive at the scene half an hour in advance after receiving the dispatching notice to arrange the task. If there is any problem, it is necessary to communicate with the dispatcher in advance. In case of being late, the company shall be fined 100 yuan / time for 10-30 minutes and 200 yuan / time for 30-60 minutes. The company shall have the right to unilaterally terminate the contract if it is late for more than three times a month. "

21st century economic reporter learned that the above-mentioned fine records are registered by the distribution center and deducted directly when paying wages. Fortunately and unfortunately, many drivers do not receive a "fine" because after May, they have not received a salary.

Youchi Wanli announced its launch on January 12 this year. At that time, the official television media of Henan Province broadcast the launch conference, and the five distribution centers in Zhengzhou, Luohe, Shangqiu, Luoyang and Hebi started at the same time; On March 1, Youchi Wanli announced again that there were more than 160 franchisees; In May, Youchi Wanli announced the good news of "16 outlets in five provinces" on the official wechat public account.

But it was in this month that Lao Liang, who had worked for a month, didn't get his first salary.

"For months or months, he always said that he would pay wages on Saturdays and Sundays, but he never paid them. He kept pushing back. Sometimes he said that system maintenance and system upgrading were all excuses." Lao Liang told the 21st century economic reporter.

On the other hand, Uber Wanli doesn't seem to be short of money. In June, Zhengzhou Distribution Center expanded and expanded its capacity in the past month, and won an entire logistics park.

Xiaoniu and Lao Wu are also aware of the difference.

The drivers of Hebi distribution point where they are located were all transferred to Zhengzhou distribution point. The original 100 km round-trip special line has become a one-way 100 km route, and sometimes even runs a 400 km one-way route, with the minimum wage unchanged. At the same time, drivers are paying more and more fuel and road tolls.

In fact, there is more than one doubt. A driver told the 21st century economic reporter that even if it is a long-distance transportation, there will be a phenomenon that there will be goods when going back to space-time vehicles. "This is a big taboo for highway freight transportation."

However, UCCI Wanli still seems to be able to maintain a thriving side. Also in June, this self claimed to be the "logistics platform with the most service advantages in Henan Province", and was rated as a national AAA logistics enterprise.

It was not until the "July 20" heavy rain disaster in Zhengzhou, Henan province that the surface of Youchi's gold and jade was finally torn.

On July 21, Zhengzhou Distribution Center shut down for one day. The next day, the trucks of several drivers were washed away by the flood. The drivers found the crane at their own expense to rescue the vehicles in the flood, but the dispatching center asked the drivers to leave normally on the same day; On July 25, the wechat public account of Youchi Wanli released an article about the company's rush to the disaster area.

Even if there is no pay claim for several months in a row, most drivers still stick to the road under the strict fine system.

The "conflict" broke out completely on July 28. On that day, nearly 400 drivers of Youchi Wanli found that the outlets that should have received goods suddenly notified the warehouse clearance, and the company's executives were suspected of losing contact.

Some drivers tried to stop the goods in the distribution center and use them as bargaining chips in their negotiations. And the driver who is carrying a car loan does not know who to ask for his salary with the loss of the person in charge of Youchi Wanli.

On August 5, the reporter of 21st century economic report called the customer service hotline of Youchi Wanli, and found that the hotline can be transferred to join in, order, goods inspection, cooperation, satisfaction center, franchised vehicles, complaints and manual services. In addition to the franchise car service, the voice of "inconvenient to answer" will pop up after ringing for a period of time.

A staff member answering the special line for franchised cars said, "if the business is at present, the business of cars will be suspended. Because there are some conditions here, the government is coordinating with each other, so we can only call later to ask. "

A Youchi Wanli agent reminded reporters of the 21st century economic report who asked about the joining of outlets, "don't join in, don't trust them, the outlets are all stopped." Another agent said that his salary in June had not been settled, and he could not contact the person in charge of the company at present.

It is worth noting that, according to the data released by the Federation of logistics and purchasing of Henan Province, in July, affected by factors such as large-scale flood disaster, high temperature and outbreak of epidemic situation in some areas, the logistics operation in the province suffered a serious impact. The prosperity index of the logistics industry dropped sharply to 48.8%, 1.5 percentage points lower than the national average level and 6.5 percentage points lower than the national average level, which was the lowest point since this year. Intern Fei Xinyi reports from Shanghai