The Ministry of Transport Issued a Notice to Reduce Logistics Costs Again

On June 3, the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Forwarding the Implementation Opinions of the Ministry of Transport of the National Development and Reform Commission on Further Reduction of Logistics Costs (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") was released, which made clear arrangements for many aspects affecting logistics costs. Specific regulations have also been made in five areas closely related to freight and vehicles, including supercharge control, high-speed free, repeated charges, financial credit and supply chain.

Rule 1: Scientific over-limit and overload control and system cost reduction

"The minimum speed allowed on expressways is generally around 60 kilometers per hour, while overrun trucks are generally around 30-40 kilometers per hour, which reduces the speed of expressways and easily causes traffic accidents and road congestion. " Henan truck driver Mr. Zhang is very troubled by the potential safety hazards and traffic jams caused by the long-standing truck overload and overrun problem in the industry.

In response to these problems, the Notice emphasizes the need to scientifically promote the management of vehicle overloads. Specifically, it includes: promote the normalization and institutionalization of joint law enforcement for overtravel control, refine the law enforcement process, and strictly implement the unified national law enforcement standards for overtravel control; carry out the control of illegal modification of freight vehicles by models and stages, and gradually eliminate various non-compliant models; organize and carry out special treatments for dangerous goods tankers.

Industry insiders believe that overloading and over-limiting is a long-standing "old problem", and governance is not a matter of overnight. We should formulate scientific and orderly governance procedures, refine law enforcement procedures, and fight long-term battles to make achievements, thereby reducing logistics costs as a whole.

Moreover, the Notice made arrangements to reduce logistics costs from the institutional aspects of improving the procedures for licenses and permits, maintaining the normal order of the road freight market, optimizing the management of urban distribution vehicles, and promoting the facilitation of customs clearance.

Rule 2: Encourage toll-free traffic, reduce taxes and fees

"For fresh agricultural products, the state stipulates that the green channel can be used for free, but some areas still charge for this, which increases our transportation costs." The experience of Mr. Niu, a truck driver who runs vegetables and fruits all the year round, still exists in some areas.

The transportation of fresh and live agricultural products mentioned above is only one of the toll-free projects. To reduce the taxes and fees, the Notice clearly proposes to reduce the cost of road traffic and strengthen the supervision of toll behavior in the logistics field.

In terms of reducing traffic costs, first, promote differentiated tolls on expressways and guide the diversion of vehicles on congested sections and time periods to further improve traffic efficiency, deepen the reform of expressway electronic non-stop toll collection, strengthen the road network operation guarantee after the cancellation of expressway toll stations at the provincial boundary, so as not to increase the overall burden of truck tolls; secondly, encourage qualified places to buy back toll rights for operating ordinary toll roads. Implement free passage of vehicles, especially implement the "green channel" policy for the transportation of fresh agricultural products, and effectively reduce its transportation costs.

In terms of reducing fees, strictly implement the fee items and standard publicity system, and intensify investigation and punishment of acts that do not charge according to the published price standard or increase the charge items at will; investigate and deal with violations of laws and regulations such as compulsory fees, only fees but no services, and excessive fees.

The industry believes that this issue has not been raised for the first time. However, with the implementation and supervision of the Notice, it is expected to fundamentally solve the related "chaos" and effectively reduce logistics costs.

Rule 3: Do not repeatedly install positioning devices to reduce information costs

Currently, many trucks that have installed satellite positioning devices are still required to repeatedly install satellite positioning devices at their locations. One of the "mysteries" is that local government agencies or service providers can charge various amounts of "rental fees", "information service fees" and other fees.

In response to the preceding "local policies", the Notice proposes to promote the sharing of logistics information and reduce the cost of truck positioning information. The Notice specifically points out that for freight vehicles that have been installed with satellite positioning devices before leaving the factory, no unit may require repeated installation of satellite positioning devices. Moreover, the Notice standardizes the charging behavior of freight vehicle positioning information service providers, and reduces the burden of logistics enterprises and truck drivers using positioning information.

"Repeated charges and arbitrary charges are behaviors that the state has always strictly prohibited. The excuse of satellite positioning should not be used to increase the cost of logistics and transportation. " Du Fangci, consultant of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, emphasized. "The requirements of the Notice reflect the voice of logistics companies and truck drivers, and the responsible department is arranged to completely resolve this irregular behavior."

Rule 4: Strengthen financing support and reduce factor costs

"Many car owners borrow money to buy trucks. Whether there are more favorable financial policies to lower interest rates, especially whether the loan repayment can be delayed in the case of the pandemic, is our concern. " What Mr. Jia, the boss of a logistics company in Hebei, said to reporters was representative.

The "Notice" pointed out that banking financial institutions should be guided to strengthen financing support for logistics enterprises, encourage the standardized development of supply chain finance, rely on core enterprises to strengthen financial services for upstream and downstream small and micro enterprises. Give full play to the comprehensive credit service platform for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises in China, and promote the "Xinyi Loan" model.

"The preceding principled regulations are equivalent to widening the boundaries for the financial services of banking financial institutions. This is conducive to logistics enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises, to enjoy financial services convenience measures, and reduce the burden on costs. This is also an integral part of reducing logistics costs." Liang Zheng, deputy director of the China Science and Technology Policy Research Center of Tsinghua University, said in an interview with a reporter from China Auto News.

In this regard, the Notice also put forward relevant requirements for ensuring the demand for logistics land, improving the assessment of logistics land, and improving the risk compensation and sharing mechanism.

Rule 5: Improve the development level of the supply chain and reduce the overall cost

At present, the logistics industry in some parts of China still has problems such as individual or small transportation companies, small scale, scattered distribution, and weak strength, which restricts the logistics industry from reducing costs and hinders the logistics industry from becoming bigger and stronger.

In response, the Notice put forward a number of measures to promote the construction of logistics infrastructure network, cultivate backbone logistics enterprises, improve the development level of modern supply chain, accelerate the development of smart logistics, actively develop green logistics and other aspects, make arrangements to reduce overall logistics costs and improve logistics strength.

"The Notice proposes to develop smart logistics, green logistics, and improve emergency logistics support capabilities in emergency situations, which have important practical significance." Liang Zheng believes that the development of automated and intelligent smart logistics and green logistics can minimize human interference factors and logistics costs.

In addition, the Notice makes relevant provisions for the "medium obstruction" of multimodal transport. For example, standardization of logistics loading equipment, compliance with international standards, promoting the application of inland containers, and reduce the cost of multimodal transportation.

"Compared with previous related policies, the Notice issued this time is more comprehensive and specific. It reduces hidden and explicit costs by simplifying the supervision process and lowering the fee standard, and promotes multimodal transport, which helps improve the logistics efficiency. " Du Fangci said that the Notice highlights key points and provides effective measures. It also clarifies the division of labor and responsibilities of the competent departments, which will effectively promote the reduction of logistics and transportation costs.

(Source: China Automobile News)