Author: Zhang Ke

3 years of military career, 7 commendations, 1 third-class merit, "seeing righteousness and courage as an advanced individual", "moral model", "the most beautiful Zunyi person", several times assisted the police to capture robbery and theft suspects...

These "achievements" may be difficult to hook with the impression of rugged-looking and somewhat scruffy truck drivers. But this is indeed the "different life" of You Dexiang, a truck driver in Zunyi, Guizhou.

The 2022 "Most Beautiful Truck Driver" selection activity sponsored by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions has just completed the preliminary selection, and 100 "Most Beautiful Truck Drivers" stand out. You Dexiang is one of them.

In China's road freight industry, there are about 1800 million employees like You Dexiang, who carry about eighty percent of the freight volume and one-third of the cargo turnover of the whole society. From May 5 to 17, the first financial reporter interviewed You Dexiang with the car in Guizhou to experience the real work and life of truck drivers.

The biggest difficulty is finding the goods

At about 18 a.m. on the 9th, You Dexiang drove his second-hand FAW truck to the side of the road of Manbang Company in Huaxi District, Guiyang City. Check tires, lights, canvas ropes, etc. The reporter saw in the cab that behind the driver's seat and co-pilot was a simple bed with a pillow and a quilt.

"When loading the car, I take a break on the bunk. If you run long distances, find a place to park at night and sleep in the car. He said. At this time, a driver got down from the big truck opposite You Dexiang, skillfully opened the water tank in the lower part of the car and received a basin of water, washed his face and brushed his teeth in one go.

At 11 o'clock, You Dexiang grabbed a single order through the Manbang platform. This order is a 3-ton shipment of more than 50 mahjong machines and accessories. The goods were loaded from Yuecheng Smart Logistics Park, Fenjin Road, Jinhua Town, Guanshanhu District, Guiyang City, and transported to Gongqing <>nd Road, Honghuagang District, Zunyi City.

After 10 minutes, You Dexiang's truck started. A few minutes later, I got on the Guiyang Ring Expressway. "40 minutes to pick up. After picking up the goods, it takes more than 3 hours to go directly to Zunyi. You Dexiang said, "This single is close. Run the fastest and 'cross' 5 provinces in one day! ”

While driving, he told reporters, "You should be especially careful when driving a large truck, especially to observe the road conditions at any time according to the situation of the goods, maintain the speed, and not damage the goods." After arriving, you must also say as many good things as possible, so that the other party will pay very happily. ”

You Dexiang, a 51-year-old native of Zunyi, Guizhou, drives a large truck at a transportation company. Like many truck drivers, he is on the go all year round, eating and living in the car. In his 12-year long-haul trucking career, he has driven nearly 420.<> million kilometers safely and accident-free.

"I came from a peasant background and joined the army after graduating from junior high school." You Dexiang said that when he was in the army, he received many awards for his excellent military technology, drove a taxi after retiring, and drove safely for 4680,<> days with zero complaints.

In 2015, You Dexiang used his savings of more than 5,<> yuan to buy the current second-hand truck, joined the army of truck drivers, and embarked on a new road of entrepreneurship.

"The biggest difficulty for freight drivers is to find goods, and if they deliver the goods to their destination and drive back empty, instead of making money, they may also lose money." Therefore, we cardholders have formed the habit of solidarity and mutual assistance, sharing cargo information with each other, exchanging information about each other, trying to help brothers contact the source of goods, and do not run empty. You Dexiang said.

In August 2021, You Dexiang was elected as the secretary of the mobile party branch. One of the functions of mobile party branches is to collect appeals, feedback, and solve problems. "On the first day, we received more than 8 appeals from truck drivers, indicating that most cargo owners did not pay the freight according to the prescribed time or at the price agreed in advance." He said.

You Dexiang told the first financial reporter that truck drivers also communicate online through WeChat groups, and in each work group, there are also staff from relevant departments. "This is conducive to the relevant departments to accurately understand the situation in the first time and solve the problem in time."

It is still facing greater pressure to survive

According to data provided by the Guizhou Provincial Department of Transportation, by the end of 2022, there were 7447,25 road freight operators and 7,<> truck drivers in Guizhou.

"For Guizhou, which is located in the hinterland of the southwest inland region and has mostly plateau and mountains, road transportation is the transportation mode with the largest proportion of passenger and freight traffic in the province." On the 17th, the relevant person in charge of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Transport told the first financial reporter.

Relevant people of Manbang Group also said that the truck driver group has supported freight logistics, made important contributions to economic development and people's livelihood improvement, and is the main force of the road freight industry, and is also an important part of the new format and new employment group.

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, the country completed a total of 118.7 billion tons of freight in the first quarter, an increase of 5% year-on-year. Among them, the freight volume of railway, road and waterway completed 12.6 billion tons, 85.7 billion tons and 20.4 billion tons respectively, an increase of 3.2%, 5.2% and 5.4% respectively year-on-year. From the perspective of freight volume, the overall trend is good.

However, many people engaged in road freight also reported that the current market demand for cargo transportation is still insufficient, with more vehicles and less cargo, high oil prices, and low freight rates.

In April this year, the "4 Truck Driver Employment Status Survey Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed that 2022.69% of truck drivers reported that oil prices rose while freight rates did not rise or even fall accordingly, and their earnings were affected. 01.61% of freight drivers believe that the low freight rate is due to the surplus of vehicles, and 93.60% of truck drivers report that the low freight rate is due to insufficient supply of goods.

The "Report" also reflects that at present, truck drivers are still facing greater survival pressure. The survey data shows that the age of truck drivers is concentrated in the 36~45 years old, accounting for 48.68% of the surveyed truck drivers, accounting for the same proportion as the previous year; The proportion of drivers over 46 years old was 33.84%, accounting for a large increase. Overall, it reflects that the problem of "aging" of truck driver practitioners is gradually deepening.

According to the report, survey data shows that more than half (50.15%) of truck drivers said that there is no stable source of goods; 36.02% of truck drivers have a unilateral stable supply of goods; Only 11.36% of truck drivers have a bilateral stable supply supply.

Among the truck drivers surveyed, 28.45% worked an average of 12 hours or more per day. Overall, more than three-quarters (76.21%) of drivers work an average of 8 hours or more per day, and the overall labor intensity is relatively large. Most drivers suffer from occupational diseases. Survey data shows that 72.37% of truck drivers suffer from occupational diseases such as stomach disease, cervical spondylosis, and high blood pressure because of driving.

The survey data also shows that the average monthly net income of truck drivers is concentrated in 5000~8000 yuan, accounting for 28.13%; The proportion of net income between 8000~10000 yuan is 23.05%, and the total of the two is about 51.18%. Truck drivers with an average monthly net income of more than 10000,21 yuan accounted for 42.<>%.

Continuation of preferential policies related to cargo transportation

The first financial reporter learned in the interview that at present, truck drivers have "highly dependent" on various freight platforms. Survey data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing also shows that 87% of truck drivers report that they look for sources of goods through freight Internet platforms.

Manbang Group's online digital freight platform provides direct connection services to shippers and drivers. The calculation data shows that the Manbang platform reduces the empty driving rate of return vehicles by providing return cargo sources to truck drivers and network path planning between multiple source points. Taking the 2020 data as an example, the cumulative reduction of carbon emissions in that year was 1168.2020 million tons. By reducing the vacancy rate, carbon emissions were reduced by 170.<> million tons in <>.

"Truck drivers and platforms are user relationships." According to the relevant person in charge of Manbang Group, at present, the platform serves more than 1000 million certified driver users and more than 500 million cargo owner users, and its business covers 339 major cities across the country. The annual scale of matching and transportation reached 7000 billion yuan, covering more than 11,64 lines, accounting for about <>% of the total number of digital freight platforms in China.

In response to the low freight rate generally reported by truck drivers, Manbang Group gave full play to the advantages of platform operation and launched functions such as "increase freight rate reminder" according to freight dynamics in real time, so that freight rates can follow market changes. Since the launch of this feature, the number of times the platform cargo owners have actively increased the price for drivers has exceeded 20,<>.

In November 2022, the Manbang platform implemented the "five-star cargo owner" mechanism, announcing a batch of cargo owners who "do not default on freight for no reason", "do not cancel orders without reason" and "maintain friendly communication with drivers", so that drivers can take orders more at ease.

The first financial reporter learned from the Ministry of Transport that at present, 12328% of the business accepted by the "90" transportation service supervision hotline is consulting, and 10% is complaints and reports. The Ministry of Transport has taken the complaints and reports reported by truck drivers such as arbitrary charges, fines, and illegal law enforcement to the first level, that is, if the complaints are made to the prefecture or city, the province will supervise and handle them.

Survey data show that at present, 43.63% of truck drivers feel that the phenomenon of arbitrary tolls and fines on highways has improved, an increase over the previous year.

In September 2022, the General Office of the Ministry of Transport and the General Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions issued a notice on further promoting the construction of the "Driver's Home" to effectively improve the parking and rest environment for truck drivers, continuously expanding the "Driver's Home" service network, improving and improving service functions, providing more comfortable and convenient basic services such as parking, rest, catering, bathing, laundry, and toileting for the majority of truck drivers, and effectively improving the parking and rest environment and conditions.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing also recently suggested that the preferential relief of truck tolls and the deferred principal and interest repayment policy of truck loans should be continued, the cost of absorbing rising oil prices should be reasonably shared, and subsidies for employment and job stabilization should be increased. At the same time, clarify the timetable for the governance of illegal vehicles, reasonably guide and adjust the balance of supply and demand of transportation capacity, reasonably guide market freight rate expectations, and guide the platform to fully implement online transactions to eliminate duplicate orders and false orders.