Two or three redeliveries ... How can I reduce it? Mar 2 at 3:3

"There are times when the percentage of redeliveries is 4% at most, and I think there are unavoidable circumstances, but if you are absent at a specified time, you will be like, 'Why?' I think..."About

50 billion Japan couriers a year. Through interviews with delivery drivers who deliver each of them, I realized the reality that packages are delivered every day at the last minute. With the spread of online shopping, the number of courier services continues to increase. What can we do? (Economic Affairs Department reporter Akira Taruno / Yamaguchi bureau reporter Shohei Ikeda)

The redelivery rate is as high as 4% ... Actual situation at the delivery site

In mid-March, I was able to accompany a delivery driver in his 3s.

On the day he agreed to be interviewed, he delivered about 40 packages in one day.

What impressed me was the way they got out of the car and delivered while running.

He was holding a nearly 10-kilogram box of drinking water bottles and pressing the intercom in a hurry.

Driver
: "When I'm on sale on an online shopping site, I tend to deliver packages especially hard, and in my case, the maximum number of packages I can deliver in one day is about 1, but if I don't run, I can't make it in time. I'm already running because I'm already in a habit."

One of the biggest burdens is the redelivery of packages.

If you ring the intercom twice and there is no response, you will have to return the luggage you have carried back into the car.

In this case, you will visit three or four more times on the same day, and if you are still absent, you will return to delivery the next day.

Of the 3 packages that accompanied the delivery, 4 were absent.

Almost one in three was re-delivered.

Even if you start delivery at 14 a.m., it is often after 5 p.m. that everything is finished.

Driver
: "There are times when the percentage of redeliveries is as high as 4%, and I think there are unavoidable circumstances. But why is it that I am absent at a specified time? I sometimes think. If you can complete a delivery in one go, that's better, so I would like to see it change if possible."

This is a transportation company in Fuchu City, Tokyo, to which this driver belongs.

We also contract with sole proprietorship delivery companies to deliver various products such as daily necessities and foods ordered through online shopping.

This means that the percentage of redelivered packages in this company is about 18% overall.

The unit price of delivery work is fixed per package.

It is necessary to handle the number at a unit price of about several hundred yen, and even if the burden increases due to redelivery, it does not increase the income of the company or the driver.

The president of a shipping company believes that a fundamental system must be put in place to reduce redeliveries.

Naozumi Shimura, President of Delivery Service: "The system is such that doing the number leads to profits, so if you can't deliver in your absence,
there are big disadvantages.

Reduce redelivery! Government to focus efforts

"I would like the public to understand that there are things that can be done as a person who sends and receives packages, and I would like the public to cooperate with us,"

said Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Saito on March 3, announcing that intensive efforts will be made to reduce redeliveries for one month in April.

・ Specify
the time zone when you can receive the package reliably, use of "drop-off delivery" to deliver the package to the door, etc., pick it up at a convenience store
, use a delivery box in the city, etc.

Our policy is to thoroughly disseminate content that seeks understanding of these initiatives to users, such as by posting them on each website.

Expanding the variety of ways to receive

What can we do?

The movement of that hand is spreading.

Yper, a venture company in Tokyo, handles bags for "drop-off delivery".

The bag can be folded using a wire with a lock and hung on the front door knob.

When unfolded, it has a capacity of 2 18-liter plastic bottles.

In addition to having a padlock to lock the zipper, it saves space, so it is easy to introduce even in apartment complexes such as condominiums.

In a demonstration experiment conducted in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, to investigate the effects of these bags, 478 citizens participated.

This means that we were able to reduce the percentage of redelivered packages by more than 80%.

Tomoharu Uchiyama, President of YPER: "We have received feedback that the number of redeliveries has decreased and it has become possible to receive packages comfortably,
and we believe that if this style spreads, it will definitely contribute to the efficiency of delivery."

Some companies allow you to choose "drop-off delivery" by ordering online.

IKEA, which handles furniture and daily necessities, changed the method to ask if they want to leave it for delivery when ordering online.

It was introduced in response to the needs of users who want to receive packages without contact due to the new corona, but now about half of them choose to leave their luggage for delivery.

The number of people who say, "Even if you are at home, it is easier to leave it at home" is increasing, and we are considering changing the default setting to delivery in the future.

Ryusuke Okubo, IKEA Japan
: "I think it's convenient that you don't have to wait at home to wait for your package to arrive. We need to work together to maintain it, and as a retail company, we want to do what we can."

There is also a movement to try to ease the burden by deliberately delaying deliveries.

In August last year, Yahoo! JAPAN and other companies launched a service on the mail-order site "LOHACO" that allows customers to choose the delivery date from 8 days to 3 days later on a specific day of each month.

Instead of slowing down deliveries, users are rewarded with points.

The later the delivery date, the higher the points.

Half of the users now choose late delivery, and the response from users has been excellent.

Is redelivery a "natural service"?

Overseas, there are many cases where redelivery incurs additional charges, or you have to go to the distribution center to pick up the package instead of redelivery.

They re-deliver it many times until the package is delivered, and there is no additional charge...

I've been used to this kind of service for a long time.

Through the interview, I felt that the time has come to reflect on the fact that it has been made possible with the support of people working in the logistics industry.

Reporter
of the Ministry of Economic AffairsAkira
TarunoAfter joining
the
Fukushima Bureau in 2012, he was in charge of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism at the Economic Affairs Department.

Yamaguchi Broadcasting Station reporter
Shohei
IkedaAfter joining the Takamatsu station in
2015, he covered the issues of the local economy to which he currently belongs
.