【China Startup】跑在路上的每一秒 | When logistics meets data

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=z0181xfkds5&width=500&height=375&auto=0Carrying over 8,400 tons of goods daily, serving daily necessities for 430 million families, highway cargo transportation has played a crucial role in people's daily lives in the country.

But the industry that relies heavily on transporting bulky freights only has slim estimates about the risks and uncertainties while on the road: It is difficult for businesses to assess the vehicles’ real-time location, road conditions and fuel consumption. Mostly, drivers have the autonomy of planning the journey, which could sometimes lead to unwarranted safety issues.

But one man has recognized the vacuum and is trying to bridge the gap between freight owners, businesses and drivers – and he is bringing the Internet to solve the existing inefficiencies.

Zhai Xuehun’s G7 Huitongtianxia, a logistics Internet company, aims to provide data on Internet platforms to link every terminal of the trucking industry.

Despite data playing an important role in revolutionizing trucking transportation as expressways expanded in China, it was difficult for people in the industry to get a clear picture of the vehicles’ conditions on the road until they started using the data analysis function on the Internet. And Zhai’s innovation is just taking this a step further.

The road on the Web

On an expressway in north Beijing, a lorry whizzes in full speed passing through the gas stations, toll centers and the crossing intersections one by one. While it might have been difficult to know the vehicle’s status before, Zhai’s technology now allows everyone in the logistical chain, from freight owners to businessmen and suppliers, to keep track of the vehicular movements.

Every move on the road is recorded by a small digital box in the vehicle, and the data is consequently transferred to G7’s cloud storage. Logistics companies and truck owners can receive real-time updates on the vehicular movement through an in-office system or a mobile app called Shoujiguanche, meaning mobile vehicle management in Chinese.

Zhai believes that data is the infrastructure of the cargo industry and his efforts have been welcomed by major Chinese logistic companies since it started its data service five years ago. The 48-year-old entrepreneur said that his firm’s services only cost a small fraction – owners typically pay an installation fee and choose packages for data they would like to receive.

“A truck driving on a winding mountain would have more potential dangers than a truck on the roads in Beijing,” Zhai said. “Without exact data, those vehicles could end up with the same insurance deal, which could further hamper the market.”

The daily route vehicles installed with G7’s data service run in Chinese mainland

Zhai said his company caters to more than 90% of major freight companies with over 200 vehicles. However, he was quick to point out the strong clientele doesn’t mean the industry has widely adopted his technology.

But as his business witnessed better prospects, in 2015, G7 received a 30 million US dollars venture financing from Tencent, one of China’s biggest Internet companies.

An innovative birth

Before the birth of G7 — the name is adopted from Guodao No.7 highway, a code name for Beijing–Urumqi Expressway — Zhai had worked in the logistics industry for more than a decade. His experience in the industry thus gave him connections to promote his venture.

“I always thought that the Internet could bring great changes for logistics,” said the entrepreneur with a technical background. “The point was to wait for the right time.”

In 2010, Zhai decided to grasp the opportunity and lead logistics into the new era. With its headquarters in Beijing, G7 has now expanded to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu and has over 800 technicians on board.

The live route vehicles installed with G7’s data service run in the city of Shanghai.

The live route vehicles installed with G7’s data service run in the city of Chengdu.

G7, on one hand, had become a pioneering service in fetching the vehicular movement data, updating everyone in the business chain. On the other hand, it was also providing supporting information that would eventually help logistics companies – G7 aims to make it easier for them to calculate traveling expenses, insurance and financing.

While technology and services from companies like G7 have worked well for people who are up in the business chain, Zhai said the market is still very concentrated – one of the major challenges for the company. He also said the drivers are still not accustomed to the Internet in a shifting industry where mobile technology has advanced dramatically.

The other challenges, Zhai said, is to make the business mainstream so everyone has access to it. Currently, despite having a large market share, G7’s clients only take up less than 10% of cargo trucks on China’s roads. And while digitalization of consumption has been a popular trend in China, the Internet revolution is only slowly picking pace in the trucking industry as data technology hasn’t fully flourished.

“The sense of well-organized working format has long been ignored,” Zhai said. “Apart from that, immaturity of data technology in China has also set barrier for the field to follow up the Internet age.”

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