Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Discusses Safe Chuseok Delivery Management Measures at Courier Industry Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 10th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a meeting with the courier industry to discuss countermeasures for handling the surge in delivery volume due to the recent novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), protection of workers, and strengthening quarantine measures.

Representatives from companies such as CJ Logistics, Lotte Global Logistics, Hanjin, Logen, Coupang, and Market Kurly attended the meeting.

Typically, during the Chuseok peak season, courier volumes increase by more than 10%, but this year, due to the impact of COVID-19, the volume is expected to increase by at least 30% compared to previous years. In fact, the courier volume from January to June this year reached 1.6 billion boxes, surpassing half of last year's total volume of 2.8 billion boxes.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained the recommendations for strengthening management of courier volumes during the Chuseok peak season and COVID-19 response, as well as protection measures for workers, and requested active compliance.

The Ministry notified recommendations including additional deployment of courier vehicles and personnel, prohibition of disadvantages to delivery workers for legitimate delayed deliveries, designation of health managers for courier workers at each branch office and management and reporting of health status, regular health management of courier workers, strengthening facility quarantine, and self-inspections.

The Ministry plans to establish an emergency communication system among the government, courier companies, and associations for two weeks from September 21 to October 5 to monitor the implementation of the recommendations for handling delivery volumes and protecting workers.

The inspection results will be reflected in the annual service evaluation conducted for courier companies. Courier companies that fail to properly implement the recommendations will be prohibited from increasing the number of courier vehicles for a certain period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.