Nov. 11, 2024
Source: ifeng Finance
The 2024 “Double 11” shopping festival — dubbed the longest in history — saw China’s courier industry hit record-breaking peaks. According to the State Post Bureau, on November 11 alone, postal and express companies handled 701 million parcels, reaching 151% of normal daily volume.
Unlike previous years’ reliance on “more people, more vans,” this year’s operations leaned heavily on technology — drones, unmanned parcel lockers, and autonomous logistics vehicles. Behind the smooth flow of deliveries, Rino.ai’s driverless vehicles played a crucial role.
Multiple logistics giants — including SF Express, JD Logistics, ZTO, STO, YTO, Yunda, and J&T — accelerated deployment of autonomous delivery fleets for the shopping festival. Rino.ai’s unmanned vehicles became trusted helpers for thousands of couriers, ensuring faster delivery and higher service quality during the nation’s busiest logistics season.
Easing the Workload for Couriers
In Wuhan’s Dongxihu District, a driverless white Rino.ai R3 vehicle quietly rolled into an SF Express hub on the evening of November 9, carrying more than 30 collected parcels back from residential areas.
This “new team member,” on site for just one month, features a 3 m³ cargo bay and a 500 kg payload capacity. During the Double 11 peak, it ran at full capacity — two trips each morning and afternoon, handling 600–800 parcels daily, with around 20% being collected items.
“Our couriers are responsible for door-to-door delivery in residential communities. During Double 11, with the surge in deliveries and returns, they barely have time to return to the hub,” explained Zhang Xiaogang, SF Express station manager. “With Rino.ai’s unmanned vehicles doing the collection runs, couriers can focus on sorting at the transfer point and delivering to customers, without making exhausting round-trips.”
The result: one courier now handles the workload of two, significantly improving service speed and customer satisfaction.
Cutting Costs and Increasing Throughput at Hubs and Parcel Stations
For larger hubs, capacity demands are even greater. At the Panlongcheng shared distribution center in Wuhan, management chose the Rino.ai R5 model, with a 5 m³ cargo bay capable of carrying over 600 parcels per trip.
“Before, during Double 11, workdays doubled in length — we’d finish after midnight,” recalled operations manager Chen Guoqing. “Since adopting unmanned vehicles, we finish by 6 or 7 p.m., even in peak season.”
With 5–6 round trips per day, a single Rino.ai R5 delivers up to 3,000 parcels daily. In the past, the same volume required two vans and two drivers, at more than double the cost.
Downstream parcel stations see similar gains. Fang Yang, a Cainiao Station owner, noted:
“Before, I had to send staff to pick up parcels from the hub — two trips a day, over two hours each. Now Rino.ai delivers directly, arriving almost two hours earlier, so we can start deliveries sooner and save 1–2 staff positions.”
Scaling Autonomous Delivery Nationwide
As of August 2024, China’s express delivery volume surpassed 10 billion parcels, 71 days earlier than in 2023. Yet labor shortages remain acute, especially during national shopping festivals and Lunar New Year promotions.
Autonomous delivery is emerging as a powerful solution. Rino.ai has already partnered with SF Express, ZTO, YTO, Yunda, and others to deploy unmanned vehicles at courier hubs nationwide.
“During Double 11, our vehicles delivered hundreds of thousands of parcels across China,” said Chen Jian, Rino.ai’s Head of Marketing. “We’ve received requests from Jiangsu, Anhui, Gansu, Hubei, Shandong, Jiangxi, and more. All are scheduled for rollout and regular operations this quarter.”
By October 2024, Rino.ai vehicles had been deployed in 30+ cities, covering over 10 million kilometers on public roads — gaining unmatched operational and autonomous driving experience. Looking ahead, the company will continue innovating in vehicle models, services, and application scenarios to accelerate commercial adoption.
