In China's traditional freight logistics sector, a persistent challenge has been the difficulty in matching shippers' needs with appropriate transport vehicles. Many shippers spend excessive time and resources searching for suitable transportation solutions due to significant information asymmetry between cargo owners and transport providers.
The industry also suffers from insufficient transparency during transportation processes, leaving shippers with limited control and visibility over their shipments' status. Meanwhile, truck drivers frequently face the dilemma of returning empty after deliveries, resulting in inefficient resource utilization and substantial economic waste. These systemic issues have constrained the sector's healthy development, leading to overall inefficiency that fails to meet modern economic demands.
The rapid advancement of "Internet Plus" technologies, particularly big data, cloud computing and IoT, is injecting new momentum into the industry's transformation. These innovations enable real-time data integration, sharing and analysis, creating efficient information channels between shippers, logistics companies and drivers to address traditional pain points.
A recently developed land transport management platform has gained significant industry recognition by combining mobile internet, IoT and cloud computing technologies. The platform has notably improved logistics resource integration and service quality while establishing a transparent, traceable transaction environment that accelerates industry upgrading.
The comprehensive platform facilitates online transaction matching, operations management, settlement processing, insurance services and tax administration. By significantly enhancing supply chain transparency and reducing information asymmetry, it allows shippers to quickly locate transport resources, helps logistics firms obtain accurate shipment data, and enables drivers to minimize empty runs through efficient order matching.
Since its 2012 launch, the platform has been successfully implemented across multiple provinces. In Chongqing alone, it serves over 30 corporate users with 300-500 daily shipment postings, reflecting growing shipper expectations for efficiency and quality in the new economic normal.
One Chongqing freight company reported 25% efficiency gains and markedly improved delivery times after adopting the platform. Previously requiring time-consuming phone negotiations to secure vehicles, the company now benefits from intelligent matching that recommends optimal transport solutions based on capacity, routes and cost.
The platform has also pioneered an "Internet Plus logistics plus taxation" model to address industry tax burdens. By integrating with national tax systems, it enables individual drivers to obtain general taxpayer status and facilitates VAT invoice processing using authentic logistics data—resolving longstanding billing difficulties while strengthening tax oversight.
These transformations extend beyond operational efficiencies to reshape economic fundamentals. The platform strengthens trust between shippers and drivers, optimizing resource allocation. Drivers can now source return cargo through the system rather than making empty trips, significantly reducing deadhead mileage.
Facing this digital disruption, traditional logistics firms are urgently pursuing transformation through platform partnerships and internal digital teams. Industry observers anticipate further revolutionary changes from emerging technologies like autonomous driving and blockchain, which promise additional cost reductions, efficiency gains and enhanced transparency.
As internet technologies breathe new life into logistics, the sector is evolving toward greater efficiency, transparency and compliance. Through multi-stakeholder collaboration and innovation, digital transformation is poised to create win-win outcomes for shippers, logistics providers and drivers while supporting broader economic recovery and development.
