HEFEI, April 15 (Xinhua) -- For Wu Jianbao, a 41-year-old truck driver, life is taking a sweet turn as he drives his truck loaded with goods again on his familiar route as the novel coronavirus ebbs away.
Wu earns 2,000 yuan (282.1 U.S. dollars) more on each trip than before the epidemic, as China suspended highway tolls across the country and oil prices dropped.
At its peak, the novel coronavirus outbreak had interrupted logistics across the country, but with transportation restrictions lifted and companies resuming work recently, truck drivers like Wu are getting back on track.
According to major Chinese truck logistics platform Manbang Group, activities on the platform in March increased 47 percent month on month, while the orders, though slightly lower year on year, surged 89.5 percent compared with that of February.
Wu had only two trips in February and, on one of them, he waited for over four days for a company to fully load the truck as production fell.
"Now as companies resume work, as soon as we arrive in the factories, the goods can be loaded," Wu said. He ran four trips in March.
As of March 28, 98.6 percent of major industrial firms nationwide had restarted work, according to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
"There's an obvious increase in the number of vehicles on highways," said Wu. "We have to find a service area at around 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to park and spend the night before the lots are full of other truck drivers."
Chen Jianhua, an executive in Chaohu Feiyan Logistics Co., Ltd. in China's eastern province of Anhui, echoed the business surge.
The company, which started to resume work on as early as Feb. 8, saw few drivers and orders initially.
"Drivers were not willing to come to work and the market demand was not strong back then, with most orders being fruits, food and medical supplies," Chen recalled. "The cost and risk were both high for inter-provincial transportation."
The situation began getting better in late March as more vehicles were seen running on the road in front of the company warehouse. The company saw sales nearly triple in March compared with February, Chen said.
According to statistics from Manbang Group released on April 1, agricultural products and supplies were the most transported goods, accounting for 11.2 percent and surging 83.2 percent year on year, while construction materials and coal and mining products tailed behind.
"Though we are not fully recovered yet, we are staying positive as the epidemic situation gets better, companies accelerate work resumption and market demands further increase," Chen said. Enditem
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