Recently, the extreme weather of rain, snow and sleet struck many places in China. Faced with the double challenges of a sweeping blizzard and the Spring Festival peak season, China Post, upholding its original aspiration and mission of serving the people, made early arrangements and responded effectively to guarantee smooth logistics and safe operation in a highly responsible way.

China Post Group held a teleconference on workplace safety and support for the universal postal service and parcel, express and logistics services during the Spring Festival peak season in 2024, planning in advance for responses to low temperature, rain and snow conditions during the festival. It called on the whole postal network to strengthen seasonal road risk prevention in winter and spring, pay special attention to the weather forecasts of sleet, snow, cold wave, gale, agglomerate fog and heavy fog, make contingency plans, and carry on emergency drills. Mail truck drivers should check tires, brakes and lights before setting off, and carry items like snow chains and wood blocks in case of emergency circumstances like car skidding on icy roads. When safe driving is endangered due to bad weather, drivers should pull over promptly according to the traffic rules. The front-line delivery staff need to wear safety helmets, fasten seat belts, and take other safety measures in accordance with regulations and requirements to ensure workplace safety.

After the conference, postal branches across the country quickly initiated their contingency plans, actively optimized and adjusted operations within their local network, and strengthened the operational support for all processes.

Hubei Postal Branch immediately established an emergency command leading group to respond to, coordinate and address anomalies of the local postal network under the disastrous weather. They released command and dispatch instructions to arrange support work for the universal postal service and parcel, express and logistics services. Postal enterprises in Hubei province paid close attention to the change of weather and road conditions, issued weather warnings, road conditions and safety tips timely, and adjusted network operations and organization and production scheduling dynamically. In the meantime, they intensified the inspection and maintenance of equipment, thoroughly inspected fire-fighting facilities and equipment, and standardized electricity consumption management and vehicle charging.

Anhui Postal Branch strengthened management and scheduling, and made every effort to ensure the operation and maintenance of mail trucks and equipment so as to minimize the impact of the extreme weather on production.

Hebei Postal Branch made emergency arrangements for diverting jammed postal items, holding those for further forwarding, communicating with customers for their delayed mail, conducting vehicle check and safe driving education, and handling customer complaints, so as to respond to the bad weather effectively.

The front-line postal staff stuck to their posts and held on to their missions. When roads to mountainous villages were blocked by heavy snow and covered with thick ice, delivery staff carried mail on their shoulders, trekking through the snow for proper delivery. When heavy snow blurred their vision and made riding impossible, they pushed their vehicles forward to ensure timely delivery. When heavy snow blocked the routes and made it impossible for postal vehicles to enter towns and townships, they dragged the mail to the collection and delivery offices with trailers. Postal drivers installed snow chains on their truck tires, and carried snow removal tools to clear the roads when there was too much snow. Thanks to these measures and efforts, China Post ensured that the people’s needs for postal services were satisfied, and guaranteed that every piece of mail was delivered to its recipient safely, promptly, and accurately.