By Zhao Yongjin

At 9 am on 28th July, in the car park of Hai'an Haorunduo Fresh Food Distribution Center, a white car with ‘large eyes’ was waiting for departure. In the cabin, there were a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables to be sent to the Mingzhu City Store. As the staff member simply tapped on his mobile phone, the small vehicle responded with a ‘beep’, slowly moved out of the gate, and smoothly merged into the traffic.

‘In the past, 3 drivers worked in turns. Now 1 person can manage 3 cars just by swiping on the mobile phone.’ Zhu Jinxing, the logistics manager of Nantong Haorunduo Supermarket Co., Ltd., said.

20 minutes later, the unmanned vehicle arrived at the destination on time. The mobile phone simultaneously received a reminder. Zhu Jinxing operated with one click, and the employees of Mingzhu City Store skillfully opened the cabin and unloaded baskets of fruits and vegetables.

Currently Haorunduo has 3 unmanned vehicles. They ‘run’ to 12 delivery points every day, serving 10 stores in the urban area. In the one month since the trial operation was started, the logistics distribution costs of corresponding stores have been reduced by about 30%.

At present, Hai’an has deployed its first batch of 50 unmanned vehicles on the road.