These paragraphs were inspired by a post.
Original post: https://www.v2ex.com/t/797080
In the discussion, people talked about it from the angles of policy and cost. On a macro level, regulation is indeed lacking, but objectively speaking, it’s extremely difficult to establish strong, detailed norms for that “last mile” of express delivery.
What I want to say is: some people think parcel lockers are a one‑sided arrangement that only benefits the delivery service providers. I reserve judgment on that view.
Personally, when I was in school, parcels were always “forced” to be placed at the pickup point. To pick them up I had to wait in line, “interact” with the staff, and sometimes the pickup location was farther away. The pickup point had fixed working hours, whereas with parcel lockers I could still pick things up even if I went back at 11 p.m. So during my school years, if delivery had been via parcel lockers, I would actually have been happier. That’s why my impression of parcel lockers is positive: it was formed by comparing them to pickup points while I was at school, and this is something I should clarify.
After I started working and renting an apartment, I began receiving more parcels at home. I didn’t use SF Express much; Yunda would put things in the parcel locker by default; JD would call for each package: if someone was at home they’d bring it upstairs, if not they’d put it in the parcel locker. Other couriers just went straight to the pickup point. The neighborhood pickup point was actually quite far, but it wasn’t too much trouble if I rode a bike.
My highest evaluation is for the JD courier. The luggage I had sent home was via JD: two big bags of bedding and clothes. It happened to be a rainy weekday, and I wasn’t home during the day. The courier called and said he’d put it at the pickup point first. My expectation of couriers is that delivering to the downstairs of my building is already the limit; if I happen to be at work and the stuff is left at the pickup point, I don’t mind putting in a bit of effort to get it myself. So I didn’t really pay attention to the second half of what he said, just thanked him and hung up. When I got to the pickup point intending to carry everything home myself, the pickup point guy told me it was only being stored there temporarily, and that the JD courier had said he’d deliver it to me again in the evening. When I received the parcels that night—especially given that it’s an old building with no elevator—I was genuinely grateful to him.
So from the perspective of feeling for the physical labor of couriers, I support having something that can make things more convenient for both the platform and the delivery workers.