Japan Post Notified of Ban on Mini Cargo Vehicle Use

Tokyo, Oct. 1 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s transport ministry Wednesday notified 111 post offices that their use of mini cargo vehicles for delivery services will be banned for up to 160 days from Oct. 8 as a penalty for their inappropriate practices. By next March, a total of 2,000 post offices of Japan Post Co. across the country are expected to be slapped with a similar ban for their failures to properly conduct roll calls for drivers, including mandatory alcohol checks. Japan Post had its general cargo truck operation license revoked in June for such law violations detected at about 2,400 post offices, or around 75 pct of all post offices undertaking mail and parcel delivery operations in Japan. The ban on truck use will remain in effect for five years. The initial mini cargo vehicle ban will affect 188 units, with as many as seven each at the Fukagawa office in Tokyo and the Onomichi office in Hiroshima Prefecture for half a month, and one each at 11 other offices, including Hokkaido’s Hidaka office and Shizuoka Prefecture’s Yugashima office, for 160 days. Nine post offices with only one unit, including the Tayama office in Iwate Prefecture and the Hayakawa office in Toyama Prefecture, are also subject to the ban. At a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon, Japan Post President Shinya Koike made an apology. But he added, “I don’t expect any operational disruption, including during the busy year-end and New Year season.” To cope with the situation, Japan Post is likely to outsource delivery services while getting support from unaffected neighboring post offices. After receiving a written notice of the mini cargo vehicle ban at the ministry’s Tokyo bureau, Japan Post Executive Officer Yoshihiro Gomi said, “Taking this seriously, we will make all efforts to regain public trust.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]