Japan Post Ordered to Halt 3,333 Delivery Vehicles

Tokyo, Feb. 10 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s transport ministry has completed notifications suspending a total of 3,333 delivery minivehicles at 1,862 post offices operated by Japan Post Co. over improper driver roll calls, including alcohol and health checks, transport minister Yasushi Kaneko said Tuesday. “It is deeply regrettable that roll call procedures, which are crucial for safety management, were not properly implemented,” Kaneko told a press conference. “I hope Japan Post will steadily implement measures based on its action plans to prevent any recurrence,” he added. As of Tuesday, the suspension period has already expired for a total of 1,895 delivery vehicles at 867 post offices, and the suspension order is slated to be terminated by the end of March for most post offices, according to the transport ministry. Japan Post has a total of some 32,000 such delivery minivehicles at 3,188 post offices offering collection and delivery services across the country. Japan Post executive Yoshihiro Gomi apologized again during an online interview on Tuesday. “This is a serious situation affecting the continuity of our business, and we are undertaking company-wide efforts to prevent recurrence,” he added. Since Oct. 1 last year, the ministry has been notifying around 100 post offices every Wednesday of the suspension. Up to half of such vehicles at the offices have been affected for up to 160 days, with the exception of those with only one such vehicle. Japan Post has handled the situation by using outsourcing partners and by getting support from nearby offices. In April last year, Japan Post said that there had been improper roll calls conducted at some 2,400 post offices, or about 75 pct of the post offices offering collection and delivery services. After conducting a special inspection on the issue, the ministry revoked Japan Post’s general motor truck transport business permit, making Japan Post unable to use about 2,500 of its trucks for five years. According to Japan Post, it also received written warnings at about 380 post offices because some daily inspections were not conducted. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]