Major parcel delivery companies will observe June 3, the day of the 9th nationwide local elections, as a "parcel delivery day off." After CJ Logistics released its day-off plan ahead of others, it appears to have spread to other companies.
Parcel firms decided on the day off to ensure voting participation for couriers under exclusive delivery contracts, but same-day and dawn delivery under subcontracting arrangements will operate on election day. In addition, in Coupang's case, days off will be split between early voting days and the main voting day.
According to the logistics industry on the 27th, Logen Co. will on this day notify each regional branch about the day off for parcel delivery operations on June 3. Logen Co. plans to deliver the parcels collected on the 2nd sequentially starting the day after election day.
With Logen Co. deciding to observe the main voting day in the local elections as a parcel delivery day off, all major parcel companies will halt delivery operations on the main voting day. The parcel industry expects about 120,000 couriers to take the day off.
On the 14th, CJ Logistics was the first in the industry to say it would suspend next-day delivery—categorized as general parcel delivery—on the main voting day, and announced it will not operate its hubs on the 2nd for collections.
Hanjin and Lotte Global Logistics also decided in mid-month not to carry out delivery operations on the main voting day. They, too, will either deliver collected parcels sequentially starting the day after voting day or operate the parcel delivery day off by suspending hub operations the day before the main vote.
However, CJ Logistics' dawn and same-day delivery services will operate as usual. Subcontracted logistics such as Naver On-time Arrival Guarantee and SSG.com Sseuk Delivery will also be delivered as usual on election day. This is because these deliveries are carried out under contracts with drivers of commercial license plate cargo trucks known as "yongdal," rather than under exclusive contracts, so a shutdown cannot be enforced.
Deliveries by Coupang Logistics Service (CLS) will also operate as usual on the main voting day. However, CLS said it will run partitioning days off to guarantee couriers' suffrage.
CLS will allow couriers to take time off over three days—on the 29th and 30th, the early voting days, and on the day of the local elections—and has sent cooperation letters to subcontracted branches nationwide for this purpose. It is also planning measures such as deploying substitute couriers to cover work gaps.
Earlier, some in the logistics sector suggested that, because each company's business model and conditions differ, a blanket day off would be difficult; however, as in the last presidential election, major parcel companies appear to have all decided on a day off to guarantee suffrage.
A parcel industry official said, "Since the parcel delivery day off on election day was first introduced during the last presidential election, it has been taking root as a day off," and added, "Seven-day delivery has become common, but because the main voting day used to be a public holiday, the likelihood has grown that a parcel delivery day off will continue to be observed on main voting days going forward."