As the first light of dawn breaks, a truck from Zhuzhou slowly enters the Shengxiang Intelligent Logistics Park in Changsha County, carrying half a load of electronic products manufactured in Zhuzhou. The park's dispatching system instantly identifies the vehicle's status, and staff quickly load packaged engineering machinery spare parts into the remaining space. Minutes later, the driver starts the vehicle and follows the navigation to Shanghai.

"From loading to dispatch, the entire process only requires confirming the order on the APP, registering the consignor, and the system automatically allocating routes. After delivery, the freight charges are received," said Zou Chengwei, a driver with Lalamove. He noted that today, cross-regional freight transportation is no longer just about "running fast" but also about "connecting well and matching efficiently."

Such scenarios have now become the norm in the three cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan. In 2022, Hunan proposed a spatial layout for Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan featuring "two axes, two zones, and multiple points." Relying on nodes such as the Jinxia Modern Logistics Park, Changsha Airport Logistics Park, and Xiangtan Hetang Logistics Park, it aimed to promote the collaborative development of national logistics hubs for land ports, airports, commercial services, and production services.

As Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan accelerate the construction of a modern comprehensive transportation system and the integration of railway, highway, waterway, and air transport, the "four-network integration" is picking up pace. Hunan Apower Logistics Park, Zhuzhou CRRC Logistics, Xiangtan Jiuhua Highway Port, and others have been integrated into the collaborative hub system. They undertake functions such as material transshipment, warehousing and distribution, and cross-city combined transport, gradually forming a multimodal transport network that is efficient internally and well-connected externally.

Leveraging the comprehensive upgrading and renovation of the Xiangjiang waterway, Yueyang Chenglingji Port has become the largest inland port in Hunan. Nodes such as Changsha North Station, Changsha Huanghua International Airport, and Zhuzhou Railway Port are accelerating upgrading, opening up "highway-rail-water-air" combined transport corridors and achieving seamless connections between different modes of transport.

"Different types of goods departing from Changsha can directly reach Alataw Pass in Xinjiang via railway and then exit to Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe. Southward, they enter the African market via the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa international freight trains. Freight hubs across Hunan Province have now achieved unified dispatching," said Zeng Hongbo, deputy director of the Production Dispatch Center at Changsha Railway Logistics Center.

At the Xiangtan Jiuhua Logistics Cluster, the automated sorting system in the smart storage area is operating at high speed. On the conveyor belts, boxed electrical equipment and ceramic products are sequentially scanned, weighed, and packaged, with AGV robots precisely transporting them to designated loading docks. The park handles an average daily inbound and outbound volume exceeding 20,000 tonnes, and freight vehicles can directly connect to railway and highway transport, achieving "zero-wait" dispatch.

At the China-Africa Economic and Trade Zhuzhou Land Port, the advantages of rail-sea combined transport channels are becoming evident. Leveraging the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa international freight trains and Zhuzhou North Station, railway cargo can achieve "morning arrival at the park, and afternoon dispatch." "We are collaborating with companies such as COSCO Shipping, Guangzhou Port Group, and China Railway Guangzhou Group. In the future, we will establish this as the starting point for China-Africa economic and trade logistics," said Zhang Jian, president of Zhuzhou Logistics Group, the project operator.

Multimodal transport brings not only speed but also cost reductions. Taking the export of complete engineering machinery as an example, in the past, Hunan enterprises had to transport equipment from factories to coastal ports before shipping them out. Now, goods can be loaded directly onto ships at Yueyang Chenglingji Port for export. "On average, transportation costs are reduced by about 6,000 yuan per piece of equipment, with faster container loading and smoother connections," said He Jijie, head of the international business department at SANY Logistics.

According to Hunan regional data from the Lalamove platform, the logistics industry within Hunan Province has shown significant growth. In 2024, the cumulative number of freight orders completed in Hunan exceeded 11 million, with the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster, as the core regional economic hub, contributing 73% of the orders, highlighting a pronounced locational clustering effect.

From January to September this year, the platform's completed orders have nearly reached the total business volume of the entire year of 2024, demonstrating strong growth momentum. In terms of goods categories, livelihood-supporting materials such as decoration and building materials, grain, oil, and food, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, alongside production materials like machinery and equipment, have consistently ranked among the top ten by order volume.

The efficient operation of the logistics network also benefits from an accelerating "digital web." On the large screen of the command and dispatch center at Changsha Railway Logistics Center, vehicle trajectories, cargo temperatures, and port operation statuses are clearly visible at a glance. The system aggregates real-time data from logistics hubs across the province, achieving "full-chain visualization."

"We are building a unified multimodal transport information platform for the province, enabling information exchange and dispatch coordination among various transport modes. Through this platform, consignor enterprises can check freight rates online, book spaces for shipment, and track in real time, realizing 'transport at their fingertips,'" said Peng Peng, deputy manager of the Marketing Department at Changsha Railway Logistics Center.

Today, comprehensive logistics parks in areas such as Zhaoshan of Xiangtan, Huanghua of Changsha, and Shifeng of Zhuzhou have been successively put into operation, forming a multi-tiered network centered on manufacturing support, cold chain warehousing, and e-commerce distribution. Cold chain logistics vehicles shuttle through these parks, continuously delivering fresh goods such as flowers, fruits, and aquatic products to various destinations.

In the early morning, as the lights just come on at Jinxia Logistics Park, cranes start operating and trains slowly depart. In the evening, robotic arms sort goods while drivers exchange route sheets in pairs at the Joy Speed Cold Chain Base in Yuetang District. Logistics parks, driver fleets, freight train formations, waterborne fleets, and air flights intertwine, gradually unfolding the modern logistics network map of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan.

This logistics "artery" covering areas within and beyond the province, driven by the accelerated construction of transportation hubs, the empowerment of digital platforms, and the extension of industrial chains, continues to expand with Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan at its core. It enables Hunan's manufacturing and agricultural products to reach nationwide and worldwide, making logistics a surging driving force for regional economic development.

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn