The “old” model of dedicated‑line integration is getting a fresh twist, and Changzhou Jumeng has been making quite a splash lately.

Some time ago, while in Guangzhou, I was asked a question: “Are you familiar with Changzhou Zhengcheng Logistics?” This regional urban logistics company… “Xiaobawang” has joined forces with Jumeng, known as China’s leading professional operator of large‑ticket LTL networks, to pioneer a host of innovative approaches and creative solutions. Today, logistics parks across the country are closely observing and learning from their model.

This statement immediately piqued the author’s interest, as over the past two years, the less-than-truckload (LTL) market has entered a period of stagnation. The once-booming dedicated‑line consolidation sector has seen few new developments, and its business model has failed to evolve further. Even the three leading platforms have, almost in unison, shifted into a phase of internal refinement.

Moreover, the model innovation pioneered by Changzhou Jumeng’s initiator, Zhengcheng Logistics, together with its partners along other routes, has sparked such widespread enthusiasm—truly a rare achievement.

Upon returning to Shanghai, the author promptly arranged an interview with Chen Jianqing, Chairman of Zhengcheng Logistics and a co‑founder of Jumeng. Coincidentally, on the very day the author arrived in Changzhou, numerous visitors were there to observe and learn—coming from Guangdong, Hubei, Zhejiang, as well as cities surrounding Changzhou, including Shanghai itself. What makes the innovative model currently being pursued by Zhengcheng Logistics and Jumeng so distinctive, and why has it drawn logistics professionals from across the country?

In the course of exploring dedicated-line integration, Jumeng…

Took a step forward.

This year In July, at the “2022 (11th) Yunlian Summit” hosted by the Yunlian Think Tank, Wang Yang, co-founder and president of the Yunlian Think Tank, highlighted the organizational challenges that small and medium-sized enterprises face during their growth. At the time, he cited a major dedicated‑line logistics company in Chengdu as an illustrative example.

This dedicated‑line carrier can ship from Chengdu to Zhejiang, and each route is assigned a route manager who handles order processing at the service counter. However, this approach has a limitation: it is highly cost‑effective when shipment volumes are low. But when volumes are substantial and shipments need to be routed to multiple cities simultaneously, the carrier must incur additional management costs—such as assigning an account manager for key clients—in order to provide optimal service.

However, such investment comes at a cost, and the upfront expenses may not even yield sufficient returns, as customers with high shipment volumes can be relatively few. Bridging the gap between these management costs and the resulting output is a challenge that small and medium-sized enterprises must overcome as they grow.

In fact, many dedicated‑line operators are unable to do so.

The core advantages of a dedicated line lie in its point-to-point connectivity, which reduces costs, ensures timely delivery, and enables the provision of customized services. Its main drawback is limited route coverage, which constrains customer acquisition and precludes the realization of network effects.

The dedicated line’s primary cargo sources include manufacturing enterprises and first- and second-tier wholesalers, among others. B2B customers handle a wide variety of goods, with non-standard items and packages of varying sizes mixed together.

When a shipper’s logistics needs are complex, a single dedicated‑line carrier often cannot meet those requirements. This is because some routes are not even operated by the carrier, while others, due to low shipment volumes, make it difficult to guarantee on‑time departures, leaving the shipper unable to secure reliable transit‑time commitments.

Last year In March, during a field visit to the Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou dedicated‑line market, I discussed this issue with Chen Jianqing. He summarized the key challenge facing dedicated‑line operators as “a lack of sales capability,” noting that these companies’ product offerings are overly limited—typically just a handful of routes—which makes it difficult to build robust sales capacity.

Many specialized‑line companies have joined the platform precisely to address their limited customer‑acquisition capabilities.

However, at present, mainstream LTL platforms primarily adopt a stock‑consolidation approach, leveraging their platform capabilities to empower dedicated‑line carriers—such as by standardizing facilities and systems.

If we aim to integrate resources more comprehensively and leverage the advantages of dedicated lines in point-to-point circuit operations, platform management must shift from… “Shifting from ‘light’ to ‘heavy.’” Simply put, this involves establishing unified service standards, implementing a customer‑screening mechanism, consolidating cargo sources, promoting route‑based integration, expanding new customer‑acquisition channels, and helping dedicated‑line operators secure freight that they could not obtain on their own.

At present, Jumeng is precisely doing this: starting with industrial parks as its foundation, it brings together entities that can… For all “one‑stop nationwide” routes, we carefully select the best options and establish baseline delivery‑time commitments. Then, acting as a logistics park, we centrally acquire customers; once shippers place their orders, the park’s management system matches them with suitable dedicated‑line carriers based on specific logistics requirements, with end‑to‑end online visibility to ensure both service quality and timeliness.

Favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and harmonious unity among the people,

Changzhou Jumeng has seized the key point.

Dedicated line integration is undoubtedly a major development in the industry. “An old topic”—between 2015 and 2018, the industry witnessed a surge of enthusiasm, with the slogan “Like a spring breeze overnight, thousands upon thousands of households are building platforms” gaining widespread traction.

At the time, Zhengcheng Logistics also established its own dedicated‑line alliance, bringing together numerous specialized carriers operating routes from Changzhou to South China, the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing, and Qingdao, and it had previously achieved successful integration on similar routes. In When Jumeng was founded in 2017, Zhengcheng Logistics joined the alliance, becoming one of its original partner companies.

When the author visited Changzhou, he not only met numerous logistics peers who had come to learn but also happened to run into Yang Huagao, Vice President of Jumeng. Since last year, in-depth operations have been one of Yang Huagao’s primary responsibilities, and he and his team frequently travel between Jumeng’s headquarters and its various secondary platforms.

The park‑level integration currently being advanced by Changzhou Jumeng is a key priority within the company and represents a milestone achievement resulting from a year of focused refinement and intensive operational efforts.

So, why choose Changzhou Jumeng?

In short, Only when “favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and harmonious unity” are all in place can this new transformation of dedicated‑line integration be brought about.

First of all, timing is crucial.

When speaking with a partner at Changzhou Jumeng, I posed a question: What drives Changzhou Jumeng to…? Ten partners walking together?

He mentioned a word: fear.

He said: “Calling it a dream might be a bit too grand—really, it’s just fear. If my goal is to achieve a better outcome, I may not feel all that motivated; but if it’s about doing everything I can to avoid a worse one, I might actually find myself more driven.”

What this partner said was indeed plain, down-to-earth truth. “When times are tough, change is born.” At present, amid broader macroeconomic headwinds, dedicated‑line operators are facing widespread operational challenges, making them more willing to embrace transformation.

Last year In March, during a field visit to the Su‑Xi‑Chang dedicated‑line market, the author observed that many bustling logistics parks had grown eerily quiet, with even the familiar evening scenes of trucks arriving and traffic congestion now rarely seen.

This year, in conversations with numerous dedicated‑line industry professionals, most of them reported that they would experience data loss. 40% of the total shipment volume. Meanwhile, the partner companies of Changzhou Jumeng, benefiting from the agglomeration advantages brought by integration, have not seen their shipment volumes decline; on the contrary, they have continued to grow steadily.

Secondly, the flow of commerce is being reshaped, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for individual dedicated lines to acquire customers.

Today, the manufacturing sector is expanding into lower-tier markets, leading to increasingly fragmented LTL shipments and ever‑higher demands for route coverage. By contrast, dedicated‑line services are fixed and limited, typically reaching only prefecture‑level cities, making it difficult to meet shippers’ needs. As service complexity rises, pricing remains stagnant, eroding the profit margins of dedicated‑line operators.

Finally, The “human” factor is very important.

Using a relatively… The “mystical” view holds that the leading figure must set a good example. While speaking with line‑partner representatives at the Changzhou Jumeng event, the author repeatedly heard them praise Chen Jianqing’s leadership and personal charisma.

From an organizational management perspective, the priority is to swiftly establish a new governance framework that unites the partners. This new framework must strike a balance between the allocation of short-term and long-term interests.

At present, Changzhou Jumeng has established a partnership model for its platform, with many dedicated‑line operators transitioning into platform managers.

Large‑ticket LTL has reached a new stage of development.

Although the broader operating environment for dedicated‑line carriers remains challenging, within the LTL market, these specialized carriers are currently enjoying a relatively favorable period of growth.

From Starting in 2020, express delivery companies accelerated their entry into the less-than-truckload (LTL) market, which has exerted a certain degree of pressure on the dedicated‑line segment.

For express‑delivery networks, the primary advantage of dedicated routes is direct trunk‑line service at low cost; however, they also face high front‑ and back‑end pickup and delivery expenses. The trunk line and last‑mile pickup/delivery represent opposite ends of a balance scale, with the equilibrium point marking the economic inflection point between dedicated routes and network‑based operations. Previously, this inflection point was considered to be… 300 kilograms, but this inflection point has been steadily trending upward.

However, starting this year, express‑delivery companies across the board have shifted their strategy, prioritizing profitability and curbing the practice of filling trucks with large‑volume, low‑margin shipments. This has helped ease the tug‑of‑war between express carriers and dedicated‑line operators.

Once the dedicated line’s operating space is no longer constrained, it can free up sufficient time to upgrade its own capabilities.

Previously, Zhang Yujing, Chairman of Jumeng Joint Construction, offered the following assessment of the differences between large‑ticket LTL and express freight: “Full‑truckload and less‑than‑truckload freight differ fundamentally—they operate on two distinct networks that are 80% to 85% incompatible. From a supply‑chain perspective, from raw materials to the factory and then from the factory to distributors, these stages are almost entirely served by full‑truckload services. These two types of transportation share two key characteristics: low cost and high customization. This is precisely why our three‑party platform excels.”

The less-than-truckload (LTL) market exceeds one trillion yuan, with dedicated‑line services representing the largest segment. However, the dedicated‑line business model is straightforward and requires relatively low upfront investment, failing to establish significant competitive barriers. With the exception of specialized lines catering to specific supply‑chain needs, the prospects for other dedicated‑line operators to sustain themselves independently are slim.

Because the dedicated‑line market is too small and fragmented, it has been impossible to establish industry‑wide service standards. In other words, customers find it difficult to form positive expectations regarding the quality of dedicated‑line services.

Only through integration can a truly comprehensive network be established in the less-than-truckload market, enabling precise coverage of major grain-producing regions and resulting in more direct, denser routes—thus giving dedicated lines a competitive edge.

Over the past two years, due to broader macroeconomic conditions, many in the logistics industry have felt particularly… “Gloomy,” yet Chen Jianqing is quite the opposite—he remains highly confident in the industry’s prospects.

“After the trough comes spring; the spring of logistics is just around the corner. But only those who stay half a step ahead will be able to savor it.”

The shifting landscape of the LTL industry has created room for maneuver in the large‑ticket LTL market. Whether players can seize this opportunity and devise integration strategies that minimize internal friction will determine who makes it through the winter and into the spring.