Abstract
Lalamove, as the Chinese internet freight industry leader, provides a variety of services such as same-city and cross-city freight, corporate version of logistics services, moving, and car aftermarket. On February 6th, 2021, a 23-year-old girl, Che Sasha, jumped to her death while riding in a Lalamove van to her moving destination. The incident was posted on the internet on February 21st and sparked huge controversies. As more information was revealed, supporters of the driver and the female passenger were divided. Ultimately, the driver was sentenced to manslaughter, and Lalamove rectified its safety management.
TopBrand Background
Lalamove (or Huolala in Chinese) is an internet freight transportation platform engaged in same-city and cross-city freight transportation, enterprise version logistics services, moving, less-than-truckload cargo transportation (LTL), car rental and sale, and car aftermarket services. In December 2013, Shing Yuk Chow, the founder of Lalamove, anticipated building a convenient, technological, and reliable logistics mall that can dispatch various vehicles to provide efficient logistics solutions for individuals, merchants, and enterprises based on mobile Internet big data and artificial intelligence technology. As a result, Lalamove was founded in Hong Kong. In the next year, Lalamove expanded overseas and to mainland China. Lalamove started its trial operation in the Great Bay Area at first. In 2015, it further extended to Beijing, Shanghai, and other second-tier cities in China. By October 2021, Lalamove had covered 352 cities in mainland China, with around 660,000 monthly active drivers and nearly 8.4 million monthly active users (Lalamove, n.d.). In less than seven years, the estimated market value of Lalamove is more than ten billion US dollars (Awtmt, 2021). As a result, Lalamove is regarded as the super unicorn in the freight industry. Lalamove’s business model relies on the sharing mode. This company integrates the scattered drivers in society to establish a mass reserve of transportation resources. Hence, Lalamove charges fees from both sides. The drivers must register as members, and the level of membership determines the number of orders that a driver can take every day. On the other hand, Lalamove will draw commission from consumers’ orders by matching the nearest trucks at an acceptable price (Tech Planet, 2021).