The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing released a report on Friday about the online freight industry. It said that competent authorities should leverage the advantages of online platforms in integrating and enhancing transportation efficiency, to further reduce logistics costs.

The report states that highway freight is the predominant mode of cargo transport in China, and accounts for approximately 70 percent of total freight.

Experts in the industry have noted that the majority of highway freight companies are small and that the freight market is chaotic and dispersed. According to industry experts, individual transport vehicles make up about 72.5 percent of total freight, and their organization efficiency is low.

Online freight platforms can use software, automation, and machine learning to match drivers with enterprises in a more efficient manner, while reducing transaction costs.

“The advent of online freight transport platforms changed the multi-level business operation model in the traditional logistics industry. Online platforms can integrate thousands self-employed business operators, vehicles and online platforms by directly distributing the orders to them. This will change the’small scattered and chaotic’ industry landscape. This has not only reduced intermediary links in transportation and enhanced efficiency, but also solved credit information collection difficulties for the industry,” Cui Zhongfu said, vice president of China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, at a supply chain and logistics forum in north China’s Tianjin municipality on Thursday. About 7.99 million vehicles and 6.48 drivers of trucks have registered on various online logistics platforms.

Around 73.5 percent of traditional logistic companies want to participate in the online freight transport business or expand the online freight business. The industry is expected to grow further.

Aid agencies report that more than two million South Sudanese are still trapped in camps for internally displaced people in the country. Their situation has been made even worse by flooding in some parts of the nation, as well the conflict in Sudan.

Nyadak is a South Sudanese who lives in Sudan. She fled Khartoum last year when violence broke out. She is currently in an internal displaced persons camp in Renk, in the northern part South Sudan.

“I have no money, I have no bed sheets, food, or a tent to sleep in. We sleep in the freezing cold. I am sick and cannot get any treatment. “I am ill,” she said.

Yien’s situation is similar to many others in this camp. Christine Achol, a mother of seven, lost her husband during the conflict in Sudan.

“Hunger is my biggest problem.” I have been fetching the water from the river, which I then sell to earn money to buy food for my children. Now I am sick and my chest hurts. “I cannot work anymore,” said Achol.

Humanitarian agencies now provide food assistance to these people. The agencies say they are struggling to meet the demands of families who have been traumatized and exhausted after walking for days without food or water.

“At this point, we must ensure that they all receive humanitarian assistance. But what we also need is peace. These people need peace. This is to really and sincerely urge everyone, every party to the conflict, to put their guns down, to talk peace”, said Amitabh Bhar, Interim Director of OXFAM.

The South Sudanese government has said that it needs to raise more than $50 million dollars in order to address the challenges of the expected floods.

Jacob Korok Maiju is the Deputy Minister of Information in South Sudan. He said, “Many predict that based on weather forecasts, there may actually be a lot more floods around July. The government should actually embark upon emergency preparedness to mitigate the risk of floods.”

Many displaced people in South Sudan are asking the government and aid agencies for help to return to their villages, so they can survive on their own.