JRS Express laments influx of unlicensed courier companies

One of the country’s leading express delivery companies is unfazed with the challenges in the industry brought about by the emergence of unlicensed courier companies.

JRS Business Corp. president Antonio Claparols said the 59-year-old Filipino express delivery firm is committed to growing the company through more branches and additional services in the coming years amid the proliferation of unlicensed couriers which have significantly taken away a big chunk of the market from the legitimate freight companies.

“It’s actually very alarming that our government allowed this. These new players, they underrate and undercut. They can destroy the mailing public,” Claparols told The STAR.

“The industry is growing by leaps and bounds. However, the influx of unlicensed players who are here for the short haul can cause a downside in the industry. Regular control of new players, especially foreign, must be done,” he said.

JRS administrative officer John Paul Claparols said the emergence of unlicensed courier companies is one of the biggest problems plaguing the industry at the moment, and has already substantially impacted the company’s revenues.

“Our revenue is impacted. We are affected, of course, because they are targeting the market we are targeting also,” John Paul said.

“If our government allows unlicensed couriers to enter our industry, the level of industry will go down. If you have unlicensed people who don’t follow industry standards, you don’t know what’s inside the packages. They don’t know the SOPs (standard operating procedures) of the industry basically. They just came in and operated with no regard to the industry,” he said.

But amid the challenges, JRS officials said the company’s expansion plans would not be side-tracked.

JRS provides express delivery service as well as other value-added logistics services to consumers and businesses through its extensive and reliable nationwide network present in 90 percent of the populated areas of the country covering about 30,000 barangays.

The company intends to grow its branch network to 430 by yearend and 500 next year from the current 418 branches operational nationwide.

In terms of services, JRS is also exploring more payment options to provide more convenience to consumers and businesses.

“We’re going to be launching GCash next month. We will be accepting payments through QR. We want to give customers options to be able to move their funds. We’re planning to get not just GCash, but we’re going to get PayMaya as well. All of the possible ones we plan to target also to give our customers more options,” John Paul said.

He said JRS is also looking to provide cash on pick up and cash on delivery services by next year, in line with its 60th anniversary.

Just this year, JRS Express also expanded its operations to seven days.

This further cemented its position as the country’s leading courier when it comes to next-day delivery service.

“The industry continues to evolve with the internet and e-commerce on the rise and we will evolve with the future,” Antonio said.

“It is easy to enter the industry, but to have the kind of service level that we have is a different story and it took us 59 years to get to this point,” John Paul said.