Fukuyama Transporting : Launch ceremony held at the start of joint deliveries by logistics companiesin Kosuge and Tabayama villages.～Joint delivery starts in the SkyHub?*1 area Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture ～

August 2^th, 2023 Kosuge Village, Kitatsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture (Village Mayor: Naoyoshi Funaki), Tabayama Village, Kitatsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture (Village Mayor: Yoshihito Kinoshita), Seino Holdings Co., Ltd. (Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture; President: Yoshitaka Taguchi; hereinafter "Seino HD"), Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd. (Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture; President: Narihiro Komaru; hereinafter "Fukuyama Transporting"), FUGAKU EXPRESS Co.,Ltd. (Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture; President: Katsuhide Asanuma; hereinafter "Fugaku Express"), and NEXT DELIVERY Inc. (Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture, Representative Director: Keisuke Toji, hereinafter "NEXT DELIVERY") will begin delivery services to Kosuge and Tabayama villages as part of efforts to address the 2024 problem, with the aim of maintaining and rebuilding the delivery network in the mountainous areas through cooperation and collaboration between local governments and logistics companies. For the start of this initiative, a departure ceremony was held on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, attended by representatives of the local governments and companies. The parties intend to build a regional logistics infrastructure by further automating and reducing required personnel, by combining land transportation and drone delivery and integrating those methods with the new smart logistics SkyHub? that is being developed in Kosuge Village. In the future, the parties plan to further increase efficiency and optimization through the participation and collaboration of new logistics companies.

【Background】 In mountainous areas, the population is aging and it is difficult to maintain daily life infrastructure such as transportation and logistics in daily life and in the event of disasters. In the logistics industry, it is expected that the 2024 problem will lead to a shortage of human resources, which will make it difficult to maintain logistics in mountainous areas, where it is difficult to address regional issues such as the need to improve the efficiency of delivery operations, ensure profitability, and increase productivity. Therefore, with this initiative, we aim to maintain logistics and build a logistics infrastructure that benefits all parties through collaboration and cooperation between the region and logistics providers.

【Operation (Roles of the Parties)】 For the current delivery in Kosuge and Tabayama villages, each company conducts the delivery from their bases in Tsuru and Otsuki cities at the foot of the mountain, which takes about 40 minutes one way up the mountain. However, the limited number of products being delivered means that delivery is made by air, and there are issues in terms of productivity and profitability.

(1) Fukuyama Transporting brings goods for delivery from Kosuge Village and Tabayama Village to Fugaku Express. (2)Fugaku Express will load Fukuyama Transporting's delivery goods onto its existing delivery vehicles in Kosuge and Tabayama villages. (3) Fugaku Express delivers (unloads) Fukuyama Transporting's delivery items to the SkyHub? Kosuge Depot in Kosuge Village. Fugaku Express delivers the goods in Fukuyama Transporting's lot. (4) NEXT DELIVERY delivers small parcels of goods sent by Fugaku Express for consolidation with intra-regional deliveries.

【Effects】 　By reducing Fukuyama Express' delivery vehicles, Co2 emissions are also reduced. Annual reduction of approx. 3t-CO2. Fukuyama Express will reduce overall working hours and improve efficiency by overhauling its delivery areas. Profitability improved for Fugaku Express and NEXT DELIVERY. Municipalities can encourage settlement and migration by maintaining logistics and building new infrastructure.