Clear in one minute! The "unmanned revolution" of customs weighbridges is sweeping across ports across the country
The construction of smart customs promotes the transformation towards automation.
The customs supervision system is undergoing a profound transformation towards intelligence and automation. By applying advanced equipment such as unmanned aircraft, intelligent observation vessels, and driverless vehicles, a highly efficient "three-dimensional" supervision network covering water, land and air is established, significantly enhancing the efficiency of port clearance and the accuracy of supervision.
Intelligent upgrade of water gauge weighing system
Facing the continuous growth of the import volume of bulk resource commodities at the port and the regular berthing of ultra-large bulk carriers, the customs has launched the smart water gauge weighing application scenario, integrating unmanned aircraft, intelligent observation vessels and intelligent water gauge reading technology, which has significantly improved the accuracy and efficiency of weighing work.
Taking Lianyungang Customs as an example, this technology effectively ensured the efficient inspection and customs clearance of imported bulk commodities. In 2024, the total supervision volume exceeded 29 million tons, and 59,000 tons of short-weighted goods were detected, avoiding potential economic losses of 47 million yuan for enterprises. In the first five months of 2025, this customs relied on this technology to complete supervision of approximately 9.7 million tons, helping enterprises recover losses of 29.5 million yuan.
Unmanned convoys for land logistics
In response to the "small and frequent" cargo distribution demands of enterprises within the comprehensive bonded zone, the customs department has developed an intelligent connected unmanned vehicle customs clearance and inspection system. The unmanned vehicle, relying on the intelligent logistics supervision platform, can precisely transport goods along pre-set routes, achieving 24-hour intelligent and rapid customs clearance.
This move has transformed the previous passive situation of "waiting for the vehicle" into an active service mode of "waiting for the goods", meeting the all-day real-time distribution needs of enterprises for urgent and small quantities of goods, effectively avoiding production line stoppages caused by temporary material shortages. According to statistics, the value of goods transported by the unmanned vehicle has reached 5.88 million US dollars, with a cumulative mileage of over 6,500 kilometers, and has effectively reduced the comprehensive logistics costs for enterprises by 50%.
Unmanned container trucks and intelligent ports collaborate together
In the construction of intelligent ports, unmanned container trucks have been put into practical use. They can autonomously complete complex operations such as driving along the preset route, passing through customs checkpoints, reversing and parking. The process is precise and error-free. Freight forwarding companies can complete all procedures including business reservation, manifest declaration, and border inspection declaration through online platforms, simplifying the process and saving manpower and resources. The trial operation of intelligent ports has significantly enhanced the customs clearance capacity.
It is expected that after the official operation, the daily customs clearance capacity will increase to 2,000 vehicles, further promoting the smooth and convenience of border trade.
Future Outlook:
The construction of intelligent customs with automation and non-intrusive clearance will continue to enhance the automation level of regulatory operations, optimize non-intrusive regulatory models, and deepen the application of new technologies in various fields such as sea, land, air, rail, and postal services.
In the future, efforts will be made to achieve "non-intrusive clearance" for passengers, through the comprehensive application of information sharing and intelligent equipment, allowing inbound and outbound passengers to enjoy a fast and convenient clearance experience without special circumstances.
At the same time, the intelligent customs will support new consumption models such as cross-border e-commerce, promote the application of product barcodes, improve the cross-border return process, and implement full-process information management, making cross-border consumption more convenient and secure. This customs revolution centered on automation and intelligence is rapidly advancing in major ports and border areas across the country, injecting strong impetus into trade facilitation and regulatory modernization.
