With the rapid increase in order volume of express industry in recent years, manual sorting has been unable to meet the needs of express business as the mechanization level of express sorting is low, while manual sorting is prevalent. In order to improve the efficiency of express sorting, software and hardware were designed according to the sorting requirements, and a set of express automatic sorting system was designed using programmable logic controller (PLC) and hydraulic system. The express sorting system was composed of the touch screen, PLC, sensors, motor, scanning camera and hydraulic cylinder and other components. The touch screen was Siemens KTP700 series, and PLC was S7-1215CPU in Siemens 1200 series. Siemens Botu V15 software was used to complete the design of human-computer interface. Hydraulic system was used to complete the express sorting push task and control process. This system can automatically identify the express delivery in different areas, complete the continuous and mass sorting business, reduce the labor cost, and improve the overall benefit of the enterprise.