How can we strengthen our SME industry and could digitalization of transportation system be a key to this?

Globally, the impact of the coronavirus epidemic has led to a huge financial crisis that has resulted in a shutdown of production, a decline in demand and supply in various countries around the world and a negative response to unwanted measures and growing risks in stock markets. Some industries, such as tourism and transportation, have been severely damaged, and their impact has not diminished. Small and medium enterprises around the world are no exception.

Small and medium enterprises of any country act as one of the main drivers of the country's economic system. SMEs account for 25% of Bangladesh's GDP and about 90% of the total production system. While the contribution of SMEs to the economy of the country can be clearly seen from the above-mentioned statistics, the SMEs have been suffering the most during and after the Corona period.

Lack of commitment

The small and medium enterprises in our country often face problems in the transportation system due to the lack of commitment of  truck owners or drivers, usually they hire trucks or pickups from the nearby truck stands or from known peoples. In some cases going to the last minute, the pre-arranged truck or pickup owner is unable to deliver the pickup. It is difficult to find a quick pickup at that time. Due to such problems, it is not possible to deliver the product to the customer at the right time.

Late delivery of goods

One of the common problems faced by SMEs at present is late arrival of goods at unloading points. The driver waits to fill their pickups with another one’s products if the pickup has some remaining empty space, or often the driver doesn't maintain time due to their unprofessionalism.

Excessive Fare

SMEs usually hire trucks or pickups from well-known truck owners around them, but in many cases they have to hire through intermediaries which causes them to charge extra fare, also they pay higher fare when renting a truck for longer distances as they have no idea about the market rate. And many times there are problems like suddenly increasing the fare, truck drivers demanding extra money from the shippers.

The possibility of losing the product

Most SMEs send their products through their familiar truck drivers, who have been transporting their goods for a long time. But many times it happens that the known pickup drivers are not available, but then they have to hire pickups from outside and the main problem, in this case, the possibility of losing the product. And being unfamiliar, there is no chance to find the product.

Such challenges in the transport system of Bangladesh make it more complicated for SMEs to run their business. So ‘Truck Lagbe’ is working to solve such transportation problems through the app. With the Truck Lagbe Shipper app, the truck or pickup drivers closest to the load point, receives the sender's request, which has largely solved the problem of conventional truck hiring.

Md. Mostafizur Rahman, the head of SY Network Solutions Pvt. were asked for what kind of benefits he regularly uses the 'Truck Lagbe' app, he said-

"Once I lost some of my electronic products while carrying those through a local pickup hired from the airport area. From then on, whenever I need a truck, hire it from the Truck Lagbe app. The trucks and pickups are registered with all the necessary documents so there is no worry about losing the goods. I inform about the address, then the driver calls me right at time when he reaches the load point . All in all, this system is hassle-free and secure for me. ”

Without a change in the traditional transportation system, it is not possible to make this industry stronger than before. And it is the digitization of the country's transport system that can bring about this change which will make our small and medium enterprises even stronger.