''THE LOGISTICS SECTOR MUST BE PROTECTED, COVERED AND SUPPORTED''

Giving the warning that the Turkish trucks waiting at the border gates for a long time, may cause the European firms to be distant from the Turkish transporters, Yayman said: “If we do not do this job, there are the Romanian, Macedonian, Russian transporters who are waiting already to do this job instead of us.”

Indents of our interview...

Established in 1992, our Best International Transportation company operates in the field of partial transportation. Our company has specialized in the UK line since it was founded. We provide transportation services directly from Turkey to the UK. In addition, we continue the partial transportations from the UK, Germany and Belgium to Turkey. Our transit time between the England and Turkey lasts 7-8 days. Every day we have two- way truck departures. We have a young fleet and all our vehicles are Volvo Trucks.

We Can't Find Enough Return Load from Abroad

Trade imbalance directly affects the transporter. Recently, fluctuations in foreign exchange have stopped our importers. Today, many importers do not bring goods to our company. At the same time, due to high interest rates, problems are experienced in our country. Investments have been greatly reduced. The works are directed to income more and people prefer to make investment in the bank instead of trading. The economic fluctuations we are experiencing affect the transporters in this way: Goods movements are decreasing and as a result, our transport balance is getting deteriorated. The rise of the currency is a good thing for our exporters, but we cannot find enough return loads from abroad. Due to excessive competition, our prices are falling by half. Some companies return their vehicles to Turkey empty. In order to compensate for this, they increase the export price. We are trying to get the return shipping fare. This is a burden on the exporter.

“We want C2 Certificate to be valid in all modes of transport”

“When you say the logistics sector in Turkey, the largest companies engaged in international shipping constitute the backbone of it. These companies have carried the weight of Turkey's export and import for many years and have brought money and foreign exchange in our country. Therefore, international transport companies with C2 certificate are the backbone of the logistics sector. We want the C2 certificate given to us to be valid in all modes of transport. We think that if there is a C2 certificate in a company, there is no need to search another document. If any other document is to be sought, we request that the other documents be given to C2 companies at a price of one-tenth. There should be a privilege of the companies with C2 documents because we serve many years in Turkey, we earn foreign exchange. If we do not do this job, there are the Romanian, Macedonian, Russian transporters who are waiting already to do this job instead of us. Therefore, we expect support from our government. Logistics sector is a strategic sector for Turkey. Therefore, the logistics sector needs to be protected, covered and supported.

“We Are At Risk of Losing Markets We Have”

The queues at our border gates does not go with Turkey. The impressions we get as a company, this queues are caused by the customs working slowly in Turkey and due to the other reasons. Imagine that your vehicle comes out from İkitelli and then it will go to Muratbey Customs and from there to go to Kapikule, waiting for days in quesues. At the queue the vehicle waits, there is neither toilet nor shower. There are inhuman and informal conditions. Many of our drivers leave this job due to these conditions. As a sector, we are going through a troubled period in the profession of driving anyway. Young people do not prefer driving profession. We expect our government to take urgent measures to reduce queues. Also from the point of view of the exporter; exporter produces goods and delivers to us. We are transporters, we have to take this to Germany in 5 days, to the UK in 7 days. When these periods are delayed, the buyer cannot put the goods on the shelf and sell them, and the delayed goods are not ordered again. One of the biggest reasons Turkish exporters sell goods to Europe is the geographical proximity but this advantage is also lost due to these problems. This time, European companies prefer to get their orders from the Far East. Today in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, labor is very cheap. Many products in Europe are now seen with the labels as “Made in Bangladesh”. The market is moving to those areas. If we extend delivery times, we're at risk of losing markets we have.”

“The Appointment is given 15 Days Later for the Vehicle with Completed Inspection”

We are international transportation companies. The vehicle that discharges the load must be loaded immediately and must depart. However, an appointment is given to the vehicle 15 days after the inspection. When we wait for 15 days, we lose money and work. We expect support and solution from our government. We do not want to run our vehicles without inspection, but we are waiting for an appointment from the relevant organization as soon as possible.

“Readers Don't Read Some Vehicles While Crossing the Bridges”

Another problem is HGS and OGS fees. Readers don't read some vehicles as they pass through the bridges. Many years later, we get the letters stating that “You have passed from here illegal”. We do not have vehicle inspection without paying these debts. When we take the vehicle to inspection, they say, “You pay these illegal passes”. The bill of a situation caused by the cameras of the system should not be invoiced to us. We have received our labels as traders who want to do their job honestly, they are linked to accounts and credit cards. The payment is not taken even though there is a limit. At that time, there is not enough balance on the credit card, and if there is an HGS and OGS label in a vehicle, no illegal transit treatment should be done. If the company do not get the payment from a company, there may be the reminders like SMS, e-mail, but unfortunately there is no such reminder.”

“Visa Requirements for Turkish Business People and Truck Drivers Should Be Lifted”

We also have a lot of problems with driver visas. The organizations we apply to get a visa give sometimes 4, and sometimes 10 days of appointment dates. This means that a driver lost a period of 4 to 10 days to get a visa. These are given for a fee of around 600 Euros in 6 months of periods. Every 6 months, we have to pay this amount and wait for the appointment date. Our request for this issue is for lifting the visa requirements for Turkish business people and truck drivers.

Logistics Center: Turkey

In MUSIAD where I am the Chairman of the Logistics Sector Board, we  have been conducting a panel discussion on the problems of the sector once or twice a year. Once a year we do a consultation meeting on Turkey. In our consultation meeting, we have a definite subject and guests from the public every year. This year, the topic of Turkey Consultation Meeting, which will take place in March 1-2, is “Logistics Centers: Turkey”. This will be the meeting where the thoughts of all our stakeholders regarding Turkey being the logistics base and the logistics bridge will be discussed.