''WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON THE INSURANCE COOPERATIVE''

"We have 21 motor carrier cooperatives in our region. As a regional unit, we're also attached to the Central Union. We're trying to deliver our problems and demands in accordance with the operations of our Central Union. Recently, we've held the 17th meeting of our Central Union. It was a general meeting of truckers. We had a lot of attendance this year at our meeting with the participation of our guests from bureaucracy. Just as we've stated before, we've conveyed our issues to the Ministry of Transport. Now, we're following their projects. Of course, we can't solve all our problems at once. We've shared our issues and problems in about 30 documents. We believe that it would be good for us even if just a few of these could be solved."

"We're Thinking About Issuing Policies to Our Truckers at A 20 Percent Lower Rate Than Their Current Policies"

"We've been working on our insurance cooperative for the last two years to provide affordable and cheaper insurance to our truckers. Insurance has been a major burden for our truckers and it still is. Nowadays, we have a fixed insurance rate; it used to be at an astronomical level. We were almost paying insurance premiums like car payments. Now, it is a bit better; however, it is still too high! That's why we began working to build our insurance cooperative in this term. We believe that we will be able to get our license by the end of this year and start issuing policies. We're also thinking about issuing policies to our truckers at a 20 percent lower rate than their current policies."

"Amendment of The Ton/Km Law Is the Most Important Demand of Truckers"

"We're regarding the issues in the transportation sector as truckers. Of course, other drivers also have their problems; however, we're focused on truckers. Amendment of the ton/km law is the most important demand of truckers. Adjustment of the ton/km prices is always listed as the first article in every document we deliver to the officials. The Ministry of Transportation needs to collaborate with the General Directorate of Highways to solve this issue. They must at least set a base price. Just as there is a price tariff for minibuses and taxis, we demand such a ton/km price from our government. They told us at the meeting that the Ministry of Transportation has a project for this issue. They are thinking about implementing an electronic vehicle inspection system. We don't know about how it will work but they're trying to explain it to us. Let me explain it to you from what I've understood; they're saying that they will be able to see the routes and directions of the vehicles and how much they have charged to carry. They say that; after receiving these data, we can think about implementing the program you demand. Of course, things won't end there! There must be strict monitoring. There are highway inspection units all across Turkey. Some vehicles are inspected and some are not because inspections are done manuallyl. Perhaps just 10-20 percent of 1000 vehicles are inspected. Employers know this; they take these conditions into consideration and try to send off the vehicles. However, according to the projects of the Ministry, they will understand that they won't be able to dictate us to carry this load for this much. When the ton/km prices are set, the prices will automatically rise. Truckers won't work for low prices. Even if they do, they will be inspected on the road and receive penal sanctions accordingly."

"L1 or R1 Documents Must Always Be Required for Tenders"

"The purpose of the R-1 document and the L1 document were to monitor our stakeholders under the name of a logistics document. We had friends who received an L1 document but then, they had to get self-owned vehicles. At first, the number of self-owned vehicles required was 1 to 20. Then, they reduced it to 1 to 10 and we had issues. As a result, R1 document became the most suitable. We have the L1 document at some of our cooperatives and the R1 at others. We even have some cooperatives that have both. In those times, we were trying to find out what was going to happen and we couldn't understand it exactly. Some of our friends tried to get documents under very difficult conditions. We even had some people who got both documents just in case. We have both the L1 and R1 documents. This document is advantageous for bidding at public tenders. But there are also some shortcomings. Sometimes, public tenders don't require the R1 or L1 documents and state that we can bid with a K1 document alone. You will have some competition when people can bid at the tender with a K1 document. Which means that you can bid at a tender individually. We are against that and we have been making some correspondences. We demand that L1 or R1 documents must always be required for tenders. Honestly, the L1 document no longer has any advantage because it has become very easy to obtain. It used to be purchased for nearly 300 thousand TL; but now, it has gone down to just 100 thousand TL. The price went down, even though we expected it to go up."

"We Bid at A Tender and The Tender Specification Requires Self Owned Vehicles but Cooperatives Don't Have Self Owned Vehicles"

"We have made proposals to count the vehicles of cooperative members as self-owned vehicles of cooperatives. We've express this issue each time. There was even a case about it in Bursa and it has resulted in our favour. However, there is still no progress. We bid at a tender and the tender specification requires self-owned vehicles but cooperatives don't have self-owned vehicles. As you know, cooperatives only have a limited liability. Partners are only responsible for the amount of capital they've contributed. They don't make any contributions with their vehicles. Due to a disagreement between the relevant ministries on this issue, they are still working on it; however, it has to be solved as soon as possible. We continue our work to ensure that the vehicles of members are also counted as self-owned vehicles of cooperatives. Our members think likewise on this issue. These are our general demands; adjustment of the tom/km law and counting the vehicles as self-owned vehicles of cooperatives. We still continue our work on these issues."

"Municipalities Must Allocate Locations for Our Cooperatives"

"Some of our cooperatives don't have any capital; they can't purchase a plot on their own and organize it. Municipalities need to allocate locations for these cooperatives. Some municipalities have factories left inside cities and you have to enter these factories with heavy-duty vehicles. Therefore, vehicles have to enter the cities and they need to obtain certain permits for that. Because when heavy-duty vehicles bring in or load their cargo in the city, they receive traffic fines. We have demands on this urban issue as well. Now, you know that currently there are presumptive nominees. After their nominations, we will once again convey our demands to them."