Chairman of S. S. Yahyalı Motor Carriers Cooperative Selahattin Saatçi; "They See Them Like Stepchild, However It Is The Truck Drivers Who Sustain Turkey"

“IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTOR BUT THEY LOOK LIKE IT IS THE LEAST SIGNIFICANT SECTOR”

Vice Chairman of S. S. Yahyalı Motor Carriers Cooperative Erol Gül:

"TRANSPORTATION SECTOR BEARS THE BURDEN OF TURKEY”

Chairman Selahattin Saatçi, who has been the chairman for four years and previously under the management of the cooperative, talks about the cooperative as follows: “Our cooperative is a 40-year-old cooperative. We have 420 members, 520 vehicles. Our works are predominantly iron mine. Turkey's 20 percent of the iron ore produced here. In addition, there are mainly chrome and zinc mine. ”

“If We Shut Off The Engine For 24 Hours, We Can Hardly Keep Food On the Table”

Chairman Saatçi said that; “Our most important problem is diesel. Diesel is very expensive. Taxes, traffic insurance, automobile insurance… The insurance of a vehicle is 10 thousand liras. What does this vehicle earn, half of what it earns goes to the insurance. In addition, the state presses us lot about some issues. For example: the tachograph. I bought a 2011 model car, it has an original tachograph. But recently I bought brand new tachograph for 2 thousand 500 TL. It's nice what our state does, but this is Turkey. We couldn't reach that level. If we shut off the engine for 24 hours, we can hardly keep food on the table. For example, if the man goes to the field and loads potatoes, onions; his tachograph works and his time ends in the field. What will this driver do? The potatoes in the field will go away. There are customers in Istanbul, they will go away, too. The driver already knows when he should sleep and get up, when he can deliver the load without any trouble. ”

"The Biggest Problem Regarding The Tachograph Is The Lack Of Infrastructure"

Continuing his evaluations on the tachograph, Saatçi said: “The biggest problem regarding the tachograph is the lack of infrastructure. Roads are locked if this system is fully implemented. It is not possible to apply. The driver departs from here and goes to Europe; the place to sleep is known, the place to stand is known. They made the infrastructure accordingly there. What the state says may be provided 20 years later. This is not something that happens all suddenly. ”

“We Went To Ankara And Met With Our Minister Of Transport; But We Weren’t Taken Into Consideration Much ”

Chairman Saatçi states that they have met with the Minister of Transport about the problems of the sector. Indicating that there was no result from the meeting and said; “We went to Ankara and met with our Minister of Transportation, but we were not taken into consideration much. They see them like stepchild but it is the truck drivers who sustain Turkey. It is the most important sector but they look like it is the least significant sector. ”

“Only 20 Percent of Our Drivers Can Do This Transaction via E-State”

Expressing his views on U-ETDS, Saatçi said: “The shipping community does not have a single job without an invoice. Only 20 percent of our drivers can do this through e-state. They have a hard time when they want to do it with a smart phone. If there are 400 people, only 20 of them can do this. There were 3 accountants here, they couldn’t help. It was also a huge burden on official accountants. Everyone cut their bill and took their money. As transporters, we stand by our state. Just like a healthcare professional, the police; but they look at us like a stepchild. ”

 “An Abandoned Occupation, It Would Be The Same Here Without This Cooperative”

Stating that he does not want his children to do this profession, Saatçi said: “It is an abandoned profession. There is work potential and cooperative in Yahyalı. Otherwise, nobody does trucking here. We have one and a half million tons of iron ore in Yahyalı. This work cannot be done, without Yahyalı’s own business. I see it on the market; this does not cover the diesel, the price is uncertain. I don't want my kids to do this profession. It is not a job to do. Let's sit and talk; however, it came like this, that is inevitable; unfortunately, there is no authority to get results. ”

“If We Come Together, This Trouble Can Be Solved In 24 Hours”

Evaluating the solution of the problems, Saatçi said: “If we come together, this trouble can be solved in 24 hours. Even our President may calls us and ask "What should we do?" For example, the federation addresses passenger transportation. In fact, it should address us too, but it is not interested in us. Cooperatives remain standing. If there is a business as a region, it will survive; but it can't without work. If we can become united, if we could get that power; it would be nice. Then we can make what we want in Turkey. "

“We Want Our State To Be With Us And Our Transporters To Be United. ”

Chairman Saatçi also made the following assessment regarding freight insurance and said that; “Freight insurance is a lot of burden. Traffic insurance is done at an additional cost. Otherwise, the goods we carry do not want insurance. We have a lot of difficulty when there is a precious cargo. We want our state to be with us and our transporters to be united.

“We Supply the Spare Parts of Our 520 Vehicles Ourselves”

Speaking about the work they have done within the cooperative, Saatçi said: “We try to stand on our own feet. We supply the spare parts of our 520 vehicles ourselves. We are building an oil station. It will take place within a month and there will be 13 percent discount. We have not benefited from the decrease in fuel prices; automatically the rents are also falling. Wages do not rise when they rise, but when they fall, they fall immediately. But it is not in our own company, but in general. When it rises in our company Özkoyuncu, it rises, when it falls, it falls. It would be to our advantage, as it usually rises. ”

While mentioning the pandemic process, he explains that the cooperative was disinfected and the rules were followed during the pandemic, Saatçi said that; “Our cooperative was disinfected once a week during the pandemic process. We also distributed the masks to our drivers. We did what the rules required. ”

Erol Gül, Vice Chairman Of S. S. Yahyalı Motor Carriers Cooperative, Also Makes Evaluations About The Sector. Gül Said, “Our President Has Many Problems; But We Need Him. They Should Create A Commission And Listen To The Transporters. ”

Stating that the sector has major problems, Gul said: "We are in potato, beet tender in Turkey. We are very big in the mining industry. We export to Mersin and from there goes to the ports abroad. From Hakkari to Malatya; wherever the demand comes from, we do our transportation there. We are a serious force with our vehicles in our structure; but we have serious problems. If our Ministry of Transport hears our voices and listens our problems, we will do better things. ”

“We Are Getting Worse Day By Day, Everybody Is Doing Transportation”

Touching on the problems of the sector, Gül said: “Our main problems are; firstly the diesel prices. Prices had fallen but started to rise again. There is the vehicle insurance and traffic insurance. Let’s pass the traffic insurance because it is compulsory. But the insurance incident has reached serious numbers and we cannot catch up anymore. Tire prices are already troublesome; If we explain the problems of the transporter in the context of transportation, it does not come to the end. There must be a document that not everyone can do transport. You will say that; 'There is K1 certificate.' K1 has no effect. There are 5 vehicles on K1. We are not saying that this profession should be interrupted or not. People who can do this profession good are in the profession. But we are getting worse day by day, everyone is doing transportation. ”

“There Must Be A Certificate And Not Anyone Can Do This Job”

Defending that the people who will work in the transportation sector should do this profession with a certificate, Gül said: “In 2004, a K1 incident occurred; It was said 'ok'. The one who can get K1 certificate had achieved it. Then the price fell. There was no obstacle. My words should not be misunderstood; but everyone who left the job like a police officer, a teacher, a trucker started to do transportation. There is no obstacle to this profession. In transportation, it is not said "the person who does this job properly can continue". For example, if you start a job today, a document is requested. But this does not exist in transportation. Anyone who has some money is starting to do this job. He does not know the price, fuel, account. This time, the main truckers are in trouble and cannot do this job. For example, today I am in the transportation sector, I give a price. Any transporter who does not know this job gives a lower price or tries to save the day. It hits you and other transporters. Then, you cannot recover yourself. The Ministry of Transport should work towards our profession, and people who do this profession should continue. So, there must be a certificate and not everyone can do this job. ”

“80 Percent Of Vehicles Work Without Insurance Due To Payments”

Stating that many truckers work without insurance due to the high insurance costs, Gül said: “Many mistakes were made many years ago in the insurance system. They had a lot of trouble for the insurance companies in our big cities such as Ankara and Istanbul. Firms also made some attempts to take action. When those attempts couldn’t prevent, we, the transporters, suffered. The insurance and traffic insurance of our transporter friends are very high. Insurance is compulsory; but when the vehicle has the slightest accident, they take it twice as much. There are deliberate mistakes made in our big cities in time. Those who had insurances of vehicles then made accidents and appeared on TV. The state should bring a system to the vehicle insurance just like traffic insurance. In other words, it should be prevented for the truck drivers to increase the 5-liras of insurance to a thousand liras when an accident occurs. We have a hard time with this. Due to payments, 80 percent of vehicles work without insurance. They say "I can not get insurance, so I have the chance to experience it". I have vehicles too. I get insuramce; but be sure that we have difficulties. Since everyone can work in the transportation sector in our country, a precaution should be introduced for the current transportation. I think it would be better if a certificate was given. ”

“The Ministry of Transport Need to Form a Delegation and Go and Listen to the Problems of Transporters One – By – One”

Defending that the problems of the transporters should be listened one-by-one, a solution should be produced; Gül said that; “If I am not mistaken, it is said, 'Let's apply to the carriers for 4-8 hours' by sitting on the table. They created the K1 in 2004. They said 'unit price for 1 year'. Nothing came after that. If they hear our voices and help us, things will get better. These things can’t be solved by blocking the road and strike. The Ministry of Transport needs to form a delegation and listen to the transporters’ problems and listen to them from the transporters. Not from the brokers. Don't get it wrong, we should listen to the transporters. If I was the Minister of Transport, I would create a delegation and put the problems of truckers on the table. I would have priced on unit price, not on a mileage basis, based on inflation. We're not like Europe in Turkey. The railroad is little, it continues on the highway. Serious measures should be taken on this roadway. Problems of road transporters should be listened to. Let the Ministry know about my problems. For example, what is the base of 8 hours? It takes 5-6 hours for us to load the freight. ”

“We Do Not Have A Rest Park For 4 Hours Rest And 8 Hours Travel”

Stating that they had met with the Minister of Transportation, Gül said: "The is currently no road damaged in Turkey. We thank our state for this matter. When I talked to the Minister of Transportation, I mentioned them. We do not have a rest park to rest 4 hours and travel 8 hours. We told these to our Minister. Primary point is the rest park, our stations. Then the tachograph works when the transporter loads a freight in the warehouse. For example when the driver starts the vehicle, the tachograph starts to work. You stay there for 6-7 hours, you only load one freight. The clock is already running out. The simplest example; There is no suitable park between Kayseri and Adana. Take the bus from Kayseri. There are 2 parks on the Mersin highway. My vehicles bring stones from Izmir, they are standing in Konya. Fuel stations say I cannot let you stay here for 12 hours. We have a lot of vehicles and we are always on the road. Our railway is not like Europe. Considering all of these, let's create a unit price or a figure based on inflation. We are not saying that the owners of the factory always give us their freight. ”

“We Need Protection”

Defending that the certificate condition should be introduced for the protection of the current transporters, Gül said: “Let our problems be heard. K1 was put in front of our profession, but it was not effective. Get the certificate, protect the current transporters now. We need protection. What do our Ministry of Transportation, our Chamber of Drivers do? “Buy two labels a year” but these are all taxes. Already 70 percent of diesel is tax. Fees are so, tire is so ... Be sure that our lives are full of taxes. Insurance and salary of a driver increased. If you say to a driver 'why did you go the way less', you may have trouble if he files you. We have so many troubles. A delegation must be created. Mr. President meets and talks with our regional headmen. It can also be done with carriers cooperative or transporters. For example; the load comes from Adana, broker takes 200 TL to Kayseri, 100 TL is given to the truckers. Our president would listen very well to real transporters and take a hand on our problems. ”

" Transport Sector Bears the Burden of Turkey"

Stating that the cooperatives should be united under one roof of Cooperatives’ Union; Gül said that; "I've heard that there are up to 3 thousand cooperatives in Turkey. I knew that the active one was 400. There must be a Cooperatives’ Union. The transportation sector bears the burden of Turkey. We are in a really difficult situation. There are the ones who take the road for a month away from their families and return to home with debt. There may be the ones who ask; "Why is he doing?" Maybe he finished high school, maybe went to college or not. He has no profession. He only does transportation. On the other hand; another man has income, a vineyard, a garden or a factory. He buys 2-3 more trucks. He really gets profit on profits. We are not in anticipation of profit. We are doing this profession to support our family. For example, someone has a spare parts shop or a tire store. He buys two trucks, he employs two drivers. He buys in his company not to pay VAT. He earns from there, he sells it two years later and profits from there. Our truckers are doing this job to take care of their family and raise their standard of living a little more. We have many problems and they do not end. ”

“We Bring For Our Vehicle To The Prices Lower Than the Market”

Referring to the repair-shop established within the cooperative, Gül said: “We meet all the needs of our own vehicles. If anyone else wants parts from industry trades, we try to give it within our cooperative with a zero profit margin. But we use it only for our own vehicles, as it may be problematic. We bring for our vehicles to the prices lower than the market.”