Nurettin Özbek, Chairman Of S. S. Divriği Motor Carriers Cooperative: The Transporter Is Tryıng To Earn A Living For The Family Under Difficult Conditions

“ORGANIZED SOCIETIES ARE ALWAYS ONE STEP FURTHER; FOR THIS REASON, MY COLLEAGUES SHOULD REGISTER TO COOPERATIVES”

Addressing the problems of the sector and the expectations of the cooperatives, Chairman Özbek said that: “We have a Chairman in the federation as transporter; however, the truckers are not very much supported. Our priority is that cooperatives come together and form their own federations. Organized societies are always one step further.”

Stating that they are an effective cooperative, Chairman Özbek said the following about the cooperative: “Our cooperative was established in 1978. I have been chairing our cooperative since 2004. We mainly work with short dampers in the mines. There were state-owned iron and steel enterprises before. It was privatized in 2004 and transferred to Erdemir-Ermaden. We are doing the works of Erdemir company in mine. In addition to this, the works of Demir Export and Çiftay İnşaat; we do intercity transportation from time to time. We have 79 members and over 100 trucks. The reason for this is that some of our members have more than one vehicle. Some of our friends work out of the city because our jobs are inadequate.”

Our Troubles Are Common Around Turkey

Stating that price increases and the absence of ton / kilometer cause problems in the sector, Özbek said that; “There is no one supporting us as a sector; therefore, we have serious problems from time to time. We cannot get the value of our labor. We have common troubles with our carrier friends in all cooperatives. First of all, despite the increase in fuel and spare parts prices, it is a problem that the shipping fees remain the same. In addition, the fact that no price is set by the state and the absence of ton / kilometer practice affects all our transporters. Our troubles are common around Turkey. It is not possible to buy a spare part we bought a year ago at the same price. But the shipping prices continue the same as the prices 3-4 years ago. Fuel price is constantly increasing. This year it did not increase very much, it had fallen sometime again and approached the same prices. In particular, we want the SCT in fuel to be reduced a little more. We have a chairman in the federation; however, it does not take care of the truckers much. One of our priority requests; cooperatives come together to form their own federations. Organized societies are always one step further. Cooperatives seem a little more organized. However, not all friends comply with this. Not only cooperatives do shipping. There are the companies or we have friends who are individual truckers. One takes the load to be moved to 50 lira, while another takes it to 80 lira. To prevent this, a fixed price must be determined. Even though he waits for loads and sometimes gets losses for days, we also have friends who do business without earning any money.

Mentioning that there are also problems due to pandemic, Özbek said that; “In general, there is a problem in every sector due to pandemic. These problems affect the whole world as well as affect us negatively. Divrigi is a small place, so there wasn't much trouble with Covid-19 in terms of health. From time to time, we encounter difficulties due to outsiders; but we did not experience very negative things.”

“It is a Must For Truckers to Form Their Own Federation by Bringing Cooperatives Together”

Expressing that there are efforts to establish a Cooperative Union but they could not achieve this, Özbek said that; “5-6 years ago, we had an effort to establish a Cooperative Union in Sivas. When 7 cooperatives come together, they can establish a union. Provinces such as Sivas or the close provinces Sivas-Erzincan can form unions. Regional unions can be established in this way. There are also Regional Unions established; however, we have postponed our studies for a while since the Regional Union did not have a positive effect on cooperatives. I don't know how useful it is. Truckers must bring their cooperatives together and form their own federation. I think that the sooner it is created for our friends in this profession group, the more useful it is. If this takes a long time to happen, our friends will not be able to take advantage of this right now. We need to come together as transporters and transport companies to form the federation.

“Infrastructure Should be Built Beforehand”

Expressing that a detailed information should be given about the U-ETDS system and emphasizing that some of the drivers cannot use this application, Özbek said that; “I do not think that the drivers can use U-ETDS. It is not an easy application either. It would be better if there is a system that is easier to implement. I don't think 85 percent of our driver friends can do it. Their infrastructure should be built beforehand. Neither the drivers nor me know this. They can inform the cooperatives. We bring our drivers together or we receive this information from our accountant friends and inform our driver friends. Truckers cannot do this but the accountants can report data, or data can be reported weekly, not daily. Each of the applications brought will have natural benefits. Although we were very hopeful while we get the K1 document. When the K1 certificate was issued, we were hoped that the conditions of trucking would be improved, but we have not seen any difference until now. We want the applications to be useful for our colleagues. I think that this application will definitely be useful if people are informed and infrastructure is established. It is said, "We enacted this law, apply it." There are serious problems about the tachograph. For example, a transporter will take cargo from Antalya and go to Istanbul. Fruits and vegetables need to be delivered fresh. The driver stopped due to the tachograph, then what will happen? These are serious troubles and better regulation should be provided.”

“The Transporter Is Trying To Earn A Living For The Family Under Difficult Conditions”

Stating that they made a call for the Ministry for the implementation of ton / kilometer; Chairman Özbek said that; “We express that the ton / kilometer procedure should be implemented by our Ministry as soon as possible. Some of the cooperatives are affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and some are to the Ministry of Transport; there is also serious uncertainty here. We do the hardest job in the world. The transporter is trying to earn a living for the family under difficult conditions. I want these conditions to be under the control of our state and that the ton / kilometer procedure should be put into effect immediately. Organized societies are always one step further, so my colleagues should also register to cooperatives. Our manager friends in cooperatives should come together and create the federation as soon as possible. Our priority is ton / kilometer; The second is an organized society. I think it would be great for truckers if we could create the federation.