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Pakistan road freight industry:
An overview
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by J L Hine and A S Chilver
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TRANSPORT AND ROAD RESEARCH LABORATORY
Depadment of Transpoti
RESEARCH HEPORT 314
Pakistan road freight industry: An overview
by J L Hine and A S Chilver
Crown Copyright 19S1. The work described in this report forms pati of the programmecarried out forlhe Overseas
Development Administration, but the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Administration, Extracts
from the text may be reproduced, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged.
e
Overseas Unit
Transpod and Road Research Laboratoy
CroWhorne, Berkshire, RGI 1 6AU
1991
ISSN 0266-5247
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CONTENTS
Abstract
1. Introduction
Z. The context
3. Suweys and data sources
4. The fleet
4.1
4.2
4,3
4,4
Vehicle impcfl and assembly
Fleet composition
Vehicle modifications and repairs
Vehicle value and age structure
5. The role of consignors and freight agents
5.1 Freight consignors
5.1.1 Choice of transport mode
5.1.2 Consignors ownership and
use vehicles
5.1.3 Contact with freight agents
5,2 Freight agents
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2a3
5.2.4
Ownerst,ip and operations
Consignments and rates of
commission
Freight agents’ business
channels
Time taken to find transpoti
6. The structure and finance of the Industry
6,1 The institutional structure
6.2 Vehicle ownership and management
6,3 Vehicle purchase and finance
7. Operational performance, loads and tariffs
7.1 Vehicle trip length distribution
7,2 Operating performance
7.3 Loads and tariffs
Page
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8
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12
12
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14
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20
22
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Page
Costs, revenues and profitability 24
8,1 Vehicle operating cost components 24
8.2 Vehicle revenue 25
8.3 Total operating costs and profitability 26
Dfivers’ problems and road accidenis 28
9.1 Drivers’ problems 28
9.2 Road accidents 28
Summa~ of main results 29
Acknowledgements 30
References 30
Appendix A: Additional tables to main text. 31
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PAKISTAN ROAD FREIGHT INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW
ABSTRACT
The Report describes the main operetiondl characters.
tics of the private road freight industry of Pakistan. It is
based chiefly on the results of a nationwide survey
carried out in 1986, In which 3500 truck drivers were
interviewed at 39 sites Iocaied at inter. disttict boundaries.
Information was collected on vehicle age, make, body
type, value, ownership, fleet management, finance,
tariffs, load, operating performance, costs, and accidents.
Additional information is presented from surveys of freight
consignors and freight agents and from drivers’ own
records of operating costs and revenues, Until the early
1980s the industry was totally dominated by Bedford
tr~cks with a design capacity of 7 tons, This truck is now
declining in importance as more profitable, larger capac.
ity trucks are introduced. Overall the industry is very
competitive and the vehicle Ileet is run efficiently. How.
ever there appears to be considerable scope for the
Introduction of greater numbers of larger vehicles.
1 INTRODUCTION
Road freight transport is one of the most important
components of the transport sector wi!hitl developing
countries, lnPakistan Ilaccounls forthree.quarfersof the
;ntal intand freight tonne. kitometros and in expenditure
terms it is equivaltinl to between three and four por cent
of GDP.
To predict the effects of policy measures on freight
transpod it is necessary to gain a thorough understanding
of the industry, The research reported he,e.was designed
to achieve this through a range of different surveys. Data
were collected on tho organisation and performance of
the industry and on the costs, tariffs and utilisation of
freight vehictes, The main data cotleclion period of the
study was during 1985 and 1986.
This report provides a general description and presents
data on a wide ranoo of subiects relatin~ to the industry,
TOPICScove!od lnc~udeveh~le age, vf~cte value and”
fleet composition, frelghl consigning and the role of
freight forwarding agents, costs, tariffs, productivity and
profitability, and the ownership, Iinance and management
of the industry. More detalle’J anatysesof freight tariffs,
opelating costs and vohiclo time utitisatlon wilt be
presonfed In subsequent reports.
The overatt study was carried out uol!er a prograrnme of
cooperative research between the Overseas Unll of the
Transpoti and Road Research Laboratory and the
Nationat Transport Research Centre. Islamabad. It is
inlanded that the resutts of the research will be useful
both !n formulating gellerat freight transporf policy and in
assisting with the more specitlc aspects of modetling
vehicle operating costs used in road investmonl planning,
2 THE CONTEXT
Pakistan has an are,l of 796,000 sq, km and its popula.
tion is about 100 mittion. The country is divided between
the Provinces of Ratuchistan, Punlab, North West
Frontier, Sind and Azad Kashmir and the Northorn Areas
Region. Most of the country is desert. The rurat poputa.
tion is concentrated in the irrigated areas of the Punjab
and Sind. Irrigation water andhydro otectricityaru
supplied from the River tndus and ils tributaries (the
Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Suttej). These rivers run from
the Himatayas and the Karakoram mountain ranges in
India and north Pakistan. Karachi (7 million) is the largest
town and the major port. Other Iargo towns, (Lahoro,
Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.lslarnabad) are situated in the
north PunJab. A general map of Pakistan is shown in
Fig, 1,
Agriculture is ttl~ most important sector of the economy
accounting forabout31 percent of GDP. Manufactllring
industry accounts for a further 17percent, Alttlough
Karachi and Ifle other large towns are important industrial
centres, manufacturing is widely spread throughout
Punjab, Sind and parts 01the North Wesl Frontior
Province,
Pakistan produces a smalt amount of oil but is self
sufficient in natural gas. About two million tons of coal aro
produced together with six m;lkon tons of other minerals.
In 19B3 Pakistan had 8,800 km of railway and 104,000
km of roads of which 43,000 km were bitumen surfaced.
In llld same year it was estimated thal there wero 36,OOO
railway freight wagons and 45,000 privalely registered
trucks (Hundal 1985a). The National Transport Study
(JtC,4 1983) estimated that in 1981 there weto 26,1 bn
ton km of inland freight transport of which road transport
was estimated to lake 70 per cent. As rail freight traffic
has remained static the proportion of traffic taken by road
has increased over recent years.
The locations of the main reads are shown in Fig, 2,
The,e is a very high concentration of inter-district freight
movemenfs along the N5 route - the corridor from
Karachi lo Lahore and Poshawar. Some sections of this
road (particularly between Lahoro and Guiranwdla and
between Rawalpindi and Peshawar) are dual carriageway. With tho exception of some lightly trafficked roads in
Baluchistan all main roads are surfaced, with typical
roughness measurements of between 4000 and 5000
mm por km on the El scale. Lon~ hauls are very commori
for both road and rail. The main towns of Lahore,
Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gulranwala and Peshawar are
allmorgtllan 1000 knlfron~ttle port olKaraclli.
There is a malor imbalanc~ of imports over exports wifh o
netmovement ofgoods inland, lnttleyear 1982.83 1.9
million tons ofdry goods and 1.2million tonsof oil and
petroleum products were exported. Cotton, textiles, rice
. . ... ..–-.
.— \
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.~ -———— —-- ..--. _”
—. .-—
-—— . . . . . . .._
--———
!
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Fig,l A yeneral map of Pakistan
and fertilizer accounted for 70 per cehl of dry export
tonnage, In the same year 4.8 million tons of dry goods
and 6.9 mllllon tons of 011and petroleum products were
imported: other major Imports include cement, wheat,
fertilizer and Iron and steel, In 1982.83 these commodities accounted for 45 per cent of dry cargo imports,
In 1978 and f 979a major harvest failure stimulated a
large Increase In the Imports of grains and fertilizer,
Because of the difficulty of moving these bulk commodl.
ties, the National Logistics Cell (NLC) was setup under
p
the control of the armed forces. Tt e NLC was made
I
responsible for allocating the movement of bulk freight
traffic from Karachi to the railways and to road transport,
;0 In addition 800 high capacity trucks were Imported f~r the
NLC to use for the transport of bulk cargoes. Since 1978
the NLC has continued to play gn Important role in
Pakistan’s freight transport,
{ Under an International relief effort additional imporis were
brought Into Pakistan for the 3 million Afghan r61ugees,
The NLC was made responsible for runnln{] an extra 600
,,, @ ~ vehicles brought In for the movement of rellef goods,
1
Afghans have also taken a more direct role In Pakistan’s
frel?ht transport; 2500 lrucks belonging to the refugees
‘U
were brought Into Pakistan, Although these vehicles
2
\
have, at times, been subject to various restrictions many
Afghan trucks compete for business alongside Pakistani
trucks,
3 SURVEYS AND DK
SOURCES
Prior to the main surveys being under
R
lken, background
information was collecied by a-series of Informal inter,
views with truck drivers and owners, freight forwarding
agents, freight consignors, banks, Insurance companies,
vehicle manufacturers, spare parts importers, vehicle
repairers, port and railway officials, and reptesentalives
fro h customs and other government departments.
The Roadside Interview Survey was the main data
collection exercise of the whole study, In total 3500 truck
drivers (equivalent to 7 per cerlt of the total fleet) were
stopped and intewlewed al 39 sites throughout Pakistan,
The locations of the suwey stations are shown In Fig. 2.
The survey stations are Ilsted and a breakdown of the
makes and types of vehicles surveyed is presented in
Tables Al and AZ In the Appendix, The survey statiorls
.
111
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,---,-,--,<.$
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,
Fig,2 Roadside intotviow survey station$
Notu: ThaIoeatio!ls of tho %UIVI)V stti!tiol!s atu Iostud In TOIJIU Al i)) Iho ApuotldIx,
were principally located at district boundaries and so the
data collected primarily represents long distance travel,
As the main focus was on the private trucking Industry,
interviews were not carried out with trucks be!onglng to
the military or the NLC, Information gathered Included
data on vehicle age, make, body type, value, ownership,
fleet management, finance, tariffs, loads, operating
performance, costs, accidents and insurance, The survey
form was printed In Urdu and the interviews conducted In
Urdu, Punjabi or Pushto.
Besides the Roadside Interview Survey five other surveys
were undertaken as follows:.
i) Freight Consignors and Agents Survey
Structured Intewlews were hold with i 88 freight consign.
ors and 237 freight agents, Information was gathered on
the methods of consigning freight, freight modal choice
and on the role of freight agents, In addition opinions
were sought on a number of possible futuro develop.
ments in the industry.
ii) Vehicle Activity Survey
In this survey data were collected from a number of
vehicles on the time spent moving, loading, unloading or
at rest. Data were Sathered over periods Iastlng between
one and four weeks and, In total, 47 periods of data were
collected, Information on the distances travelled, costs
Incurred and revenue eatned was also recorded,
Iii) Truck Drivers’ Cost Ahd Revenue Diaries
Many drivers keep deta,od records of their costs and
revenues. In total the diaries of over 50 different trucks
were collected for this survey covering about 600 vehicle
months,
iv) Past Tariff Data
In order to Identify trends and saasonality In tariffs, past
tariff data were collected from records of freight agents
relating to particular journeys with standard loads. In total
120 different series of data were collected, Most of the
data covered the period from the beginning of 1982 to
mid 1986,
v) Road Roughness Survey
In order to assist with the analysls of cost and tariff data,
information on road roughness was required. To suppla.
ment data already collected for most of the main roads an
additional survey of the rough unsurfaced roads of
3
Baluchlslan and the more important interior roads of the
Punjab was undertaken. In total data were collecl~d on
70 road links covering a distance of over 5700 km,
4 THE FLEET
4.’1 VEHICLE IMPORT AND
ASSEMBLY
During the i 970s and 1980s Pakistan’s freight vehicle
fleet was dominated by one vehicle type: a two axle
Bedford truck with 7 tons carrying capacity and a 98 hp
engine. The design of this vehicle has changed little over
the past 30 years. Bedford trucks were imported In
“completely knocked down” (ckd) form and assembled
locally. Over the years, the Iocaf content was progres
slvely Increased and by 1987 amounted to about 55 per
cent of the vehicle value. During the 1970s the protection
given to the Bedford helped to prevent other makes from
becoming more established. However during the 1980s
protection was relaxed and the import and assembly of
many Japanese trucks became possible.
In 1979 Bedford sales accounted for over ninety per cent
of total truck sales In Pakistan: since then the ratio has
declined and by 1984 they accounted for only 58 per cent
of total sales. Data on freight vehlcfe sales provided by
Pakistan Automobile Corporation (pACO) is shown in
Fig. 3. Plates i to 4 are examPfes of tYPical Irucks found
in Pakistan.
Three principal makes of Japanese trucks (namely Isuzu,
Hino and Nissan) are assembled in pakislan. In 1986 the
local content by vaiue of these vehicles was well below
20 per cent. Details of the most common vehicle types
used bytheprivate market areshownin Tablel with the
ex.factory price for the chassis. Estimates of the full
vehicle value, including the body, are shown in Tables A3
and A4 of Appendix A.
Under agreements with the Government each manufao
turer is obliged to increase pro9ressiv@lYthe local content
of the imported vehicles that it sells. The manufacturers
have plans to widen the model ranges that are made and
as a result it Is likely to prove even more difficult to
achieve the ambitious local content targets (up to 80 per
cent within 7 years) that have been planned.
Other vehlcfe makes have been brought Into Pakistan
already assembled. The NLC imported Mercedes Benz,
Saviem, Hino and Fiat trucks A number of Mitsubishi
tractor units have also been Imported privately under a
regulation which allows tractor unlls to be Imported as
“machinery”, Many very old secondhand vehicles
(Particularly Mercedes and Badford trucks) were brouoht
Into Pakistan by the Afghan Refugees,
4
aooc
74
❑ Others
❑Bedfords
76 7a 79 ao 81
Year
Fig.3 Vehiclo sales
82 a3 84
Plete 1 A typical Bedford truck
Plete 2 An Isuzu truck
.’
,,
.. _-_,
,,. ..,,.,.>., ~~ — ——
Vehicle Model Type Axles GVW. GCW. HP
Make
Price Rs.
kg kg Sept t986
Bedford CJP Rigid 2 10,920 nla 98 275,000
Bedford TM2500 Tractor Unit 2 nla 25,000 171 nla
Hino FF 170 Rigid 2 nla nla 200 412,000
Isuzu JCWFTR Rigid 2 12,000 nla 160
Isuzu
398,000
TDJ/DVR Rigid 2 15,000 27,000 220 51s,000
Mitsubishi FP415ER Tractor Unit 2 15,400 39,000 310
Nissan
730,000
TK20GT Tractor Unit 2 14,175 26,000 190
Nissan TK20
570,000
Rigid 2 16,500 26,000 190 475,000
Nissan TDIO Rigid 3 23,000 nla 160
Nissan
480,000
U780E Rigid 2 12,000 nla 140 342,000
—
“ Gross Vehicle Weight
‘. Gross Combination Weight
Source: Manufacturers Specifications
4.2 FLEET COMPOSITION
The composition, by make and body type, of the trucks
intercepted In the Roadside Intowiew Survey is shown In
Figs. 4 and 5. A breakdown by vehicle type and Province
Is given In Table AZ In the Appendix, The data Is only
representative of vehicles engaged on Inter.district truck
moveme~t and Information relating to NLC and military
vehicles Is excluded. In the Suwey it was not possible to
distinguish the exact model type of the vehicle although
other characteristics such as the number of axles, and
the vehicle configuration, make and body type were
recorded. An additional complication Is that vehicles are
often modified so that they can take heavier loads,
Sometimes an extra axlo Is added so that a two-axle
truck becomes a Ihree.axlo truck, and rigid trucks are
convorted to tmctor units, Vehicle strengthening and
modification Is discussed later In the report Plrste3 Athree-axle Nissan truck
Pleta4 ANiasan tractor.trailer combination
6
.. . ... -—, —.X-. . . . . . . . .
/4 :7\
TABLE 1
Common Trucks In Pakistan
*-. . t r-a
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Fig.4 Vehiclomakc~
❑ HI~ll sidt$d M
LOW sldcd
❑ Mo’h”’
Tonkur
❑ “u’
Fig,6 Body types
7
,,
; .
I
A-. .,m
.——-— ——.—— -- —--- - -. .
Figure 4 shows that the twoaxle Bedford truck accounted
for 77 per cent of the trucks surveyed. The newer
Japanese trucks are growing in importai~ce, particularly in
Baluchlstan where they accounted for over 40 per cent of
the trucks suweyed. Overall, they formed 20 per cent of
the total. M8rcedes trucks imported from Afghanistan
accounted for a further one per cent,
Three-axle vehicles made up four percent and tractortrailer combinations another three per cent of the total
surveyed: in both calegofies Nissan was the dominafit
make. lnPakistan’s commercial fleet seml-trailersaro
nearly always operated with the same tractor unit and for
the purposes of !his report they are regarded as one
vehicle. A!though the NLC does use draw-bar trailers
these are very rare in the commercial fleet: the Roadside
Interview Survey collected no Information on their use.
Vehicle bodies are made locally In Pakistan and are
added to the truck chassis after it has left the factory.
Apart from tankers, vehicle bodies are made almost
exclusively of wood and in most cases are highly decorated. Thare Is usually a purpose built space on top of the
cab where assistants and second driver can rest or sleep
while the vehicle is in motion, In all categories, apart from
tractor. trailers, high sided bodies are the most common,
accounting for 80 per cent of the total The flexibility
offered by high sided vehicles is most appropriate to
Pakistan’s conditions. They can easily carry loose
building mate~als, 9enQral car90, and animals: tarpaulins
are carried for when it rains. Pakistan’s high tempera.
tures make boy bodies less appropriate because of the
difficulties of carrying out manual loading and unloading
in hot unventilated conditions. Flat bodies are most
common with tractor-trailers. These are most suitable for
carving bagged commodities, containers and large sized
loads such as motorcars. LOWsided Bedfords aro mainly
used for transporting sand and gravel.
After high sided bodies, tank bodies are the second most
important body type accounting for about 8 per cent of
Bedfords and about 23 Percent of tile Japanese two and
three-axle trucks.
4.3 VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS AND
REPAIRS
Most trucks in Pakistan, including the newer Japaneso
vehicles, are strengthened after they leav~ the factory to
take heavier loads, Table 2 gives data on some of the
modifications which are frequently made, the most
popular being the strengthening of the chassis, axle
springs and engine compartment. Wheel rims, tyres, and
TABLE 2
Common Vehicle Modifications
8
2 Axle Trucks
Modification
3 Axle Nissan Tractor
Bedford Hino Isuzu Nissan Nissan Trailers
Fdt Cent
Vehicle Yes 90 81 90 90
strengthened? No
91 88
6 13 7 5 1 11
Don’t Know 4 6 3 5 8 1
Chassis Yes 59 30 43
strengthened? Nr
57 80 59
32 53 47 34 11 29
Don’t Know 9 17 10 9 9 12
Engine comparfmert
strengthened? Yes 89 48 64
No
69
4
64 53
34 26 22 27 34
Don’t Know 7 18 to 9 9 t3
Springs Yes 66 80 86 66 86 74
Strengthened? No 3 2 2
Don’t Know
s 4
9
Ii
18 10 9 10 13
Extra axle Yes 40
added7 No
Don’t Know
51
9
Truck into Yes
tractor unit? No
2
75
Don’t Know 23
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
.._.— .G. - -.. —
axles tlfe aiso ollen changed for heavier duty items. By
contrast little evidence was found to suggest that brakes
are im~rc’(ed to cope with the increased loads.
Bedford trucks designnd to tako 7 tons are commonly
modified 10carry 11 tons, while two.axle Hines, ISUZUS
and Nissans designed 10take 11 tons will carry 16 tons,
The two-axle Japanese trucks that are converted to
three-axle vehicles carry up to 30 tons,
The larger two-axle Nissatl and Isuzu trucks have often
been converted to tractor units with the addition of a “fifth
wheel”. in addition the chassis of the semi-trailers are
strengthened (see Plate 5). Loads of 55 tons and more
are not uncommon for tractor-trailer combinations,
No evidence was found 10suggest that the performance
of existing engines is improved nor that more powerful
engines are put into existing vehicles. It appears that
attempts to improve productivity by modifying vehicles is
directed entirely !owards carrying heavier loads rather
than to running faster. ln,t’~rted second hand vehicles
are also strengthened. Af$l .II truck drivers take advan.
tage of the flatter terrain ir Pakistan by strengthening
their vehicles to lake heavier loads.
Although some authorities are toluctant to register the
use and conversion of the heav!e:,t trucks others are less
hesitant. A high proportion of the Ik]aviest trucks are
registered In Las Bela, in Baluchist&n, rather than in
Karachi, Once a vehicle is registered by one authority
there Is little to stop it being used a!l over Pakistan. There
is very little police enforcement of the official mdximum
gross vehicle weight regulations or the eight ton axle load
limit,
Vehicle modifications and repairs are carried out by
groups of small workshops, Each workshop has relatively
little working space, employs no more than a handful of
people and has only a limited acce~s to machinery, They
tend to specialise In providing a particular service, but In
most towns a wide range of skills and machine tools are
available and usually a full range of vehicle repairs can
be cairled out, A typical workshop Is shown in Plate 6,
Spare parts for the Bedford truck are cheap and very
widely available, m. ny being made In Pakistan. In most
cases if a part Is not Immediately available it will be made
locally, In the larger towns original parts for the Japanese
trucks are aval;able, but these tend to be about three
times the price 01the equivalent part for the Bedford.
4.4 VEHICLE VALUE AND AGE
STRUCTURE
Data collocted by the Roadside Interview Survey sug.
gested that the mean age of Pakistan’s freight vehicle
ffeet was 9 years at the time of the survey, This is higher
than might be normally expected but it can be explained
by the docllne In freight vehicle sales that occurred during
the 1970s and early t 980s (See Fig. 3).
By comparing the age spectrum of the Bedfords observed in the Roadside Interview Survey with the number
of Bedfords known to have been assembled each year, it
is possible to make an estimate of vehicle survival rates.
(See Table A3 in Appendix.) Of Ihe Bedfords assembled
in 1984, nine per cent were seen in the Roadside Intefi
view Suwey, but this diminished to only three per cent for
thosa assembled in 1973, The change in this percentage
from year to year was not uniform partly because of sales
to the military and the NLC (whose vehicles were not
recorded in the Survey), Nevertheless there is a clear
trend, and it was found that the data could be fined to the
following equation,
Ln ( N/hi) - -i.81 . 24,9/ Year (1)
(se = 13,2)
Coefficient of determination (R’): 0.26, Observations: 12
Irl the equation ‘N’, ‘M’ and ‘Year’ are defined as follows:.
N(x) = Number of Bedfords observed In the
Roadside Interview Survey assembled in
year x,
M(x) = Total number Bedfords assembled
In year x,
year = year(x). 1956! i,e. Year= 28 for 1984)
If this equation represents tho true rate of survival then a
mean expected life of 12.Gyears is Implied. However the
result should be treafod with caution because the Bedford
sales data were Iimifed and t; s survey was not corn.
pletely representativ~ of all traffic. Because the survey
omitted trucks rulming on short distance urban and intra.
district routes (these trucks are likely, on average, to be
older than those traveling on Inter-district routes) there
are grounds to suppose that the calculated expected life
Ijndorostlmated the true value. A life expectancy of 15
years could well be a better estimate,
Hundal (1985b) found a mean expected life of 1i.9 years
in a study of the survival ,ates of 81 trucks first registered
in 1961. Hundal’s survey related to a wide variety of
trucks and in view of the later standardisation on the
Bedford model and the consequent improved availabltity
of cheap spare parts It Is reasonable to believe that the
expected life of the later Bedford trucks would be higher,
The mean age of Bedford tru~ks found In the Survey was
ten years, However since 1982 Bedf~rd registrations
have declined while Japanese truck registrations have
Increased, Over three quarters of the Hines were less
than two years old and the mean ages of the Nissans and
Isuzus were between three and four years, The oldest
trucks In use were found to be the Afghan-run Mercedes
with a mean age of i 5 years. Most of these trucks were
brought second hand Into Afghanistan,
The data collected from the Roadside Interview Survey
demonstrated a strong relationship between the driver’s
estimate 01current value and vehicle age. This is shown
in Fig, 6 and in Tables A3 and A4 In the AppendIx, During
the period covered only relatively minor changes were
made 10the basic Bedford truck model, As a result the
-..
,,-
.,
\.-A
. . . . . . .’. ..J. ., >-”-. -., -- ,-.
—_ ———_—.. -.— .._. ___. _—__
0’
400
300
100
0
Plate 5 An example of chassis strengthening
60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 7G 7S 80 62 64 86
Mode;VOaf
Fig.6 The value of Uedford trucks
data shows a more consistent relationship between value
and model age for Bedfords In comparison with that for
J
Plete 6 A typicel workshop with a lathe
o
,/
10
the Japanese trucks. Using the raw data from the SurvQY
for Bedford trucks the following regression was found:-
VehlcleValue(000sRs)u 2S7. i 56’ Log(VeHcleAge) (2)
(se= 3.36)
Coefficient of determination (R’): 0483,
Observations: 2139
6 THE ROLE OF CONSIGNORS
AND FREIGHT AGENTS
5.1 FREIGHT CONSIGNORS
A survey of major freight consignors was carded out
during 1986. The transport or marketing managers of 188
large Irrduslrial firms were Interviewed in Ien major towns
of Pakistan (listed In Table A5 of the Appendix),
The interview of consignors focused on the tvpe of freight
consigned, the mode chosen, the degree to which lreight
aoents were used, and VIOWSon fulure developments
w~thlnthe freight industry. A wide range of business types
was represented, (See Table A6 in the AppendIx,)
Overall, the survey was representative of those concerned with the movement of freight by private road
transport, However, because rail transport and NLC
vehicles tend to be used by a relatively small number of
large consigning organisalions such modes were unde~
represrmted In the survey sample,
5.1.1 Choice of transport mode
Of the tl’i$eAquarters of the consignors intewiewed who
were responsible for the decision as to which mode to
use, one third stated that the time factor was the most
Important reason for their choice. Concern for damage to
goods and convenience also ranked highly, but costs
were only quoted as being of prime importance by 10 per
cent.
11
Although most goods are moved by conventional rigid
trucks t Oper cent of the consignors’ raw materials and
finishe,i p;oducts were Iransporfed by trucks willl trailers
and ? further 4 per cent were moved in containers. Of the
two Illirds of the consignors suweyed who cotild give a
positibq answer 91 per cent said that they cculd get a
tractor.t ‘ailer combination onto their premises. The use of
containers was found to be limited; only 23 per cent of
consignors used them and t,”;c.third$ cf these used them
less than three times a month.
Rail transporf was found to be a far less important mode,
accounting for less than one per cent of afl freight
consignments, despite the fact that 15 per cent of
consignors had a rail siding on site and seven per cent of
consignors (largely cement manufacturers and petroleum
companies) stated that they used a rail siding regularly.
An examination of the Individual ttips for which rail was
chosen revd~led clearly that It was the preferable mode
only over long distances such as betweenKarachiand
●
- .—-—-——.—. — ,---- ,. ..,_ ____ —.
Rawalpindi or Lahore, A similar result was found by
Cundill (1986) in Kenya. The general attitude towards the
railways was very negative, Sixty per cent felt the delays
associated with rail transport and the extra loading and
unloading charges incurred in transporting th6 freight
from the railway depot to the factory prevented their use.
Widespread concern was also expressed about the
aPParent lack of accountability for damaga to goods
transported by rail, despite the legal responsibility of the
railways in such instances. These feelings are reflected
by the fact that 30 per cent of the consignors In the
survey who had a railway siding had relinquished its use
and wished to be rid of it. Thus despite the apparent cost
ad’~antages that trains have over roads, it would aPPear
that the flexibility, rapid delivery, convenience and greater
accountability for damage associated with road transport,
all of which were highly valued by the consignors inte~
viewed, accounted for the insignificant role of the rail.
ways.
A small proportion 01the consignors interviewed used
NLC trucks to transport their raw materials: very mixed
comments on the quality of service were given, ranging
from the advantages associated with the large trucks
used to the disadvantages of the extra documentadon
involved and the rigid regulations regarding drivers’
hours,
5.1.2 Consignors ownership and use of
vehicles
A key feature identified by both the Consignors Survey
and the Roadside Interview Survey was the lack of
vehicles run on an “own account” basis, For the majority
of the conslgnor~, traffic was contracted out to “hire and
reward” operators, Approximately one third of the consignors had transport of their own but these vehicles
were predominantly used for the movement of goods and
raw materials In the local viclnitf; only 12 consignors
used their vehicles ovei long distances. The maior
advantages of vehicle ownership wero felt to be a
reduction In delays and the reduced Probability of freight
damage or theft; this I. shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3
Advantages of Vehicle Ownership to Consignors,
Advantage of Per cent
owning vehicles of responses
Less delays 53
Less damage to goods 32
Fewer incidents of theft 8
Increased customer contact 7
Total 100
Table 4 identifies the main disadvantages associated with
vehicle ownership that were poinled out by consignors. It
was felt tflat the difficulties of managing vehicles and staff
12
in situations of fluctuating demand were the most important problem, and the difficulties of trying to obtain return
loads were also cited as maior disadvantages of running
“in-house” transport operations. Over half of the consign.
ors simply stated that such operations would not be
financially viable or appropriate to ttleir business, and the
comment was frequently made that they could not
compete with the ptivale “hire and reward” truck operators, Further avldence of this pattern was revealed from
the Roadside Interview Survey where less than 1 per
cent of the trucks intercepted wero operated on an “own
account” basis.
Sixty per cent of alt vehicles operated by these consign.
ors were Bedfords: other popular vehicles included the
Mazda truck (a vehicle with up 10three tons carrying
capacity) and the Suzuki pick-ups: these vehicles
accourlted for, respectively, i 5 and 10 percent of the
total owned by the consignors
5,1.3 Contact with freight agents
Over half of the consignors rnalntalned regufar contacls
with freight agents (freight forwarders): the large majority
of these were In the form of a written yearly contract
sottlng fixed freight rates for that period, About 20 per
cent of consignors had established more informal
relationships with one or more agents agreeing to direct
work to an agent over a shorter time period. Details of the
relationships between consignors and freight agents are
given in Table 5.
It was not possible to draw any conclusions with regard 10
the difference In rates charged per ton kilometre between
those consignors who had a formal contract with an
agent and those who did not, due to the lack of directly
comparable data of toad types and routes.
5.2 cREIGHT AGENTS
A parallel survey of frei(,ht agents was also undertaken.
In total 237 freight agents were interviewed in ten major
towns (listed in Yable A5 In the Appendix), The agents
were asked the type of work undertaken, the type, size
and mode of freight consignments dealt with and the
Importance of ancillary services sucf~as telephones and
warehouses, Opinions were also sought on posslbla
future developments in the industry and on particular
problems experienced,
5.2.1 Ownership and operations
Most freight agencias surveyud were either owned by
individuals or operated as parfnershlps; just over half of
the agencies operated from one office only, while a
handful had as many as zo other offices. The forwarding
of freight was very clearly the major operation for the
agents: 43 per cent also operated a small number of
vehicles of their own and 65 per cent ran a warehouse of
some sort. Less than 5 per cent wore Involved In the
financing or trade of trucks or other freight related
business such as importing, exporting, wholesaling or
retailing,
TABLE 4
Disadvantages of Vehicla Ownership.
Disadvantage of Most important problem Proportion of all
owning vehicles (per cent of consignors) problems mentlonad
Managing staff/vetlicles 43 34
Flnanciat problems 32 49
Empty relurn Iournoys 5 9
Other 1 8
No reply t9
Total 100 100
Source: Consignors Survey
TABLE 5
Consignors Relationship with Freight Agents,
Relationship with Freight Ag#tlt
Consignors
T01,71 Per cefll
No relationship with any agent 86 46
Informal relationship with one agent 15 B
Informal relationship with several agents 7 4
Written contract with fixed ralos for ono year 00 43
Total i 88 i 00
-.
Sourco: Consignors Survey
Yhe freight agents WI1Odid nol oporate n warehouso
tended to deal mainly with bulky raw materials such as
stone, qravel, or iron and steel, Covered warehouses
were utilised by 63 per cent of the agents, whilst a
handful relied entirely on storage in the street. The
capacity of the warehouses varied widely from thosa able
to store the equivalent of one Bedford truck toad (approxi.
matoly 8 tons) to those able to cover 30 loads, although
the malorily w~~resomewhere between 2 and 5 Bedford
loads.
For the agents interviewed, private road transport
accounted for over 99 per cent of all consigned freight,
with a srn:lll atnount consigned by the NLC and sea
transport; no freight was consigtlod by rail or air fit all.
The resl~ltsfrom the Roadside Intervlow Survey of truck
drivers also indicated that freight agents wore rarely
approached for short iourney distances (see Table 6). For
all drivers with loaded trucks making iourneys of less than
50 kilometres, only 20 per cent made use of a freight
agent, whilst around 80 per cent of those making journeys over 500 kilometres used an agent.
It also became claar that lreight agents were less likely to
be used for particular cargo types. Agents ware not used
by 45 per cent of drivers consigning quarried material and
the movement of petrol, diesel and oit rarely Involvod an
agent: however, bolween 60 and 80 per cent of trucks
transporting manufactures or agricultural produce had
made use of an agent,
5.2.2 Consignments and ratas of commission Table 6 shows thal agents’ charges were a significantly
tligher percentage of the total tariff for shorter iourneys
About one qusrter of the agents interviewed dealt largely and smaller loads (as tnighl be expected), Also, it was
with general merchandise especially those based in the found thut as a proportion of total tariffs agenls’ charges
large urban centros of Karachi, Lahoro and Rawatpindi. wore slighlly lower for freight tnoving away from Karactli
The remainder tended to specialise in commodities such than in the reverse direction. Little conslstont pattern was
as quarried builditlg materials or iron and steel. found between freight agents’ tariffs and vehiclo types.
Almost one third of all the consignments wore “smalls” 5.2.3 Freight agents’ business channels
(i.e. less than one ton), Only 16 per cent woro between 7
and 12 tons, which is tho size ideally suited to the Ninety por cent of the freight agents interviewed wero
Bedford truck, while a quarter of consignments wero found to have a working telephone and 96 per cent
reported to be over 20 tons, claimed they had a satisfactory postal service, However
13
.-
~
-—.----—— --—-___—--
..J
—------ .-. .\__,” .. - —..—.——--.-—.—- -——---- ..-..—.—. .
TABLE 6 hire-purchase arrangement: the vehicle seller or provider
of Ilnance safeguards hls investment by registering the
truck In hls own name until the vehicle is fully purchased,
Survey over 40 per cent of the Japanese Iractor.trailers
wore found to be part of a Ileel. For those tractor-trailers
managed in fleets a mean fleet size of 28 vehicles was
recorded.
6.3 VEHICLE PURCHASE AND
FINANCE
I
Use of freight Agents, Agents’ Charges and Trip Distance.
-
Trip Number of Per conl of Mean charge
distance loaded trucks drivers using by agent as
surveyed an agent a per cent of
Kms total tariff
less than 50 149 20 11,3
50- 100 225 28 8.8
101- 200 371 49 7<1
201. 500 608 66 5.6
501.1000 528 75 5.0
1001.1500 352 85 4,8
more than 1500 146 79 5,8
Over 90 per cent of the trucks were owned by a single
private Individual; partnerships accounted for just 7 per
cent of the total, Non.lransport companies owned less
than one per cent of the total trucks surveyed but a much
higher proportion of the tractor-trailers. A breakdown of
ownership is given in Table 7. In the Roadside Interview Survey drivers were asked a
number (~fquestions on the purchase and finance of their
Iruck. Even though most drivers wero employees it was
found that they were well informed on Iho Iinancial details
of their oporalion. Most knew the details of how tfleir
trucks were financed and what repaymerrls were required. Each driver was made responsibto for alt aspects
of their vehicle’s profitable operations; including collecting
and paying out monoy and rolurning profits 10the owner.
In 20 per cent of interviews drivers were foutld to have
either a full or part share in the ownership of the truck; in
the remainder the principat driver was an urnployee.
Table 8 gives data on vehicle fleets under common
management, fleets of two or mare vehicles accountod
all journeys 2379 62 5.8 far ab~ut 13 pur cenl of the tolal. The data suggesls’~~al
the more expensive the vehicle [hen tho greater II1O
Iikelihaad that the vehicle will be part of a fleet and tho Tablo 9 gives data on thu date af purchasu of trucks by
Ihoir currenl awner, II poicfs to a high turnover in the
TABLE 7
Truck Ownership
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
greater tho probability that the flecl will bo large. In the
IWOthirds af all business was oblalned by persanal
callers and one third by telephone. The post was a
relatively unimportant way of obtaining business and
tetex ar telegrams were not used at all,
determined bv SUDDIVand demand, and a~art ,-----from thp
apetalians of.the ‘NLGthere is little direct governtnenl
intervention In the Industry. Entry is cheap and easy:
thero is a relatively lax Iicenslng systetn and there is little
enforcement of axte load Iimlts or af vehicle construction
The methods used and use regulations, to abtaln business were dependent an
the Iocatlon af majar customers for the agents. Most
demand tended to came from the urban centre in which
tho agenl was located and this was reflecled in the high
praporfion (between 60 and 80 per cent) of business
abtalned through personal callers. However In Karachi
(Wtiere the major custamers were located [n Lallore and
Rawalplndl) the agents acquired, on average, 53 per ce~ll
of their business by telephane,
2 Axle 2 Axlo 3 Axlo Japanese
The pattern of numerous small scalo entrepreneurs is a Bedford Jauarlese J[l~nrrese Tractar Trailer
camman feature of the industry with garaqe mechanics,
truck awners and freight agents all exhibiting this charac.
teristic,
Driver 458 103 14 2
Other Privato Individual i 958 365 88 77
Fotnily Partnership 146 15 6 12
Commercial Campany 11 2 0 14
Federal Government 2 0 0 0
Provincial Govermnont o 0 0 1
Public Corporolion 3 i o
Others
1
2 0 0 0
Tatal 2632 492 i 09 ● 108
Source: Roadsido Interview Survey
Large Industrial campanles awn very fow vehicles and
rely mainly an hiring transport, The few vehicles they da
own tend to be used far local delivery work, The largest
“own accaunt” fleet is run by Ihe Waler And Powor
Development Authority (WAPDA) which likes 10use its
own vehicles ta transport Its exponslve electrical equip.
menl, althaugh it will hire transport when necessary,
A quarter of all agents surveyed aperated long term
contracts with freight canslgnors and, on :,verage, these
accaunted far just over half af their business. It was
hawever common practice ta affar regular services to
particular destlnatlons; these were usually major urban
centres and the towns af Lahore, Karachi, Rawalplndl,
Faisalabad and Peshawar were the destinations for over
half af the regular services offered,
There are a few large transport organlsatlons in Pakistan.
The NLC Is by far the biggest wkh about 2000 Irucks. A
small number af large privately run firms concentrate on
running tractar-lrallers and on moving containers,
specialised equipment and autsized loads.
TABLE 8
5.2.4 Time taken to find transport
Truck Floots
2 Axlo 2 Axlu 3 Axle Tractor-Trailer
Bodfard Japanesu Japanoso Japanese
A crucial feature revealed by tho survey of agents was
the speed with which vehicles were obtained to cape with
demand, Far 64 per cenl of the agenls there were usually
no delays at all In finding a vehicle and on averaae, 89
As Is apparent from the previous section, freight agents
play a pivotal rale In the operations af the industry (see
Secllon 5,2); they place consignments, run warehouses,
and act as middle men In buying trucks and selling them
on a hire.purchase basis. Banks and ather large instilutiOnSplay little rale In providing finance for the Industry.
per cent af the agents could obtain a truck wlthln-lhe hour
and 94 per cent cauld pracure one within z hours, Is truck managed
in common with
olhtir trucks ? Yes ?& 10 i6 26 43
No Ya 90 84 74 57
To[al replius 2623 485 109 i 07
Moan Fleet Sizo
(excluding singlo 4,62 4,0 9.6 283
vehicle fleets)
6.2 VEHICLE OWNERSHIP AND
6 MANAGEMENT
6.1
THE STRUCTURE P!ND
FINANCE OF THE INDUSTRY
THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE
Data on the ownership and management of II1OIndustry
was collected In the Raadslde Interview Survey. In over
65 per cent of cases the registered ownor of the truck
was the pravlder of finance for the :ruck purchase and not
the person who gained profits and losses from the truck
operatian. In Pakistan It is usual for trucks to be said by a
Road freight transport in Pakistan Is targely organised on
a free market basis; freight tariffs are competitively
Source : Roadside Interview Survey
15
-
.H
.
----- —,.— ----- .. .
. ----
TABLE 9 20
Dale of Purchase by Current Owner
Year of 2 Axle 2 Axle 2 Axle 2 Axle 3 Axle Tractor.Trailer
purchase Bedford Hino Isuzu Nissan Nissan Nissan
Per Cent
Before 1976 4.3
1976 2.9 i
1977 i ,2 2
1978 2.6 i 2
1979 2.3 1 i 1 1 3
I980 4,1 4 4 7
1981 5.6 2 4 1 8
1982 8.7 1 t4 6 7
1983 14.8 4 1: 17 10 11
1984 24.4 4 37 17 19
1985
30
26.2 57 42 35 45
1986
30
2.9 30 7 6 13 3
100 100 i 00 100 100 100
Total Replies 2206 170 i 67 69 69 61
I
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
-
,’
... ...... .. -. -.--., ..-, —._-_— “
, ,’, ,... ..-.: —L..:>. . . . . . . <—-
-- —~.
I
I
1
~-.. ..—-.— ___ ..__...__ .
..— ,.. . .. .. .. .
ourchase and resale of second hand trucks, Over 50 per
cent of the Bedford trucks had been purchased by their
current owners durirlg the previous two years, and 86 per
cent were second hand.
Approximately three quarters of the privately owned fleet
was purchased on a repayment, (or “hire.purchase”)
basis. Within each category of vehicle type, those trucks
purchased through an outfight payment tended to be
older and less valuable, allhotlgh a much greater propor.
lion of the more expensive tracto~trailers were pur.
chased by a single payment, The latter is probably a
reflection cl the larger firms Irlvolved In running them,
In Pakistan businessmen rarely think in terms of an
Interest rate as such although usua!ly one can be Inferred
from the terms of a vehicle sale. if a vehicle is to be
bought by hire.purcha~e then a higher overall price Is
quoted, Repayments are usually made on a nlonthly
basis ftistlng between 40 nnd 60 months.
From the dala provided on purchase time, value, initial
deposit, and the monlhly repayments an estimate was
made of the effective rates of interest, The results are
shown In Fig, 7, In 13 per cent of the cases the Interest
rate was estimated to be above 60 par cent: It Is possible
that the data proulded for many of these cases was
faulty, Overall the analysis shows a very wide spread Of
rates but the modal value lay betwflen 16 and 20 per
cent.
In many ways the range of Interest rates paid IS
unsurprising, When the rate Is not specified it Is dif{icult to
calculate the “best buy”. Furthermore In many courntrles,
including the UK, a wide range of Interest rates are paid
for credit and small loans when the full implications for
repayments are not immediately obvious or understood,
16
In most countries the cheapest form of credit Is from
banks but in Pakistan truck owners complain that it is
difficult, time consuming and expensive to use bank loans
for truck purchase, The banks usually demand compre.
hensive insurance of the truck which is normally very
expensive, In addition the banks may also demand legal
entitlement to other assets (such as property) as security
for the loan. This too can be expensive to arrange. The
informal sources of credit that are used appe?r to be
much more flexlble and easier to arrange. Table 10
shows that most repayments were made to the vehicle
seller or to an agerrVmoney lender and repayments to
banks account for only one per cent of the total,
For cases where the rate of Interest was below 60 per
cent the average rate paid was 25 per cent, However, the
average rate weighted by the amount borrowed was 22
per cont. This Is shown In Table 10, which ~iso shows
that owners of Bedford trucks paid the highest rates of
Interest and owners of tractor. trailers the lowest, There
appears to be a consistent pattern that the larger the sum
borrowed then the lower the average rate of Interest paid
Table 11 gives data on trucks purchased on a repayment
basis by their current owner. over 80 per cent had
outstanding payments, reflecting the high turnover In
truck ownership shown In Table 9, With tho possible
eXception of two.axle Nlssans, Bedford trucks appear to
have a higher proportion of tate repaymetlts than other
trucks, Nissan tractor- trailers have by far the lowest
proporflon of late repayments and their owners find
making repayments the easiest. tf the ow~,ergets too far
behind In hls repayments then ttle deal ISpresumed to b~
broken and the truck reverts to the seller or money
lender,
I
15
0
/
RutII of itltt!t(!$t
Fig,7 Efftictivo rato of Intorost pnid for truck purchase
TABLE 10
Repayments and Interest Paid for Truck Purchase
2 Axle 3 Axle Traclor.Trailer
Bedford Hino Isuzu Nissan Nissan Nissan
Fo~ Ctises wilh &//ective /rr/eres/ Rate Between I % and 60%:
Average rate ‘/. 26 23 23 23 22 20
Average rate wel~hted
by amount borrowed O/.
Average borrowed
Rs. 000
Average monlhly
payment Rs
Average payment
Der]od months
22 21 21 21
i 37 267 245 249
4230 9480 8670 8430
52 40 41 44
21 i7
39i 467
t 3,600 15,070
44 45
Source: Roadside Interview Survuy
17
~~ .......
-:,.... . . . .. .. . . . . _______ ---- . ~.. ,, ,.
)I
TABLE 11
Trucks Purchased on
a Repayment Basis
2 Axle
3 Axle Tractor-Trailer
Bedford Hlno Isuzu Nissan Nissan Nissan
For trucks wllh repaymerrls: per ten/ o/posil/ve replies
Oulstandlng
Loan? No 17
3 20
3 Ii
Yes 83 97 t: 80 97 89
Late
Repayments? No 65 84 77 64 79 97
Yes 35 16 23 36 21
3
Ease Of Meeting Repayments?
Easy 17 26 i5 14 28 32
Difficult 45 41 39 39 35 44
Very Difficult 38 33 45 48 37 24
Impossible
o
0
0
0
0
0
Repayments
to: Bank
1
1
4
7
6
6
Relative
1 i i 5
0
0
Frland
1
4
0
0
0
Vehicle Seller 81 77 7: 79 61 83
AganVMoney Lender 15 17 15 10 13 11
No. of trucks with
multiple repayments 1709 165 i 36 53 61 37
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
7.
7.1
OPERATIONAL
PERFORMANCE, LOADS AND
TARIFFS
VEHICLE TRIP LENGTH
DISTRIBUTION
The Roadside Intervlaw Survey provided
a rich source of
data on the operational performance of freight vehicles.
However It was not designed to provlda
a precise picture
of Pakistanis trlplength dlstributlon. Forthlsit Isuseftilto
consider an analysls of the Orlgln . Destlnatlon (0.D)
Survey carried out during 1979.60 when over 93,000
truck drlve{s were interviewed at 110 survey stations
located at ciistrlct boundaries throughout the country
(Majeed 1963). The distribution of freight vehicle trip
fangths from the Roadside Interview Survey Is shown In
Fig,
8 find data from the O-D Survey Is shown In Fig. 9,
As exp?cled the Roadside Interview Survey recorded
a
much greater proportion of long distance trips, Trips of
over 1000 km accounted for 15 per cent of the cases and
45 per cent of the vehicle kms In the former survey but
only
6 per cent of the cases and 29 per cent .’ the
vehicle kms In the latter survey,
i8
To assist with the analysls of the Roadside Interview
Survey data the traffic dlrectlon at each survey site was
cla~slfled as being either “to Karachi” or “from Karachi”,
The empty and loaded vahlcle trip length dlstrlbutlon
classified by dlrectlon Is given In Table ~17In the
Appendix,
Sevent~slx per cent of trucks traveling In the “from
Karachi” dlrectlon were loaded compared wkh 62 per
cenl in the opposite dlrecllon, This reflects the general
Imbalance In the movement of freight found throughout
Pakistan, In overall terms 69 per cent of trips and 84 per
cent of vehicle.kms ware loaded, As expected, empty
running docllned as trip length Increased, This Is shown
in Figure 10 where both UK and Pakistan data are given
for comparative purposes, Although the data Is not strictly
comparable (the UK data omits tankers)
a fairly close
relationship exists between tha two data sets for distances Up 10500 km, The drop In the proportion of loaded
vehicles recorded at 75o km In the Pakistan data relates
to tha parflcular difficulty of finding return loads from the
remote Mekran area of Baluchlstan, The UK data were
drawn from
a study by Cundlll and Hull (1979) on empty
rUMdngof goods vehicles,
Empty trucks travelllng to Karachi had tonger trip distances, on average, than those travelllng In the opposite
25
m
~rlp [Ilsto,lce, (k,,,!)
Fig,8 Freight $urvoy trip len~lh distribution
I
Trip lIISIIIIICU, (k!ns]
Fig,9 O-D survey trip lcnyth distribution
19
I
—.
.
.
100
,
80
60
40
20
t I
Tr#p length lktns)
Fig.10 Graph showing proportion of loaded
vehicles against trip length
direction. For those traveling to Karachi 43 per cent
travelled more than 200 kms compared with only i 7 per
cent In the opposite direction, The differences In loaded
trip distances are not so marked,
7.2 OPERATING PERFORMANCE
In Pakistan height vehicles are abll?to achieve a high
degree of utilisation by working long hours, night and day,
Most trucks have two drivers and when one is working
the other Is able to rest and sleep making use of the
wooden compartment built above the cab. Apart from the
tankers there are very few specialised trucks, so It Is
possible for vehicles to go Iooklrrgfor work from job to job
with themlnlmum of difficulty. Inpractlce vehicles are
often away from base for periods of Upto three weeks at
a time seeking work throughout the country. The widespread dispersal of frelghi agenis makes Ii relatively easy
io find any work ihat is available,
Unlike ihe paiiern common In oiher counifles, It Is ihe
principal driver of each iruck, raiher ihan ihe firm’s office,
who is responsible for finding work, schedullrrg vehicles,
collecting revenues, and organlslng repairs,
Alihough vehicles wotk long hours and are modified io
take heavy loads, produciiviiy Is consiralned by relatively
low running speeds. A highway speed survey (Majeed
1980) esiimaied an average spot running speed of 52
kph (34 mph) for irucks, The Roadside Iniervlew Survey
found overall loaded journey speeds (I,e. wiih rest
porlods) of 23 kph for iwo-axle Bedfords, 20 kph for iwo.
axle Japanese trucks,21 kphforihrae.aYle Japanese
irucks, and 17 kph for iracior.iraller combinations,
Key operating s!aiistlcs (broken down by vehicle type)
derived from ihe Roadside Iniervlew Suwey are given In
Table 12, Loaded irip distances range beiween 500 kms
for Bedford irucks to 1000 kms for ihe larger ihre~axle
vehicles, Empiyirip dlsiances were muchness,
To estimate the degree of empiy running and ilme speni
empiy drivers of loaded vehicles were asked aboui thalr
curreni irip and aboui any ampty period or empty running
underiakan during ihe time beiween ihe Iasi loaded irip
20
and ihe currani one. This data is presenied in Table 12
wiih data from Interviews of drivers of empty vehicles.
The Roadside Inierview Survey ihus provided two seis of
daia on empty iravel, one directly from empiy vehicles
and one from the previous activiiy of loaded vehicles. irip
lengths foriheformer weresomewhai larger (Table 12).
The difference Is because some irucks were able io pick
up loads after only a very short empiy journey wiihin ihe
iown where ihey had dropped ihelr previous load. These
empiy irips were recorded as past empiy journeys but
were not picked up as curreni empiy irlps at ihe iniev
disirici suwey siies.
The percentage of vehicle kllomeires loaded given in
Table 12 for Bedford irucks is Iitile differeni from the oiher
irucks, This is largely because of the higher proportion of
iankers (which have much greaier difficulty In finding
reiurnloads) amongsi iheheavierirucks, Excluding
iankers, Bedfords do more empiy running ihan oiher
trucks because of ihelr shorter irip disiances,
Information on empiy trips showed thai for 83 per ccni of
cases ihe primary purpose was to look for a load, and in
14 per ceni ii was to reiurn to base or io home. Journeys
io make repairs amounied to just two par ceni of empty
irips.
On average Bedford irucks reiurned io base ufier 7 days
andothor trucks returrledafter8to 12days. The drivers
were away from ihelr homes for much longer periods,
The drivers of Bedfords and the oiher iwo.axle iruck
drivers were found io return to iheir families after 16 to 21
days bui ihe drivers of ihree.axle Nissans and Nissan
iracior-trailars reiurned after 27 and 38 days respectively
Three different esilmaies of the annual distance iravelled
were calculated from ihe Roadside Iniervlew Survey,
ihese are given In Table 13, The esiimaies were based
on:
a) weekly disianceiravelled
b) monthly revenues andcurreni idprevenugs
and disiances,
and c) curreni iripilmes and distances,
Only one esiimaie of annual disiance travetled shown in
Tablo 13 Is below i 00,000 kms, Alihough ihere Is some
varleblliiy In the resulis It appears ihai ihe higher capaciiy
irucks iravel further ihan ihe Bedfords. Because ihe daia
were collecied from Inier.dlstrlci iruck movemenis ihe
results are likely io overesilmate ihe average disiance
iravelled.
Alihough Bedford trucks accounied for 77 per ceni of ihe
irucks surveyed ihey provided jusi 50 per ceni of ihe
measured iotal ion.kilomeires. The capacity ihaf different
vehicles provldedlsshownln Fig, 11, which demon.
slraies the Importance of ihe iracior-irailers that ac
counied for 15 per cent of the capacity provided but only
3,5 per ceni of ihe vehicles surveyed.
TABLE 12
Time and Disiance Operating Siaiistics
2 Axle 3Axte Tracior-Trailer
Bedford Hino Isuzu Nissan Nissan Nissan
Per ceni irips Ioadoa 68.5
Per cent vehicle
kms loaded 85,4
Overall mean trip
disiance kms 403
For loaded irucks:
mean irip Iengih kms 502
mean trip duration hrs 20
mean previous empty
iriplengih kms 98
mean previous empty running & waiting
duraiion hrs
For empiy irucks:
mean itlp Iengih kms
Mean period before:
reiurrzing io base days
r~iurning to
family days
Number of iimes a clay’s rest
Is iaken per month
Number of days resi
iaken each time
Days under repair per year
26
188
6,7
17.t
245
t,7
52
75,7
87,5
726
839
39
325
40
373
7.9
16.3
2.1
i .7
33
66.8
73,7
607
665
34
235
31
487
10.2
21.1
2.4
i ,7
34
67.1 75<0
76.6 86,1
598 887
666 iOi8
36 47
205 2TJ
32 46
448 495
8.8 11,8
i 7.3 27.i
2!1 1.7
i .8 2!8
46 42
74.1
87.6
809
957
5i
318
35
387
9>0
37.8
1.6
3,3
51
Source: Roadside Irrtowlew Survey
TABLE 13
Three Estimates of Annual Disiance Travelled (t 000 kms)
2 Axle 3 Axle Traclor.Trailer
Bedford Hino Isuzu Nissan Nissan Nissan
based on:
a) weekly distance 117 i 59 t47 i 32 143 136
b) irip revenues’ i 09 116 104 95 112 129
c) (rip iimes 109 129 117 i 08 120 127
Mean of esiimates 112 135 i 25 112 t25 13i
Source: Roadside Iniewlew Survey
‘ Excludes data from Survey Staiions 1. i 1.
21
from Rawalpindl 10Gllgit (7.8 RSper km). These were
more than double the average, reelectingthe absence Of
return loads and the difficult operating conditions of
driving in Mekran (for Turbat) and in the mountains (for
Gllgit).
Table 14 provides a summary Oftariffs, distances a,.,i
load weight data for different vehicle types. overall
Bedford trucks earned Rs 2.7 Per (empty and loaded)
kllomelre Iravelled, The twmaxle Japanese trucks earned
belween 3.5 and 4.1 RSper km travelled and the larger
Nissan trucks earned belween 52 and 5,4 RSper km,
The overall tariff per ton-km for Bedfords was Rs 0.38,
The overall rates for two.axle Japanese trucks were
sllghtly lower with an average OfRs 0.35 per ton.km: the
difference can be explained largely by the longer average
trip distances for tho Japanese trucks, Three.axle trucks
and tractor-trailer unlls had overall tariff rates of about RS
0,25 per ton-km (i.e. equivalent to about 65 per cent Of
the Bedford truck rate).
Table 15 provides a comparison between rail and road
tariffs for a selection of key commodities. The rail data
were compiled from statistics for freight carded during
June 1985. Yhe road tariff data (collected from the
Roadside Interview Survey) relates to the period January
to May 1986. All two.axle vehicle data Is combined as Is
data relating to three.axle trucks and tractor-trailers. The
rates quoted for each category relate to the total revenue
earned divided by the total Ion-kilometres, Thg overall
rates shown for rail relate just to the cargtt=s carried
commercially, Cargoes with rates of below Rs 0,05 per
ton.km are ignored; these are mostly used for tha
transport of the Railway’s own materials.
The Table shows that while there Isa substantial varia.
tion In the rates for the different commodities, in total, rail
tariffs are about 70 per cent of the tariffs of the two.a~le
trucks, For most commodities the tariffs of the larger
trucks are slightly above rail tariffs. However, In overall
terms there Is little difference In the rates, The analysis
suggests that the larger trucks are able to compete on
price with the Railways,
In the Roads[de Interview Survey, tankers accounted for
jUst 8 per cent of Bedfords but 23 per cent of the Japa.
nese Iwo and three-axle trucks; they earned Ihe equivalent of i,8 times those of other trucks per loaded kllome.
tre travelled, Yhls makes up for the very much higher
rates of empty running encountered (i.e. 44 and 50 per
cent of the total distance travellod for two.axle Bedford
tankers and non.Bedford tankers respectively) and
compares with 13 per cent empty running for the non.
tanker Bedfords arid 9 per cent for the other non.tanker
trucks,
7rIP distance, fkrm)
Flg,12 Freight ratesto Karachi
-.
(li%l
Fig.11 Breakdown of total ton.kms provided
7.3 LOADS AND TARIFFS
In this section the main differences In tariffs are Identified
for the different vehicle types, A more detailed analysls of
the effects of time, distance, roughness and seasonality
will be presented In subsequent reports,
Because of the responsibility given to drivers, It was
relatively easy to gather Information on the loads carried,
tatiffs charged and revenues earned, Yhese data were
collected from three different sources; the Roadside
Interview Survey, the Vehicle Activity Survey and the
Drivers’ Cost and Revenue Dlarles, Past trdnds In tariffs
were also collected from freight agents. The data from
the different suweys were found to be very consistent,
Figures 12 and 13 show how tariffs vary with journey
distance, direction and vehicle type. The data relates only
to trucks traveling outside the Mekran area and where
the driver has given his load Inweight tarms, (The
Mekran area of Baluchlstan was excluded because of the
very rough roads which Increasestariff levels, Tanker
trucks, and some vehicles taking animals or sand and
gravel+were excluded because the drivers did not give
their loads In weight terms.)
The average load carried by Bedfordswas 8 tons whilst
for othar two- axle trucks the averagewas IZ tons,
Average loads for three,axle trucks and tractor-trailer
combinations were 21 tons and 2? tons respec~vely,For
TABLE 14
Summary Of Yariffs, Distances And Load Weights’
2 Axle 3 Axle Yractor-Yraller
Bedford Hino Isuzl’ Nissan Nissan Nissan
o I 1 I 1 I I I i I I I 1 I I I
7,, !,,” ,,,,, !,!,,, ,!,,, ,,,,,, , ,,”, ,,,,1, ,,,,,,,
Trip disfntlcb!, (km$l
Fig,13 Freightratesfrom Karachi Mean Tariff Rs 1702 3918 290i 3850 5682 5940
the latter two categories average loads from Karachi
were SIXtons more than average loads 10Karachi, For
Bedfords and other two-axle trucks, direction made no
significant difference to the weight of load carried,
Mean Loaded
Distanco Km 547 921 724 850 1051 957
Mean Empty
Distance Km i 58 242 359 236 i 98 387
The figures demonstrate a clear decline In tariff per tonkllometre as trip distance increases, They also show Ihal
rates from Karachi were much higher than rates to
Karachi: for Bedford trucks an average of 38 per cent, for
three-axle trucks 62 per cent and for troctor.trailers 110
per cent.
Per Cent
Kms Loaded 86<5 937 86>8 91.3 967 87.6
Mean Load
Weight Tons 8!1 12,4 tl,4 13.6 20!0 25.7
Comparing each distance and direction category there
was little difference In tariff per ton.kllometre between
Bedfords and other two.axle trucks, although the rates for
three-axla trucks and tractor-trailers were substantially
lower,
(Total Taflff~otal Loaded
Distance)/Mean Load Welghl
Rs per Ton-Km 0.38 0!34 0.35 0.33 ‘e 0,26 0.24
I Yotal Tariff/(Total Loaded +
Empty Distance)
Rs per Km 2<7 4.0 3.5 4.i 5.2 584
,
A further detailed comparison of tariffs between pairs of
majOrtowns found that the freight tariffs In directions from
Karachi were persistently higher throughout the whole
country than those In the opposite direction, (The only
exception was the rate from Hyderabad to Karachi.)
i
Total Tariffflotal Loaded
Dlslance
Rs per Km 3.1 4,3 4,0 4.5 5,4 6,2
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
‘ Excludlng Yankers and Trucks Yravelling TOAnd From Mekran
Particularly high rates were found for Bedford trucks
traveling from Karachi to Turbat (7,0 Rs per km) and
22 23
I
I
‘~ .—— .... .. . . .. . ..
/~”. .—.. .—-———-. .—...__ ._. ... . . .—_ ._— ——-—.——— ____
TABLE 15 TABLE 16
Vehicle Running Costs (Mean Values From Different Surveys, 1986 prices)
Two.Axle Three-Axle Trac!or.Trailers
Bedlords Japanese Japanese Japanese
A Comparison Of Road And Rail Tariffs
Tari// Mean Distance
Commodity Rail 2 Axle 3 Axle& T&T Rail 2 Axle 3 Axle& T&T
Trucks Trucks Trucks Trtjckc ------
Rs per Ton-Km KmsFuel consumption ltr/km
Kerosene 011 0.59 0!95
Diesel Oil 0.54 0.70
Petrol 044 0.94
Furnace Oil 0,27 0.42
(Diesel = 425 R#llr)
Diaries
Roadside Interview
Vehicle Activity
0,74
0!53
0.32
488
409
277
844
432
411
350
G03
596
1521
0.299
0.285
0.25
0.306 0,397 0.486
1043
General repairs Rs/km
Diaries
(mean vohlcle age)
Roadside Interview
(mean vehicle age)
Firewood
Fertilizer
Wheat
Sugar
Coal & Coke
Paddy & Rice
Iron & Steel
Cement
Salt
0,51
0.47
0,27
0,26
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.23
0.22
0.59
0,37
0.39
0.38
0.34
0.32
0.39
0!53
0.44
359
672
1060
0.19
0.31
0,27
025
0.30
0,24
292
348
307
767
i 042
488
635
348
243
554
551
0.239 0,244
dyrs i yr
0,358 0.259
t Oyrs 3yrs
04315
i yr
0.367
3yrs
1033 0.568
4yrs i 237
973
1159
916
848
i 555
658
1085
i 065
Tyres (cost) Rs/km
(New tyre = Rs 2275)
Diaries 0.142 0.1 O.ii
Overall Rates:
Petroleum
Products 0.41 0!68
Yyres (no per i 000 km)
Roadside Interview o.t49 0.ld3 0.207 0.246
o!5t
0.25
571 498
872 638
1014
1002
Total crew costs Rs/day
Diaries
Roadside Interview
Dry Cargo 026 0.37
Sources: 1. Pakistan Railway Statistics For June 1985
2. Roadside Interview Survey
127
131
i Od
159 199 i 73
Oil and grease costs Rs/km
(Oil = i 3.4 Rs/ltr)
Diaries
Vehicle Aclivity
0.141 0.19
0.129
0.193
8 COSTS, REVENUES AND
PROFITABILITY
relates only to vehicles traveling on paved roads in flat
terrain (I.e. dala relating 10vehicles traveling in the
mourltalnous north or on rough roads In the Mekran are
omitted),
Loading Labour Rs/km
Diaries
Vehicle Activity .
0.06 0.13
0.065
0,4i
InformalIon on vehicle operating costs and revenues was
collected from three different suweys, These were:. Some degree of variation In the results from tho different
data sources Is to be expected, Differences in vehicle
age help to explain some of the differences in mainle.
nance and lyre COSIS,
Octroi ond police Rs’km
Diaries
Vehicle Activity
a) Yhe Roadside Interview Survey 0.148 0.17
0.102
0.16
b) Yruck Drivers’ Cost and Revenue Dlarles
There Isa fairly close correspondence between the
different surveys In crew costs, loading Iabour, gratuities
paid to the police and oil and grease costs, Expenditure
on tyres recorded by the Drivers’ Diaries appears to bo
low In relatlon to the apporent lyre replacemerlt rate:
howover a variety of repairs is made to extend tyro life
and much use Is made of remoulded tyres. Large differ.
e:lCeSWererecorded in the payments made for tho ~clroi
(a local tax levied on loading and unloading freight) and
for agen!?’ commission, For these items different operators will face different costs according to the journey and
type of load carried. It Is possible that the surveys
captured different patterns of vehicle operation.
Agents’ commission Rs/km
Dik~ries
Vehicle Activity
Roadside Interview
C) Vehicle Activity Suwey 0.035 0.07
0,142
0.12 0.16
006
The data from the Drivers’ Cost and Revenue Dlarles
covered different periods going back to the mid lg70s.
Those data were aggregated Into monthly periods and
converted to 1986 prices {o be comparable with the other
two surveys.
0.16 0.158
f
...
\
outright. In Ihe hire.purchaso case the costs of rnoeting and tho total timo period 10make the currenl loaded trip
the repayment commitmonls are used, in place of the togethor with the lime spent empty prior 10making the
purchase price, and an adjustment for inflation is mado loaded trip.
for the repaymonl period.
TI1Oostlmates for Bedford trucks rango from 967 to 1086
8.2 VEHICLE REVENUE Rs per day: a differcnco of about i 2 per cent. Because of
tho smaller sample sizes [hero is greater uncertainty for
Information on vehicle edrnings is presented in Tablo 18, the larger trucks. For these an adjuslmonl was made to
Earnings por day were eslitllfited directly from tho the Roadside Intorvlow Data to accommodate Iho
monthly earnings recorded in the Drivers’ Diaries data directional flow imbalanc~ of trucks Iravolling 10and from
and from the data collection periods (one to four wooks) Karachi. Tariffs for loads traveling from Karachi were
Ofthe Activity Survey, In the Roadside Intorviow Survey found to bo much higher than taritfs in the opposite
earnings por day wore calculated from tho tarilfs charged direction: this difference was particularly murkod for
1
10 in this Section a brief analysis of operatlrrg costs, rev.
enues and profitability is presented. A more comprehen.
slve analysis of this data will be presented In a subsequent report,
8.1 VEHICLE OPERATING COST
COMPONENTS
Table i 7 gives estimates of the capital costs per day of
running different typQsof vehicle. They include both
depreclallon and Inlerest charges covoring the estimated
vehiclo life. A current real interest rate of three por cent is
assumed. Different costs tire given for trucks purchased
by hire.purchase repayments from trucks purchwsed
,
0
I
Table 16 provides a summary of data collected on the
main components of vehicle running costs by the different
surveys, The data from the Roadside Interview Survey
24 25
I
I
I
,- -
..’,
- —.—— — —. —_.-.._.
—--——— .-__.. .
. ...: .. .—
TABLE 17
Vehicle Capital Costs Per Day (For trccks made In 85/86, i 986 prices)
—
Two.Axle Three-Axle Traclor.Trailer
Bedlord Japanese Japanese JapanesQ
Mean new purchase
price QsOOO 305 377 519 625
Assumed vehicle
life Years 15 13 12 12
Capital COSISper day:
1)for trucks purchased
outright Rs 68 94 139 167
11)fortrucks purchased
by repayments Rs 84 115 166 202
ill) mean estimate for
all trucks Rs 80 ifl i 60 185
e
traclor.tiallers for which there was also a marked discrep.
ancy in the number of vehicles traveling in the two
directions.
8.3 TOTAL OPERATING COSTS AND
PROFITABILITY
Estimates of mean lifetime operating costs, revenues and
profitability are given In Table 19. Adjustments have been
made to take account of the effects of vehicle age on
operating costs, distance Iravelled and revenues. Lack of
data prevents esllmates for tractor.trailers,
Estimates of net profit are also given In Table 19, and
estimates oi Internal rates of return (IRRs) are shown In
Table ZO,The data suggest that the three.axle Japanese
trucks are the most profitable white Bedford Ilucks are
only just profitable, Lack of data prevents estimates for
Iractor-trailers; these are believed to be Intermediate in
profitability between the two and three.axle Japanese
trucks. The results confirm impressions gained from
informal irrterviows with various people connacted with
the Industry,
The IRRs given are in real terms and tflay should be
viewed in relaiion to the alternative returns on capital. In
real terms money invested in Pakistan on deposit at [ho
bank has, in recent years, given a return of between zero
and three and a half per cent.
The profitability calculatlon~ are based on Iho assumption
that for vehicles of different ages, revenues and costs will
be maintained in real terms, HowevQr it is likely that the
high levels of profitability found for the larger vehicles will
decline as more of these vehlctes are introduced into
Pakistan and competition forces down tariffs, Furthop
more since early 1986 the Yen has appreciated in value
and as a result the price of new Japanese trucks has
risen substantially, This will also afldcl the profitflbilily of
now operators entering the market,
TABLE 18
Vehicle Earnings (lJean estimates, 1986 prices)
Two.Axle Three-Axlo Tractor-Trailer Bedford Japanese Japaneso JaDoneso
To/a/ earrring$ per day (RS)
Diary Data for 1985/86 1005 i554
Roadside Interview 967 1179 1804 i 662
Roadside Interview.
Q
Adjusted for traffic
directiorr llowlmbalance .
l17i 1846 1917
J
Activity Survey
/,
1~86
i 26
I
,
.!
- ..___ ..._. . . - .—- . . ,, ,,
IIF e
TABLE 19
Estlmaled Lifetlnle Operating Costs Por Kilome[re (1986 prices)
TWO.AXIO Two-Ax18 Three.Axlo
Bedford Japanese Japanese
Distance perday Kms 329 304 373
Running costs:
Fuel
Crew
Maintenance and repairs
Tyres
011and grease
Loading Iabour
Octrol, police, taxes
Agents commission
1.257
0.426
0.322
0.142
0!141
0>079
0.171
0.078
Rs por km
1,333
0.472
0!294
0.142
o#190
0,086
0.193
0.115
i .732
0.587
0!388
0.213
oji93
0.149
0.183
0.110
Total running costs 2,GiG 2.825 3.555
Estimated capital costs:
i) vehicle purchased oulrighl 0.207 0.309 0.373
1)vohlcle purchased with
repayments 0.255 0.378 0)445
Ill) mean estimate for all trucks 0.243 0.365 0.429
Total Revenue per km 2.939 3.347 ~.302
Nel Profit:
i) vehicle purchased outright 0.116 0.213 0.454
11)vehlclo purchased
with repayments 0>068 0.144 C.372
Iii) mean ostlmate Ior all trucks 0.000 0.157 0.398
TABLE 20
Estimated Inturnal Rate of Return (lRR) for Different Trucks
TWO.AXIO TwoAxle Ttlre~.Axl~
Bedford Japanese Japanese
per cenl
Estimated IRR based on outright
purchase 9.3 18.1 50,6
Estlmatod IRR based on mean
terms 01repayments 6.3 15,t 70>3
.—
27
-. - \ ,
Using the cost and revenue data co’fected from the
Roadside Inlervlew Survey an Investlgallon was made of
the changes In profllablllty of different vehicles with trip
distance, Long distance trips appear 10be unprofitable for
Bedford Irljcks, while for two and three.axle Japanese
trucks long dlslance trips appaar to be much more
profitable, This confirms the widely held view that trucks
with small carrying capaclly are more suited to short
distance journeys where their flexlblllfy Is an advantage,
9 DRIVERS’ PROBLEMS AND
ROAD ACCIDENTS
9.1 DRIVERS’ PROBLEMS
During the Roadside Interview Survey drivers were asked
to Identify up to three key problems that they encountered
In the course of their work, The results are shown In
Table 21, The most Important problem Idenfi{ied was
pollee harassment, which was mentioned by two thirds of
all drivers, Pollee harassment is connected with Iho
payment of gratuities to pollee on traffic duly: this practice
Is very widespread and is bellevad to apply also to publlc
transport as well as to fhe frelghl transport Industry. Data
from tho Drivers’ Cost and Revenue Diaries Survey
suggests that the police receive on average about Rs 45o
per month from each vehicle, equivalent to just under half
of the average Industrial wage,
The second and third most Imporfanl problems were poor
roads andlearofrokuers, For both of these ahlgher
proportion of the drivers of the Japanese lrucks identified
these problems because a greater proporflon of them
operateln Baluchlstan andln Slnd. Baluchlstan hasa
high mileage of unpaved main roads and both Slnd and
Baluchlstan are noled for robbery attacks,
An Interesting difference, relating to their economic
performance, emerged between the Bedford and Japa.
nese trucks, High operatlrtg costs were mentioned by zo
per cent of Bedford drivers but by only four per cent of
Japanese truck drivers.
9.2 ROAD ACCIDENTS
Table 22 gives data relating to accidents suffered by the
trucks during th~ previous year. In folal 9 per cent 01
drivers reported one or more accidents during the year.
On average, for each accident, vehicle damage
amountad lo about i3percent ofvehlcle valuoarld load
damage to less that one per cent of vehicle valua. Of II1O
accidents 77percenl lnvolvednoltljury, 14porcQrlt
Involved rnlnor injuries, three per cent resulted In tlospitallsatlon and six por cent resulted in fatalities,
‘Roll-over’ accidenls wore the most common involving
about 39 per cent of the total. The high sided trucks used
In Pakistan appear to be particularly susceptible to this
type of accident. ‘Roll.ovor’ accidenfs caused Ihe leas!
pei$onal injury, As expected ‘head. on’ and pedesfriall
accidents caused most of the fatal and serious Injuries,
TABLE 21
Drivers’ Main Problems
2 Axle Bedlords Japat)ese Trucks
No, of Per Cent No, of Per Genl
Ar,swers of Drivers Answel’s of Drivers
Police Harassment 17i6 66.3 436 67.6
Poor Roads 853 33,0
Fear of Robbers 614
363 56,3
23.7
High Running Costs 522
25i 38.9
20.2
District Ta,’
23
222
36
8.6 37
Fmdlng Loads 164
5.7
Low Salary
6.3
55
55 8.5
2.1 13
Low Tariffs 47
2.0
i ,8
Competltlon 49
29 4,5
1.9 3 0.5
Spare Parts 21
Flndlng Finance 1
Driver’s Unemployment 1
Unnecessary Delays 1
Loan Repayments o
Vehicle Breakdown o
Other Problems 2a7
),i i 0.2
0
0
0
0
0
1.1 51 7,9
Total Answers 4553
Number of Drivers Giving i 262
Positive Answers 2588 645
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
——
28
TABLE 22
Road Accidents
Two.Axle Olher All
BPdfords Trucks Trucks
No. of vehicles Involved In accidents
during previous yuar 254
Total No, of accldelts
45
288
299
50
No. of accidents as V. of total trucks 11
33a
7
Per cent of accidents with truck damage 95
to
Mean tiuck damage’ Rs
ao
25,5oo
92
Per cent with load damage
36,OOO 27,100
20
Mean loaddamage’ Rs
21
7,000
20
i 1,600 7,900
Accldenl Type
Rollover
p~r COn/
39
Head.on
38
22
39
Side
26
18
22
Nose.lo.tail
5
12
16
Obstacle
12
6
iz
Animal
5 ~
o 0
Other 2
0
0 2
Personal Injury Type Por Cc/l/
No injury 79
Minor injuries only
67
Ii
77
26 14
Hospitalised (no falalitles) 4 0
Fatal
3
6 7 6
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
‘ For llIose cases whore damago occurred
10 SUMMARY OF MAIN RESULTS
The main findings of fhis study are as follows:
1) Overall tho road frolghl transport industry is very
compotilive and the exlsling vehicle Ileel is run officlontly,
However there appears 10be scopo for the irrtrcduclion of
grealer numbers of Iargor vehlclos.
II) Road frelghl transport has been growing in
importance In Pakistan, In i 983 it accounled for 70 por
cenl of Iotal inland freight Inoveml]nl,
ill) During the i 970s and early 1980s Iho two.axle 7-
Ion Bedfotd truck dominated tho industry, Howovtir
during the last fivo years newer and larger lwc.axle
Japanese trucks have taken an increasing proportion of
the market,
iv) Most trucks in Pakistan are sfrengthoned 10Iaku
heavier loads, II IS common for the Bedfords which uro
designed 10 carry 7 totls 10 l~ko i 1 tons and !or two.axlo
Japanuse trucks desigrt~d 10 carry 11 tons 10transport
loads of i 6 Ions, Three.axlo votliclos carry Up 1030 [orls
and Iractor.trailer units will carry ovor 50 tons.
v) Two.axle Bedford trucks appo;lrod fo bo only
marginally profitable while II1OIargor capocily trucks wore
found to be much moro prolilable, The inlernal rato of
roturrr(lRR) for two-axle Japaneso trucks was estimated
to b~ about 15 por cent while for three-axle Japanese
Irucks th6 IRR was ~sllmaled to be over 50 per cent,
vi) Small repair workshops are widely distributed
throughout Paklslan. Spare parts are plentiful: tnany are
factory rnado in Pakislan and some are made to order in
tho small workshops
vii) Commercial Iroight transport in Pakistan Is
organisod on a free markel basis: freight Iarills are
dolermined by supply and demand. Entry Into the
industry is cheap and easy, and apart from the operation
of tho Nntiorral Logislics Coil, there is little direct govern.
menl inlelvention.
viii) The predominant form of ownorshlp Is by itldividual entrepreneurs who provide a “hire and reward”
service. There is a very high turnover in vehicle ownership. Over half of the Bedford trucks wore purchased by
their currunl ownor during tho previous two years.
ix) “Own account” operations tend to be confined to
urban collection and delivery work; they are virtually non.
existent in long distance transport operations. The
probloms associated with managing staff and vehicles
wero idenlifiod by industrial freight consignors as the
29
.- —.--.
main reasons against developing the use of Iheir own
vehicles. The “lor hire” sector is readily able to provide
transport cheaply and quickly and there Is very little
demand for purpose built speciallsed vehicles
x) Vehicle iinance is provided through an informal
system of hire purchase arrangements between owners
and middlemen, many of whom arc freight agents. Bank
finance is very rare, A wide range 01effective interest
rates Is paid for truck purchase through these agree.
ments. The modal rate of Interest charged Is about 20 por
cent. On the whole, owners of the larger and newer
trucks find it easiest to meet their financial commitments.
xl) Trip lengths In Paklslan ara long; the average
loaded trip length for Bedford trucks was 500 kms. For
the larger capacity Japanese trucks It ranged from 650 to
over 1000 kms. Empty running accounled for about 16
per cent of total vehicle kllometres, Annual travel appears
to be in excess of 100,000 kms for those trucks reglltarly
engaged on long haul transport.
xii) Overall journey speeds (including rest slops) are
low at about 23 kph. The typical pattern of operations
usually Involves Iwo drivers and one assistant, They will
travot night and day going from job 10iob for IJp to two
weaks at a time before returning to base, The principal
driver Is responsible for finding work, colloctlng revenue,
keeping accounts and malnlalning the vehicle In good
rcoalr.
xiii) Most Industrial Irelght consignors wero found 10
favour road transporf In comparison with rail in view of
the former’s flexibility, speed, convenience and greater
accountability in the case of damage,
xiv) The widespread network of freight agerds was
found to play a key role in the operations of the industry.
Over 60 per cent of loads were placad through agents,
Over 90 per cent of agents were found 10have access to
a working telephone and 90 per cent of agents clalmed
that on average they could find a vehicle to consign a
load within one hour,
xv) The national Imbalance in freight flows was found
to be reflected in freight Iatlffs. On average, Irelght rates
for goods travelllng Inland from Karachi were about 35
por cent higher than rale$ Ior the reverse direction,
xvi) Freight tariffs per kilometre were found to decline
markedly with Increasing iournoy distance. Tracto~
trailers and three-axle trucks provided transport at tariff
rates that were broadly compelitivo with Pakistan Railways: these rate~ Wereroughly equivalent 10about 65
per cent of the tariffs charged by the two.axle Bedford
trucks,
xvii) Tho most common complaint 01drivers related 10
ttle widespread problem of police harassment, Frequent
complaints were also made about road conditions and
the fear of robbers, ailhough by international standards
the main roads In Pakistan aro nol bad and the actual
incidence of highway robbory is v~ry SMaII.
30
xviii) About 9 per ceflt of Vetlicles were Involved In an
accident In the previous year. Of those accidents, 77 per
cent involved no inlurY, i 4 Per cent Involved minor
injuries, in three percent of the cases people were
hospltallsed and insix per cent of the cases fatal injuries
were Incurred, Vehicle ‘rollover’ occurred In 39 per cent
of the accidents,
11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work described In this report forms part Of a pro.
gramme of Ioint research between Ihe Overseas Unit
(Ilead J S Yerrell) of the Transport and Road Researctl
Laboratory, UK and the National Transport Research
Centre !Head M S SwatI), Pakistan.
12 REFERENCES
Cundill, M, A. and P, M Hull (i 979) Reducing Empty
Travel By Goods Vehicles, TRRL Laboro/ory Report NO
876. Transport and Road Research Laboratory,
Crowthorne,
Cundill, M, A. (1986) Road.rail competition for fraight
traffic in Kenya, TRRL Researcl) Repor/ No. 41. Trans.
port and Road Reseorch Laboratory, Crowthorno,
Hundal, S, A. (1985a) Transport Statistics. NTHC Repor/
No, 83. Nafional Transport Research Cen(re, Islamobad.
Hundal, S. A. (i 985b) Survival Rate of Molor Vohiclos in
Pakistan. NTRC Reporf No, 90. Nationul Transport
Research CanIre, Islamabod.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), (1983)
The Study on National Transport Plan in tho Islamic
Republic of Pakistan. Tokyo.
ttlaioed, A, (1980) Highway Speed Survey, NTRC Ropor/
No. 5t. National Transport Research Contre, Islamabad
Majeed, A. (1983) Road Troffic Origin.Destination Survey
(i979.80). NTRC Hepor/ No. 67, Nalional Transport
Research Centro, Islamabad,
Maieed,A,(1985) Vohiclo Operating Costs. NTRC
Report No. 79. Nutional Transport Research Contre,
Islamabad.
APPENDIX A: ADDITIONAL TABLES TO THE MAIN TEXT
TABLE Al
Roadside lnlerviaw Staliorls
Place
Code Road Section
Total
Province Dalo Interviews
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Ii
12
3
14
15
16
17
iB
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
3i
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Rawalpindi - Murroe
Taxila - Hasan Abdal
Abbottabad. Mansehra
Batgram - Bosham
Allock Bridge
Mardan - Malakand
Poshawar. Nowshora
Poshawar - Kohal
Bannu - DI Khan
Di Khan. DG Khan
Rawolpindi . Mandra
Jhelum Bridgo
Guiranwala. Lahoro
Faisalabad - Shoikhupura
Sargodha - Faisaktbad
Okara - Sahiwal
Multan - Bahawalpur
Muzuffargarh - I:alehpur
DG Khan - Rakhni
DI Khan - Dnry’] Khan
Pano Aqil - Mirpur Malholo
Jncobabod . Dora M~rad Jamali
Larkann - Ghafi Yasin
Hydorabad - Sakrand
Hyderabad . Mirpur Khas
I(otri - Dadu
Hyderabad - Kar:lchi
Karachi - Thalto
Karachi - Lflhal
Sibi - Dndhar
Nushki - Ouolla
Ouolla - Bostafl
Muslimbaqh to Zhob & Loralai
Khuzdar - Kalal
Desima . Surab
Bosimtl - l>anjgur
Panjgur - Turbal
Turbat - Gawadnr
Turbat - Awaran
Total Intorviows
Puniab
Punlab
N.W.F.P
N,W.F.P
Puniab
N,W.F.P
N,W.F.P
N,W,F.P
N.W,F.P
N.W.F.P
Pun]ab
Punlnb
Punlab
Puniab
PurlJob
Punlab
Punlab
Punlab
Puniab
Punlab
Sind
Sind
Sind
Sind
Sind
Sind
Sind
Sind
Bnkrchislan
Ualuchislan
Qaktchislnn
Ualuchislan
Ualuchist;m
10/01/86
12/01/86
14/01/86
16/0i /86
18/01/86
20/Oi/86
22/01/86
2d101186
26/01/86
28/01/86
10/02/86
i 2/02/BG
f4/02/86
1610218G
18/02/8G
20/02/86
ZZ/02/8G
24/02/86
26/021aG
2a/02/aG
i a/03/aG
20/03/a6
221031aG
24103/aG
2G/03/a6
2a/03/a6
30/03/a6
Oi /04/86
03/04/a6
1o/041a6
121041aG
14/0418G
16/041a6
19/041UG
21/041a6
231041aG
25/04/aG
2710dlaG
25/04ia6
69
103
98
68
139
i 09
96
9a
9a
55
43
95
94
134
i 03
i 00
109
110
105
99
79
102
50
i 32
toa
120
133
izi
99
112
42
99
ai
ii5
13
18
10
29
65
3453
31
.. .,
. ..— ... . .. . .. . ... .. . .. . ,. .
.——
TABLE A2
Trucks Surveyed: By Interview Province, Make And Type
Make Province
NWFP Punjab
Total
Sind Balucltis!an
TABLE A3
Aae And Value Spectrum FOI Two-Axle Trucks
Two.Axle Bedfords Two Axle Japanese Trucks
Model Number Per cent Per cent Current Number Per cent Current
Year In of all Value In Value
Survey Bedford Survey
Sales Rs 000 Rs 000
Bedford 2 axle
3 axle
Tractor Trallar
2 axle
2 axle
2 axle
3 axle
Tractor Trailer
2 axle
3 axle
Tractor Trailer
2 axle
2 axle
Tractor Trailer
2 axle
2 axle
3 axle
Tractor Trailer
2 axle
Yractor Trailer
1111
3
12
2
35
1
i
28
6
5
2
3
1
2
19
4
1
14
29
i8
1
5
i 303
524 613
1
2
1
45
2
3
32
t
6
1
3
2
3
5
12
43
59
1
10
845
386
2
1
106
1
1
117
2
1
2
t
41
10
8
1
3
683
2634
3
1
BMC/Leyland
Ford
Hlno
16 1957
1959
1960
19Gt
t 962
1963
1964
i 965
19G6
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
i 97G
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
i 982
1983
1994
i 985
1986
Total
2
2
3
2
8 0,3
10 0.4
72 2.7
GO 2,2
81 3!0
56 2,1
5t 1.9
i 08 4.1
57 2>2
63 2,4
100 3,8
115 4,4
211 8.0
185 7!1
168 6.4
8G 3,3
120 4,6
232
167 :::
102 3.9
191 7.3
178 6.B
139 5,3
54 2.1
2
48
60
65
70
83
60
98
93
95
104
ill
10G
127
114
114
123
i 28
i 33
131
143
14G
i G6
i 72
18G
197
223
266
290
325
113
150
70
217
293
ioi
102
i 82
238
257
265
317
341
383
406
4
0!8
o,G
0!2
0.6
0.8
1.9
1.4
2.1
2.5
4.3
54
i3.4
19!0
38!4
8.7
100
23
1
13 190
7
11
International
Man
Mazda
Mercedes
10 12
1 i 4
4 30 3
4.4 i
6.8
::;
3.2
5.4
7.6
3,4
6.6
7.3
8.8
G 3
4
9
7
10
12
21
26
65
92
186
42
7
6
10
29
7
J
Mitsubishi
Nissan
1
I
!
1
7
2 axle
3 axle
Tractor Trailer
19
16
86
98
85
Saviem
Toyota
2 axle 2625 100 485 2
Mean i 55 337
2 axle
1
Others/Unspecified i
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
19
Total 622
Source: Roadside Interview Survey
3453
32 33
~~ i
,,
1
. ‘&_..-... ----- ....... * .. ,,, .
‘o
I
(
!
I
I
I
1
TABLE A4
Age And Value Spectrum 01 Nissan Three.Axle & Traclor-Trailers
Nissan 3 Axle Trucks Nissan Tractor Trailers
Model Number Per cent Current Number Per cent
Year
Current
Value Value
Rs 000 Rs 000
1974
i 976
1977
i 97C
i 979
i 980
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
i i .0
i ,0
7.1
6.1
7.f
11.2
i 7,3
40>8
6.1
3 3.6
2.4
8,3
7,1
5.9
8.3
i5.5
22.6
17.9
1,2
438
425
360
4a4
413
360
5ao
573
634
700
2
7
6
5
7
13
19
15
i
350
30i
360
3io
503
498
527
soa
;
6
7
ii
17
40
6
TABLE A7
Empty and Loaded Trip Length Distribution by Direction
Trip From Karachi To Karachi Total Per Cent
Length Kms Loaded Empty Loaded Empty Trucks Loaded
5- 50
51- 100
tol - 200
20}- 300
301. 400
401- 500
501. 600
601- 700
70 i - aoo
80t - 900
901-1000
100i -1200
1201.1400
1401.1600
1601-1800
i aoi -2000
66
97
t 93
102
135
129
i 49
118
67
27
15
9
8
4
2
1
2
0
1
0
0
1
76
t27
106
81
397
423
626
265
250
268
194
i 2a
i 40
103
104
135
i 96
63
99
29
351a
53.0
59!3
72.8
76.0
84.0
77.8
a5.2
60,0
89.3
88!5
95,6
92.9
90!5
97.0
89,9
Total 98 i 00 84
Mean
100
483 534
Sourco: Roadside Survey
t 78 i aa
91 45
55
96
51
45
24
42
35
59
8a
24
51
14
45
34
35
15
54
10
10
6
13
6
3
2
100
64
60
50
57
70
94
33
45
12
TABLE A5 TABLE A6
Location of Interviews for Consignors and Frelghl Agents
—-
Number of interviews
1ocatlon Consignors Freighf Agen/s
I(arachl 56
Lahore
49
36 37
Rawalplndl 23 29
Falsalabad i 9
Gujranwala la 28
Sarghoda 14
Sukkur
24
13 19
Abbottabad 11
Attock
9
10 9
Sheikhupura 4
Others 2 4
Types of Business Undertaken by Cotlslgnors
Type Total Per cent
Yextiles 35 la,6
Industrial mechanics 19
Iron and steel
10,1
18 9,6
Agricultural produce 17 9.0
General raw materials 15 7.8
Food/anlrnal feed 9 ~i.a
Celnent 7 3.7
Agricultural mechanics 6
Vegetable oll/ghee
3.2
5 2.7
Minerals 5 2,7
petroleum products 4 2.i
Fertilizer i 0>6
Others 25 13.3
Total Trucks 1307 404 1056 653 3420
Average Per Cent
Of Loaded Trucks:
BYTrips 7s.4 61!a
By Vehicle K!IIV
69,1
934s 74,3 839
Source: Roadsid6 Inlervlew Survey
Total i 8a 237
Source: Freight Consignors and Agents SUrvOy
Yotal 188 i on,~
—
Source: Frelghl Consignors and Agents Survey
P,I,tI,I