Edip Bakımcı, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BKM Logistics, which has an important place in international transport between Turkey and the UK and also provides transport services between Turkey and Western European countries for years, evaluated the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) process on the sector and his company to yesillojistikciler.com.
‘WE ARE WORKING WITH 25 PER CENT CAPACITY AFTER CORONAVIRUS’
With the coronavirus oil prices in the world with the fall in Turkey's international transport sector in the world that it is not reflected as much as the world, BKM Logistics Chairman of the Board of Directors Edip Bakımcı said, ‘We have experienced a 20-25 per cent decline in the fuel prices we use. However, we are working with 25 per cent capacity after the coronavirus. The reflection of the decline in oil prices on us in general was much lower. Our sector was negatively affected by the coronavirus. We have difficulty in paying our current instalments, we have difficulty in making our collections. The motivation of our drivers has dropped a lot, we employ our colleagues part-time,’ he said.
‘WE HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY IN VISA EXTENSION FOR OUR DRIVER FRIENDS’
Emphasising that land transport is carried out under very difficult conditions, Edip Bakımcı underlined that while each country has its own rules, there are generally accepted rules, especially in Europe. Bakımcı said, ‘With the global epidemic, the entry and exit of our drivers to the country and our visa problem has reached an extreme level. With the quarantine in our country, our drivers who initially entered the country were kept in quarantine for 14 days and then allowed to leave the country again, which affected us very negatively. Later, our Ministry of Trade facilitated the work and started to test our drivers at the entrance to the country and allow them to exit again, but during this period, business declined by 70-80 per cent. Apart from this, we have many drivers in Europe whose visas have expired and there are not many countries that comply with the statements made by the European Union regarding visa extension. In short, as we have difficulty in obtaining new visas, we have great difficulty in visa extension for our driver friends whose visas have expired. In addition, due to the fact that some countries apply convoy to our transit vehicles in order to protect themselves, accidents have occurred several times and there have been drivers who died due to this situation, on this occasion, I wish God's mercy to our deceased driver friends and patience to their families. Generally, with mobile technology, we can follow our vehicles on the map and we are constantly in contact with them by phone.’
BKM LOGISTICS EMPLOYEES ENTERED THE WORKING PROCESS WITH MASKS IN ACCORDANCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCE RULES
In this process, Bakımcı explained the changes they made in the way we do business as follows ‘We have warned our colleagues working in the office in writing and verbally about keeping social distance and we have taken the necessary measures. Our driver friends have also been warned in writing and verbally to maintain social distance. We also provided masks and disinfectants to all our colleagues (office workers and drivers) and warned them to protect themselves.’
IDLE VEHICLES IN GARAGE
Emphasising that they have approximately 70-80 percent job losses, Bakımcı stated that their idle vehicles are lying in garages, their driver friends are sent to their homes and they are called in turn as work arises. Bakımcı added that office employees work part-time.
‘LOGISTICS MAY BE THE SECTOR THAT WILL RECOVER THE FASTEST AFTER CORONA, BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN SURVIVE’
‘Logistics may be the sector that will recover the fastest after Korana, but only if you can survive. Our sector is a dynamic sector, it is like riding a bicycle, as soon as you stop, you fall,’ Bakımcı said, adding that they have expenses depending on time and kilometres. Stating that the salaries of his colleagues have to be paid because there is no other way to sustain their lives, Bakımcı said, ‘All our expenses that run over time continue. To give a few examples; such as Motor Insurance, Green Card, MTV, Traffic and CMR Insurance. On the other hand, we have great difficulty in postponing our instalments and loans.’
‘LOGISTICS SECTOR SHOULD BE GIVEN SPECIAL IMPORTANCE’
Edip Bakımcı finally said the following: "The virus has shown us that it is not possible to survive without logistics. For this reason, I think that states should pay special attention to the logistics sector and provide all kinds of support"