Seeking to become the most important digital hub of the logistics movement between Europe, China and Africa in its region and focusing on becoming a marketplace, the TIRPORT initiative aims to host more than 1.5 million international truckers
The logistics sector, where more than 1 million truck drivers serve in Turkiye, is in dire need of transformation projects. Offering sustainable business opportunities to truckers who seek to cope with increasing input costs and want to find customers, and a reliable logistics service platform to those who want to transport their loads, a platform called TIRPORT focuses on solving problems with effective solutions of data science.
The Turkiye-based startup seeks to make logistics effortless for any shipper and is a digital logistics platform that allows carriers and shippers to connect. The TIRPORT offers an end-to-end logistics solution that combines a freight marketplace with company drivers and strategic partnerships to provide a range of services.
The new generation digital platform enables freight owners and shippers to find carriers on the most suitable and rapid conditions; individual and corporate shippers can easily book freight for their return.
“We aim to be able to attract 20% of the LTL and partial traffic between Turkiye and Europe within 10 years by ourselves. In addition, as TIRPORT, we will prevent loss of millions of dollars in foreign exchange and contribute to the prevention of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide being released into nature by bringing together thousands of trucks going to Europe that have to return empty because they could not make the return load organization on time,” said TIRPORT CEO Akın Arslan.
“We care very much about the African market.We are far superior to our existing competitors there, both in terms of technology and business model. With an operations management based in Dubai, we aspire to be Africa’s number one digital operator by 2025,” Arslan noted.
“As a result, we aim to become the most important digital hub in the region of the logistics movement between Europe-China-Africa and to become a marketplace, hosting more than 1.5 million international truckers.”
Serving giants
Arslan cited two main business models that TIRPORT follows.
“We work as TMS (Transport Management System), which allows logistics companies and regular freight manufacturers to manage their logistics operations end-to-end. We also provide POD (Proof Of Delivery), driver digital database management, intelligent operation management services to these companies,” he noted.
In the spot market, he said they started in March, “we work like Uber Freight.” He added that the company supplies reliable and suitable trucks to small- and medium-sized enterprises in need of trucks and large load issuers such as Henkel, Kale, DSV, DB Schenker and Arkas “wherever and whenever they want through our system.”
“We work as a logistics marketplace,” Arslan stressed.
Data for logistics sector
The CEO highlighted that they use data science to find meaningful solutions to the sector by anonymizing and reporting the data they have.
“Turkiye is the country with the highest road transport in Europe. As of January 2021, we are anonymizing the logistics data passing over us and publishing TIRPORT Insights: Analytical Overview of the Logistics Sector. We are also sharing hundreds of updated statistics on the logistics industry,” Arslan said.
According to Arslan, there are around 930,000 trucks of 16 tons and above on the roads in Turkiye, of which 550,000 are engaged in commercial transportation.
In Turkiye, an average of 450,000 FTL (Full Truck Load) transportations are being performed per day. About 300,000 of the 450,000 FTL cargo in Turkiye is met by individual truck owners in the spot market. He noted that two-thirds of the average daily load of around 450,000 in Turkiye consists of SME loads that come from OIZ (organized industrial zone) and clustered production regions.
Investments
Road transportation constitutes 90% of freight traffic in Turkiye and individuals own 90% of trucks carrying commercial cargo. The number of logistics companies engaged in domestic and international transportation in a certified manner in Turkiye is around 8,000. Nearly 5,000 trucks go abroad every day.
TIRPORT, which is trying to become one of the world’s leading logistics initiatives with the investments it has received, has managed to receive investment through First Diversified Technology VCIF of Re-Pie Asset Management. Encore Holding from Europe also joined the investment tour.
TIRPORT provides the connection between shippers and carriers on real time basis. Thus, neither shippers need to look for carriers nor are shippers required to wait for freight. It ends the “suffering” of carriers about booking freight for the return journey.
With the great penetration it has reached in the field in two years, TIRPORT aims to pass the 30,000 daily transportation mark in the next three years with its technologies, network and data processing power in the logic of Uber Freight.