Small and medium enterprises are big winners with the introduction of mobile app Carga, the country’ first backload transport solution for shippers and truckers.
An online logistics platform, Carga’s pioneering mobile app serves as a gateway for shippers to connect to a pool of truckers at more affordable rates due to backload, while meeting their preferred schedules and needs. The app also empowers truckers to increase their load and maximize vehicle use through real-time demand visibility which allows them to carry backload anytime.
More than a simple backload solution, the Carga app envisions to ease traffic congestion by reducing the volume of empty trucks plying the road. It also helps small and medium enterprises meet their cargo and shipping needs without having to purchase their own trucks.
Carga chief executive officer Sam Lato said about 480,000 trucks were registered with LTO. So far, he said Carga, had 20 company-owned trucks with five corporate partners for a combined fleet of 150 units and still growing.
“Carga helps maximize load. Our company’s study showed that about 30 to 60 percent of trucks plying SLEX and NLEX are empty. Backload will optimize use of these trucks instead of running empty,” said Lato.
The idea behind the backload solution business was born because of the owners’ personal experience while ferrying engineering materials and equipment for their company, MJAS Zenith. The company would frequently dispatch truckloads of materials to their branches in Cebu and Davao via RoRo, only to have these trucks return to Manila empty.
“Why not optimize all resources and the truck’s travel home by carrying load?”, Lato asked.
The end result is a win-win and innovative solution for all logistics players.
Set to start accepting cargo on February 6, Carga paves the way for accessible delivery of goods and commodities for everyone, anytime and nationwide. So far, its service area stretches from Aparri down to Davao.
The app offers several vehicle model options like forward and semi-forward trucks as well as 4 to 12-wheeler trucks from its own fleet and partner corporate and private truckers. Carga regularly dispatches trucks across Luzon and to any point in the Visayas and Mindanao via RoRo.
With Carga’s transparent pricing and flexibility, shippers and truckers can find the best deals, ensure reliable and cost effective transport, hasten farm-to-market transportation and create more business opportunities.
“Carga will charge per volume. Our rates are 40 to 60 percent cheaper than regular logistics rates since its backload only,” said Carga chief information officer Allan Catu.