Rajib Das, Managing Director, Loop Freight
Interviewed By Sumaiya Siddique, MBR Team
MBR: Can you please tell us how Loop Freight’s core business concept was developed and will you kindly also tell us the main business segment where you are operating at present?
Rajib Das: The idea came from my own problem that I faced when working in my own family business. My grandfather started a textile business and my dad followed that path so from a young age I saw my father always worried about logistics. Then I went to Canada and studied supply chain at UBC and saw how logistics was broken everywhere. When I came back to Bangladesh I saw how big this problem actually is in our country. The local businessmen are in the mouse trap of the brokers who charge high rental price for the trucks. As mentioned already, I have a family business in textile, and my father out of frustration of dealing with brokers, he bought his own vehicles. When I asked him the reason, I came to know that it is due to unavailability of trucks on time and the pressure of not being able to deliver consignments. Hence, he bought his own ten vehicles and this investment resulted in capital lockup and a huge pressure of managing the vehicles. So from there the idea of developing Loop Freight came to me. At present, we are mainly focused on B2B and our clients are Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh, Pepsi Co, CP, Pran, ACI plastic etc. At present, we are supplying trucks and yet to focus on seeking customers.
MBR: We know that the pandemic has had an enormous impact on trade and business all over the world. How did Loop Freight address the challenge and combat it as well?
Rajib Das: Covid was a blessing for our company. Due to the pandemic and the lockdown people started looking online for necessary goods which really helped our eco-system. Our business grew over 1000% as people became more comfortable online companies to make their purchases. We also saw Covid as a challenge and decided we had to work around it. We would sometimes work 18 hour days. Working from home also saved precious time and helped us focus on the work in hand. Furthermore, covid slowed down our competitors and we saw that as an opportunity to grow.
MBR: What are the milestones that Loop Freight wants to attend in the next few years?
Rajib Das: I dream that we will take this industry to the next level and through loop freight businesses will be able to send a product from Gazipur to New York and Loop will do everything in the middle including the truck, including customs, including ocean trade all the way to the New York port. Our dream is big and trucking is the first piece of the puzzle and the next step would be to go into multimodel logistics.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE : ROLLING THE WHEELS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
Commercial Vehicle Industry: Rolling the Wheels of Economic Growth
With the expansion of the manufacturing sector in our country, the demand for the commercial vehicles is on the rise than ever. Manufacturers of various goods and logistics companies are the end customers of commercial vehicles, as they require transportations to deliver goods to various points all over the country. Due to the countrywide shutdown, the industry suffered from negative growth for the first time in the last few years. However, the pandemic-stricken economy is reviving in tandem with the recovery of the commercial vehicle industry.
GDP of Bangladesh is projected to reach 340 billion USD in 2022. Keeping pace with that, the commercial vehicle industry is expanding by 15% to 20% every year. Fast track projects undertaken by the government to develop the roads and highways of the country are helping to sustain the growth. Technological advancements have touched this sector as well like many other sectors. Resultantly, technologies like GPS and smartphone apps like Truck Lagbe, GIM, Loop Freight etc. have already become widely available to city dwellers and have positively impacted the industry.
Needless to say that the success of trade and commerce of a country largely depends on its well-structured transportation system. Keeping that in mind, the government in collaboration with foreign investors is patronizing local assembly with the goal to manufacture commercial vehicles with locally sourced materials.
Like every other industry, this industry is also going through some major challenges. Congested traffic, unsafe roads, poorly trained drivers, high import duty etc. are some of major challenges that must be mentioned. Government initiative to formulate industry-friendly policies and proper implementation of them is highly required to help this potential industry flourish.
RIFAT ISHTIAQ KHAN
Manager
IDLC Finance Ltd.