Necmi STEEL 's
Dr. Kayıhan Özdemir Turan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Logistics Service Providers Association-LojiDer ⁇ in, which was established as a unique civil society organization in the logistics sector, stated that the v ⁇ ze barrier applied by EU countries to Turkish TIR drivers is contrary to the spirit of free ticare ⁇ t and said that they will start a new legal struggle in Europe.
It is planned to open visa cases in EU countries, especially Germany, where the biggest problems regarding visas are experienced. It is learned that interviews with expert law firms and well-known lawyers in this field are also continuing.
Stating that they had high-level interviews on the problems of the sector and new approaches in Ankara ⁇ da Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and Ministry of Trade in July and August, Dr. Kayihan Ö.Turan pointed out that the negative impact of the cricket experienced in driver visas on the sector is increasing day by day and said that we are working to move the issue to European courts. Turan said: As ⁇ LojiDer, we value this issue with the perspective of preventing free trade within the framework of the criteria determined by the World Trade Organization.
In addition, we see that the process of handling and evaluating driver visas in the same way as normal tourist visas is completely contrary to the European Union norms on which the law is based. The investment price of our companies, which invest in 1 set of ⁇ drawer and semi-trailer ⁇ in the logistics sector, is 7-8 million TL today. The total investment cost of our member, who invests in a fleet of 10 sets, reaches high amounts such as 70-80 million TL. While this investment should add value to the country's economy and exports, it is unacceptable for drivers to remain idle due to the inability to obtain a visa.
Turan stated that visas that are not given to the drivers of vehicles carrying out international transportation are the biggest obstacle to the free realization of trade, and as ⁇ LojiDer, we are doing a detailed study in the direction of starting a judicial court in this direction. Based on the thesis that the visa issue has reached a stage contrary to the spirit of free trade, we are also meeting with expert lawyers in Europe on how to find a solution to the visa barrier. The issue is not to go to the judiciary, we want to make favorable decisions and bring a result to this issue in a way that sets a precedent for all EU countries.
Companies with large car parks are affected
Turan emphasized that another important problem of the sector is the cancellation of the rights of logistics companies with large vehicle parks to have fuel pump station in their own garages and expressed the following views;
⁇ I would like to share with you a decree that negatively affects our members who made national and international road transport last month. We have member companies with 10, 50, 150, 300, 500, 800 vehicles in their fleet.
These members have invested in fuel pump stations in their own garage areas to be given only to their own vehicles within the framework of the right granted to them in the past period and have the opportunity to make improvements in fuel costs, which have a high percentage for transportation services cost items, by purchasing bulk fuel only to fuel their own vehicles. Oil Market Kanu ⁇ 's 9th in the year 5015. In the seventh paragraph of the article, the rights of our members were revoked with a change made by the Decree Law in July. But we don't fully understand why. Our association member companies and sector companies will support every step that our delegate wants to take under the name ⁇ denetim ⁇ .
However, a few bad examples and actions should not cause our companies that do their job correctly and create employment by investing to be negatively affected. Our work continues to revise this decision, which will be implemented on January 1, 2025 ⁇ . We hope that the work we will do will be positive and that we will create a solution that meets the expectations of all stakeholders in this regard. ⁇
Authorization documents and unfair competition environment
Stating that another issue that has been talked about in the sector for many years is unfair competition, Dr. Kayıhan Ö. Turan, regarding the subject of authority documents, we are active in an ecosystem where logistics services are provided with authorization certificates obtained at high prices. However, due to the fact that the audit is not at the desired level, activities carried out without documents cannot be prevented. As a result of this, our certified companies are trying to continue their business in an unfair competition environment. ⁇ said.
We are the new center of attraction of the sector
Describing the Logistics Service Providers Association ⁇ (LojiDer) as the new center of attraction of the sector, Dr. Kayıhan Özdemir Turan, ⁇ We have members in 7 regions and 26 provinces of our country. At the end of the 6-month period, our number of members reached 298 ⁇ as a legal entity. The 2023 turnover of our members is 1.84 billion US dollars, we provide employment to 8 thousand 170 people, and 18 percent of the employment is made up of our women. We have a busy working pace in order to add value to our sector and our country.
We became the first NGO from Turkey to become a member of the European Logistics Association ELA ⁇ , which has a 40-year history involving 28 countries with its international dimension. The NGO, which has a history of 27 years and is a member of TAPA ⁇ or Türkiye ⁇ structured in 3 regions in the world, became LojiDer again.
⁇ It will open a new horizon with the highway train ⁇
Dr. Kayıhan Özdemir Turan, ⁇ In the workshop we attended in Ankara ⁇ in August regarding the regulation that our heavy transportation sector has been waiting for many years, the road train application we propose with an especially innovative approach will be a seminal application for our sector. We are excited that this innovative application will be implemented in 2025. ⁇ With the highway train ⁇ , a very important saving will be provided for the transportations to be made between the loading areas close to the highways and the unloading neighborhoods close to the highways ⁇ .
