Haulage, trucking and logistics services in Nigeria

Haulage, trucking and logistics services in Nigeria

Logistics services in Nigeria are the heartbeats of local supply chain and distribution of goods and services. It helps in meeting the expectation of demands and supply of goods and services. Logistics as a phenomenon drive the economy and determine the rate at which an economy will grow.
Haulage, trucking are the aspects of logistics in and around ports whether airport or sea port. After the shipping companies or airlines have delivered the goods at the ports, the port authorities will move the goods to the tarmac or terminals for government agencies to examine the goods for
compliance with regulations. Even within the terminals, they have to engage in logistics services whether the management will arrange for it or will contract it to a logistics provider. Logistics services in Nigeria depend on various factors. This will determine the type of truck or
in-land transport route to use. This will also determine the charges of the haulage services.

Factors that affect logistics services in Nigeria

The following are the factors that affect logistics services in Nigeria ports:
- Delivery Distance: this is a very important factor that affects the charges of using a particular truck. You can’t compare the price of delivery within Lagos and cargo that will be delivered in Edo state. The distance from loading point to delivery point will determine the
charges and pricing rate.
- Nature of the goods: The natures of goods are taken into consideration when goods are be delivered to particular location. Fragile and dangerous goods delivery charges are higher than general goods due to their state. Insurance against damages and theft are also put into  consideration.
- Weight and dimension of the goods: This is a very crucial factor to determine the type of vehicle that will carry the goods.
- Conditions of the road networks: Nigerian drivers always take advantage of bad conditions of road network in order to inflate logistics charges. Example is the bad condition of road networks in Apapa and Tincan which has affected the charges of loading containers out of terminals within the axis.

Type of trucks in logistics services in Nigeria ports

The type of trucks that any logistics service will use will depend on the nature of the goods and weight of the goods. These are the most important considerations that service providers will ask when clients connect with them or make enquiries.

The following are the major type of trucks that Nigeria logistics services providers use in moving goods:
a. Flat trailer
b. Covered body or Box trailers
c. Vehicle carriers
d. Low loaders
e. Sided trailers
f. Refrigerated trailers
g. Dry bulk trailers
h. Bulk liquid trailers

Road trailers used by for logistics services in Nigeria

Flat trailers
These are the trailers that have flat beds platforms which that will place goods. They don’t have sides  cover which make it easy for them to carry 40ft and 20ft containers sizes. They have four knot at four corners of the trailer in order to hold the containers they carry. They are used to carry general goods, crates, steel coils and pipes.

Covered Body Trailers
These are trailers that have cover body and loading and offloading can be done only through rear door of the truck. There is more security and protection to the goods due to the covered structure of the trucks. Vehicle carriersThese are the kind of trailer that are has design structure to carry vehicles. They can carry up to four and six vehicles at once.

Low loaders
These are trailer use to carry heavy, oversized and bulk loads that flat body trailers can not carry. They can carry over 50 tons load at a go. They are used to carry construction equipment, heavy metal structures and large goods.

Sided trailers
These trailers have sides cover that one can open in order to load and off-load goods. They are suitable for carrying break-bulk goods like cartons and sacked goods.

Refrigerated trailers
They are used to carry perishable or dangerous goods that need to maintain certain temperature to avoid explosion. They have cooling system apparatus attachment.

Dry bulk trailers
They have tank for structure at the back of the truck. They are use to carry dry bulk cargoes like flour, fertilizers.

Bulk liquid trailers
They are use to carry bulk liquids. They are suitable for carrying petroleum products (like kerosene, Diesel, Petrol), chemicals and liquefied gasses.

In conclusion, logistics services in Nigeria have great impact on the economy in terms of local and global supply chain distribution. These impacts are seen in the area of ecommerce delivery services. Majority of ecommerce merchants cannot complete transaction without logistics services. The purchase of goods has to be delivered at customers’ place of destinations. When you need logistics services consultancy for your shipping needs either pickup service or delivery. You can contact us for the door to door shipping service at Distinctcushy Freight.