Jessore trips cost Tk35,000 one week and Tk8,000 the next; that gap became a truck-booking platform

While analysing the transport costs of his own FMCG business, an entrepreneur found that sending one consignment to Jashore had cost Tk 35,000, while a week later another truck went to the same destination for only Tk 8,000. Looking into the reason, it turned out that the first truck was not from Jashore; assuming it would get no load on the way back, it had recovered the cost of the round trip from a single journey. The second was a Jashore truck returning empty — so it accepted whatever it was offered. A few vehicles of his own also ran on the roads, and they were in the same situation. He says, “That was such a waste and, at the same time, a huge opportunity.” He and his friend then went to Cumilla and Tejgaon and talked to brokers, transport agencies and truck owners; the owners showed interest in such a service, and in December 2016 they decided to go ahead. In 2017, with seven shareholders, the platform matching truck owners and drivers with shippers was launched, and it gained recognition by winning the ICT Ministry's startup competition. Investment of $1 million came in 2019 and $4 million in 2021. According to Future Startup's 2024 report, about 80,000 vehicles are connected to the platform, and they have also launched offline centres and GPS trackers for trucks.