Recommendations

Experience

9mo

The transport sector is the lifeline of a country’s socio-economic activities. At present, Ethiopia stands on the threshold of rapid economic development and is determined to achieve its goals of reaching the middle-income level in the coming years. To ensure the success of its goals, the freight transport and logistics system must be geared to the attainment of the national goals and needs to be... continually improved through information technology to cope up with the ever-changing and dynamic economic environment. Addis Ababa-Djibouti Corridor linking Ethiopia to the Port of Djibouti is now the dominant gateway for the country with over 95% of Ethiopia’s imports and exports using this route. The freight transport and logistics along the corridor is characterized by poor coordination among participants, fragmented implementation of logistics policies and the provision of low quality and unreliable logistics services. FMS and ECTS is a technology of using advanced method of remote vehicle tracking and monitoring that could enhance freight transport operator’s performance by delivering efficient fleet management. The purpose of this thesis is thus to find out the role of fleet management and electronic cargo tracking to improve operation performance of Dry Cargo Transport Operators in Ethiopia; with particular emphasis on Addis Ababa to Djibouti Corridor. For this study, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used and the type of research employed was descriptive research. Survey research strategy and a cross-sectional time dimension research design were also utilized. The sampling technique employed was non-probability. The population of the study was employees of commercial dry cargo freight transport operators installing FMS and ECTS on their vehicles. The total sample size was 79 respondents. The sources of data were both primary and secondary. The data collection instruments employed were questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion, field observation and document review. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS version 21, and the qualitative data has been analyzed in statement form. The analyzed data were presented using percentage and table, figure, plate and text form. The result of the study indicated that implementation of FMS and ECTS has a positive role in enhancing the operation performance of freight transport operators in terms of truck distance coverage, truck down time, and truck trip frequency. It also contributes to the reduction of the cost operation such as fuel consumption and other overhead costs. Fast delivery of cargo even increases revenue and reliability of the service. Regarding to safety it has a greater benefit in reduction of cargo theft, dumping and traffic accident. Although the level of implementation of the system in Ethiopia is insignificant. The study also identified some challenges in implementing FMS and ECTS such as high cost of the device and network problem. Finally, the government and different stakes needs to provide a special attention for fully implementation of the technology in order to improve the operation performance of freight transport operators.  more