The Path Always Taken: An Analysis on How Public Roadways Affect Logistics Business in the Philippines

The present condition of the roadways of our beloved country, the Philippines, is a double-edged sword for logistics service providers. The state of our roadways is one of the main reasons why people are buying the idea of taking advantage of logistics services but at the same time, it is also what causes most of the biggest challenges for logistics companies.

Transportation is a major problem in the country. Just recently, we have been labeled as one of the countries with the worst traffic and airport. If we will look closely, there are many factors that contribute to this situation like overpopulation, poor urban planning, lack of discipline, and corruption. In the Metro Manila alone, more private vehicles are occupying the road than public utility vehicles and the number of registered motor vehicles only seem to increase each year. With the election for public officials looming, we can expect that the already chaotic traffic will worsen with the attempts of the outgoing officials to arrange last-minute road patch-up projects for the sake of having one.

Logistics companies have learned to embrace the fact that the current state of our roadways is one of the hurdles that they need to accept and adapt to but there is more to it than what meets the eye when it comes to logistics business. The poor roadways can affect the logistics companies in many ways.


Quality of service –

Source: Business World Online

Traffic condition is one of the things that is put into consideration when deciding deadlines and estimating time for deliveries to be completed. Trying to give out a realistic timeframe on when a transaction can be completed can be a real challenge. The traffic can stall the progress of deliveries and can sometimes cause delays. This is why there are some logistics companies who do not accept transporting perishable good. This could also be a problem with setting the expectations of the clients especially those who are trying to catch tight deadlines.


Maintenance --

Long hours on the road put a huge toll on the vehicles that are used in deliveries. The poor condition of the road can also add up to the strain and, in worse scenarios, may cause damages. If a vehicle will be out for repair or maintenance, this could affect the production and could lead to missed deadlines and decrease in the company output quality. Not to mention, repairs could be really costly almost 100% of the time.

Fuel Costs –

Representation of Money spent on Fuel

Fuel is essential to keep the vehicles needed for the deliveries alive and running. We are all aware on how much fuel can cost nowadays. For people in the business of transportation, getting stuck on traffic is losing money with every stagnant drone of the engine.


Damages –

In the worst of worst situation, no matter how cautious a driver is, accidents may occur on the road due to many circumstances. This may lead to damages in properties that will probably lead to unnecessary profit loss. These could be in the form of potholes, faulty bridges, fellow motorists or even an errant piece of jagged rock.

This is just a careful analysis of some of the challenges that logistics businesses experience due to the current state of our pubic roadways and a reflection on how much attention is needed to develop more reliable and dependable roadways that not only big businesses can use but are also beneficial for ordinary Filipinos.