In business, relocation, or many other cases, we often need trucks or pickup vans for transporting or carrying goods. But just like any other thing, trucks or pickup vans become very difficult to find when needed. Apart from this, the issue of renting a truck also becomes painful due to the hassle of getting to and from the truck stand, not getting the known truck drivers, etc. In today's article, we will talk about a service that can provide easy solutions to all such problems. This brand innovative startup to hire or rent a truck is called 'Truck Lagbe.' What is Truck Lagbe? 'Truck Lagbe' is a smartphone application (App) -based product transport service. The 'Truck Lagbe' App will link the client with the truck owner or truck agency. Through which you can rent a truck from anywhere in the country to move your necessary goods sitting at home. Its initiators are two outstanding, talented personalities Enayet Rashid and Mir Hossain Ikram. The goal was to improve the quality of life of truck drivers. In addition, to build a bridge between the truck owner or the driver and the service recipient. So that both parties get benefits and time is saved. Read Top 7 Truck Rental Apps in Bangladesh They have created the 'Truck Lagbe' App with the aim of bringing the necessary trucks, pickups, and covered vans for transporting goods from anywhere in the country at any time to the reach of the people and to end all the hassles related to it. Truck owners and service users are also registered through the App. Both parties can know in advance when, where to go or which car needs to transport goods. The App will let you know if the truck driver is delivering the product on time. Besides, the customer will be able to stay worry-free if he takes the service through the App. Read Uber Adds Auto-Rickshaws in Dhaka: Transportation Aggregation and Competition How does the Truck Lagbe Start? Enayet Rashid and Mir Hossain Ikram were two professional friends. The CEO of the company is Enayet Rashid, and Mir Hossain Ikram is the Chief Operating Officer. Although they were interested in doing something completely new and different, they could not easily come up with an idea. Enayet Rashid, meanwhile, occasionally needed trucks to transport commercial goods. For that reason, some issues came to his notice. Especially the issue of rent. The two friends sat down to discuss the matter again. That's where the 'Truck Lagbe' plan comes from. Read 8 Mistakes to Avoid in a New Ecommerce Startup in Bangladesh in 2021 The planning and start of 'Truck Lagbe' started in December 2016. Moreover, 'Truck Lagbe' won the 'Startup Challenge 2017' competition organized by the Department of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. They achieved first place among the total of 20 innovative projects. In July of that year, a trial (beta) version was released for Android users. Then in August 2018, a new version of the App came to the Google Play Store. In September of the same year, the commercial launch of the App was officially announced at the ICT Tower in Dhaka. Within a year or so of that journey, 'Truck Lagbe' began to gain a reputation as a reliable service provider. Following this, 'Truck Lagbe' won the 'Best Technology Innovation' award out of 16 companies of the country organized by the Bangladesh Brand Forum in October 2018. Read Visa’s Fintech Initiative for Bangladesh: New Opportunities for Start-ups? How Truck Lagbe Works? 'Truck Lagbe' works like ride-sharing or parcel apps. But in some cases, it is a little different than others. Unlike other ride-sharing services, it does not take any percentage from the truck drivers. The entire income here belongs to that truck driver or owner. This usually means that when a sender needs a truck, he or she will communicate his or her needs through the App. Then the details of that demand will reach the truck owners in the neighborhood. Interested truck owners or drivers will then offer their desired fare. If all goes well, the sender of the product will be able to rent the truck with that App. Benefits of using Truck Lagbe The App focuses on two things to ensure the highest quality of service users. One is reliability, and the other is transparency. 'Truck Lagbe' ensures reliability by finding the right truck for any shipment through 24-hour transport facilities, scheduled service, and in-app special load-matching technology. Read Arogga: The Bangladeshi Medicine Delivery Startup Which Raised $200k On the other hand, for the sake of transparency, all the trucks found in 'Truck Lagbe' are verified and registered. Besides, they have arranged the verification of all the customers. At the same time, the entrepreneurs of 'Truck Lagbe' are always on the lookout for the lowest possible price for the service recipients. Current Situation of the Company Since the beginning, more than 1 million trips have been completed through this App. Initially, the journey started with only 36 trucks and four people. Now there are more than 50,000 trucks and over a dozen workers in the Truck Lagbe's network. Last year, a three-story office was also rented in Mohakhali. Read The SWAP story of Bangladesh's first reCommerce startup Who Can Use the App? Anyone can be a customer of the 'Truck Lagbe.' In this case, you need to download the App. Then you can get this service at home anytime by logging in to the App and providing the required information. Customers can even bargain about the offered price by the drivers. However, if you are the owner or driver of a truck, you have to register. Moreover, the authorities provide necessary training to the truck drivers in this regard. This service is available even if there is no internet connection. In that case, one needs to call the Truck Lagbe's official number. Read Entrepreneur Vs Wantrepreneur: 8 Ways to Tell Them Apart Not only are the customers benefiting from this service, but also the truck owners or drivers can easily find their customers. Further, trucks have to travel long distances, even to remote areas of the country, to transport goods. But since there are no new customers, or there is not much acquaintance with the locals, they have to bring empty trucks on the way back. As a result, labor and money are wasted. But now that the Truck Lagbe service is available online from any part of the country through the App, drivers can get a new customer in new places. Just as they are getting the opportunity to earn some extra income, the truck owners are also gaining instead of losing. Overall, the Truck Lagbe is making life easier for the truck owners, drivers, workers, and service recipients. Read 20 Most Promising Education Start-Ups in Bangladesh

When it comes to ride-sharing platforms, Uber is perhaps the largest service provider in the world. Founded in 2009 in San Francisco, California, the platform has grown to become a multinational mobility driver in over 80 countries of the world. However, the growth and popularity of Uber have always been challenged by local competitors and the scenario has somewhat been similar in Bangladesh as well. To combat that, Uber has always tried to come up with innovative strategies and services to outperform their competitors and their latest addition of auto-rickshaws is a testament to that end. State of Mobility in Bangladesh Transportation has always been one of the prime constraints in Bangladesh. whether it’s the lack of infrastructures or plain ignorance of people, there aren’t many that can say that they haven’t faced the ugly side of Dhaka’s traffic. So naturally, the concept of ride-sharing has been a relief for many, especially those in a rush. A simple estimate is enough to prove our point. The total number of users of the ride-sharing platform in 2016 was about 10,000. Within just one year, the number jumped to 500,000 in 2017. Now in 2021, there are about 7.5 million rides completed every month with a market cap of about 2200 crore BDT. It only proves that the market is highly lucrative with even more growth opportunities. Read An Overview of Shuttle: A Promising Mass Transit Startup in Bangladesh The Competitors The main competitors in the ride-sharing platform of Bangladesh are Uber, Pathao, Shohoz, and Obhai. There are other utility-based mobility services but those are mostly service niche-based so we won't be including them in the general transportations segment. As the earliest adopter of the ride-sharing concept in Bangladesh, Pathao has been a market leader since 2015. Soon after, Uber entered Bangladesh in 2016. The other two prominent competitors entered the ride-sharing market in early 2018 even though Shohoz was founded back in 2014. The Competitive Landscape It's clear that Uber isn’t the first and neither the only company in the mobility business of Bangladesh. With three other prominent competitors around, the work for Uber is cut out to be much more than they faced in some other markets of the world. Read Top 7 Truck Rental Apps in Bangladesh One of the prime reasons for a competitive landscape is the multipoint service offered by the competitors of Uber. Pathao and Shohoz both have an all-in-one super app that provides a host of other services in addition to mobility. Naturally, the appeal of Pathao and Shohoz holds higher ground given the solutions and value created and offered. However, the strategy of Uber also goes neck and neck. The ultimate goal of Uber is to be the gold standard in the transportation sector in each of their market. Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, even went so much as to say that they plan to develop Uber as the Amazon of the transportation sector. So how is Uber faring compared to that goal? Unlike the competitors, Uber didn’t focus on a multi-point service in Bangladesh. Uber Eats, a food delivery substitute of Uber even recently closed its operation in Bangladesh. What Uber focuses on is on perfecting the game it is already playing and created a strategy based on the offered service. If you open the Uber app, you will find 7 different ride-sharing options at your disposal. This outnumbers the other competitors who offered 2 or 3 options at best. The strategy of Uber here is to offer something for everyone at every level of convenience. Whether it’s the moto service or the Uber Hire, the company is aiming to make ride-sharing an integral as well as personalized part of its users. Recently Uber has also included auto-rickshaw in its service arsenal. Though they have been test driving the auto-rickshaw in Chittagong since 2019, it’s the first time people of Dhaka will be able to experience auto-rickshaw service through Uber. Read Best Ride Sharing Apps in Bangladesh Way Forward The move to include auto-rickshaw by Uber is a clear indication of mobility aggression by the company. As the company adds more and more transportation options to its service, customers will inadvertently incline towards Uber putting its competitors in a precarious position. And if basic economics has taught us anything, in a highly competitive market, the customer is always better off. Currently, Obhai is the only competitor to provide auto-rickshaw service. The move by Uber will force the likes of Pathao and Shohoz to reconsider their business approach, all the while enabling Uber to take advantage of their already well-established mobility ecosystem. We already talked about other niche-based services. The likes of Jatri which is working with the public bus transportation and shuttle, a convenient and safe group transportation system initially developed for women are now looking to broaden their horizon as well. So is Uber doing things right? For the time being, yes. Their move to include auto rickshaws will definitely give them an upper hand against the prominent competitors and gather considerable market share. The strategy of Uber to become the Amazon of transportation may well become true given how their strategies resonate with their customers. Read: How to Use Ridesharing Vehicles Safely during COVID19 Pandemic? Bottom Line The ride-sharing market, as well as the platform, are continuously growing. The growth in demand has forced the market leaders to come up with innovative services to better enhance the experience for the customers. As more and more players enter the mobility market of Bangladesh, the competitive landscape will surely help to increase the market cap of the industry as well as bring ease to the traffic nightmare of Dhaka.