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Although these trucks have very low mileage, they are still highly popular among the trucking companies in Bangladesh due to low maintenance costs, availability of spare parts and having strong engine capacity and chassis
Published : 18 Jun 2023, 01:57 AM
‘Samagra Bangladesh Panch Tonne’, roughly translates as covering the whole of Bangladesh with a maximum carrying weight of five tonnes
Those who grew up in the 80s and the 90s must have seen this iconic phrase embossed at the back of every yellow truck running throughout Bangladesh, mainly hauling goods, fuel, livestock and produces from one place to another.
These yellow trucks are called Bedford trucks, manufactured by a British automobile maker named Vauxhall, owned by American auto giant General Motors.
Bedford TJ and Bedford TK, introduced in 1958 and 1959, respectively and continued production until the late 90s, have been the most popular models in Bangladesh.
The freedom fighters frequently used both models of trucks in the 1971 Liberation War, ensuring its place in Bangladesh’s history.
There is no official data on how many of these trucks are still operational in Bangladesh, but according to Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owners Association General Secretary Md Rustom Ali Khan, at least 10,000 of these trucks are being used by the members of his association.
Although these trucks have very low mileage, they are still highly popular in Bangladesh due to low maintenance costs, availability of spare parts and strong engine capacity and chassis.
Since the late 90s, though, the prices of trucks with state-of-the-art functions and high mileage started to fall, which allowed the trucking companies to upgrade their fleet.
However, Bedford trucks always remained relevant in the grand moving operation in Bangladesh due to their engine and chassis capacity.
“These trucks run beautifully on challenging roads, especially the heavily muddy ones. Most roads which lead to brick kilns in Bangladesh are seriously muddy, and trucks manufactured by other companies mostly break down on those roads,” said Moslem Uddin, a trucker.
There is a large marketplace of spare parts for these trucks in Dhaka’s Dholaikhal area, known locally as the ‘Bedford Market’. Spare parts are also readily available in Gabtoli and Aminbazar areas, Dhaka’s busiest transportation hub, and Chattogram.
Moreover, with the CNG conversion, some of these old trucks still found relevancy in the moving business, especially between the metropolises in Bangladesh.
“CNG conversion made the Bedford trucks relevant again. Many of these trucks are used between Dhaka and Chattogram, and for a round trip, it costs around Tk 2,000 worth of CNG,” said Mofizur Rahman, an elderly mechanic specialised in Bedford trucks.
However, there are still a good number of downsides to these trucks.
NEGATIVE REVIEWS
Abul Kashem from Dhaka’s Bosila area owns three Bedford trucks.
He identified three major issues for operating these trucks--
- Fitness issue.
- Manual steering wheel, which makes the truckers exhausted.
- The effect of CNG conversion makes the engine hotter than usual after a while.
“Manual steering wheels of these trucks put serious stress on my truckers. After a trip, truckers are forced to take a day off to recover from shoulder pains. Moreover, the CNG conversion somehow did not sit well with these trucks as the engines go hotter than usual in mid-trips and tend to shut down,” he said.
Besides these, according to Kashem, some other factors have played a pivotal role in making the “visibly unbreakable” trucks less wanted.
“In construction sites, contractors request dump trucks since unloading construction materials like sand and stones is easier. Bedford trucks still have some relevance in moving bricks, but mostly it.”
Nurul Islam, a trucker, agreed with Kashem.
“CNG conversion made these trucks' engines weaker than before. Besides, members of the police have reservations about allowing these trucks on large bridges like the one on the Meghna and the Bangabandhu bridge,” he said.
When bdnews24.com approached Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s Director (Engineering) Shitangsu Shekhar Biswas to verify Nurul’s claim, the official cited a recent policy adopted by the government to scrap old vehicles.
Last month, Bangladesh Road Transport and Highways Division announced a draft policy for scrapping trucks after 25 years of operation.
The move came after years of road safety activism as thousands of unfit yet operational vehicles are fuelling the rising numbers of crashes and deaths, which have become a significant issue in Bangladesh in recent decades.
The draft ‘Motor Vehicle Scrapping Guideline 2023’ said the government would outsource the vehicle scrapping job to private firms enlisted with the BRTA and its supervision.
“As soon as the draft becomes official, we will start enforcing it,” he said.
‘A GOLD MINE’ FOR SCRAPPING MERCHANTS
The new policy may increase the revenues of scrapping merchants in Bangladesh.
Nasiruddin, a scrapping merchant in Bosila, said even the scrap of a Bedford truck has plenty of monetary value.
“Steel collected from the scrap can be sold at Tk 55-60 per kg. The spare parts of the engines have serious resale value as well, especially to the mechanics,” he said.
Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owner's Association’s Rustom said they had an understanding with the authorities on how to manage the operations of these old trucks.
“The understanding was these trucks would only run at night time. Moreover, we kept the police members patrolling the highways at night time happy by handing out a lump sum every month. But this new scrapping guideline doesn’t bode well with us. We [the association] are seeking compensation for the owners of these trucks if they are forced to send their fleet to the junkyard. But we are yet to get any response from the authorities.”
[Writing in English and infographic created by Adil Mahmood]
