Experiences of a tobacco transporter

Yvonne Mutava

Madyavanhu Odman (47) started tobacco farming in 2006 and he has not turned back.

In 2008 he bought a grinding mill, in 2010 a herd of cattle. A two tonne truck and a tent to ferry and cover tobacco were bought in 2015.

“I am now able to finance my tobacco production and no longer need to be contracted, I am independent. I am way better than where I started. Even my homestead, has dignity now” he said with a chuckle.

He said he became a transporter after realizing that people  who ferried his tobacco to the market were farmers like him.

"This motivated me to buy a truck.

‘I became a transporter in 2015. I, however was not registered as a transporter and I faced a number of challenges. I didn’t know there was an efficient stop order facility for payment of transport services. Chasing after farmers to pay once they had been paid was a nightmare.

‘Last season I used a friend’s stop order facility but it also had its challenges hence I decided to open my own this season after my brother in law who has had a stop order facility for the past three years advised me that it was not difficult to register as a transporter," he said.

He said he managed to recoup the $8000 he used to buy the truck  from the money he made last season.

‘With my two tonne truck, I get plus $1300 per week after two return trips.

"In order to be some kind of one stop shop for the farmers, I buy hessian wraps in Harare and put a mark- up of a $1 or $2.

"I sometimes give the farmers transport money to come to the market as well as money to buy food in Harare. They repay me once they sell their tobacco. These are extras I give because by the start of the marketing season, some farmers do not have cash," he added.

"For one to be a transporter they must have respect for the farmer as well as to be able to assist the farmers when they face challenges. When a farmer fails to pay me, I do not rush to the police, I instead give them time, sometimes a season to settle what they owe me," he revealed.

TIMB encourages farmers to use registered transporters with reliable vehicles and some sort of cover or a tent to protect tobacco from the rain and other weather conditions.

When using a registered transporter, farmers do not have to risk their lives sitting on top of tobacco bales on their way to the auction floors.

For one to register as a transporter, they need to avail a photocopy of vehicle registration book, a photocopy of their identity card, passport or driver’s licence as well as pay $150 if they are registering for the first time and $100 if they are renewing, thus if they are registering as an individual.

If one is registering as a company, they need to present a photocopy of vehicle registration book, CR14, certificate of incorporation as well as a Tax Clearance certificate in addition to their registration fee of $150 if it is for the first time or $100 if it is a subsequent registration.

In cases where the owner of the vehicle has not changed ownership on the vehicle registration book, he or she needs to present a photocopy of the Agreement of Sale to TIMB.

In the case of the vehicle owner desiring that the driver be registered with TIMB for whatever reason, he or she should write an affidavit authorising the driver to use his vehicle.

On successful registration, TIMB will provide the transporter with a creditor number to be used to make deductions at the auction floors where the bales would have been delivered provided the farmer will not have made cash payments to the transporter.

At the auction floors the transporter will be required to fill in a stop order form providing the farmer’s details (name, grower number, number of bales delivered and the agreed amount) and the farmer would need to endorse his / her signature on the stop order form.

The transporter will fill in the permit number given by TIMB, submit the stop order form at the place where the bale would have been delivered at least a day before the sale.

The grower should cancel any stop orders launched against him or her if cash settlement has been agreed upon.

A transporter should avail his or her transfer details to the auction floor for processing of payment and should not launch two invoices against one grower at different auction floors or at the same auction floor. 

The advantage with registering as a transporter is that one does not need to wait for a farmer to get paid before they can go out and look for more business.

Farmers are also safer with registered transporter as they cannot disappear into thin air with growers’ bales of tobacco.

For additional Information contact
TIMB on telephone numbers 08677004624/6 or 0772145166/9 or 0279-22082/21982 or 025-3439 or 067-24268/29246 or 0277-2700 or 064-7280 or 0271-6772 or Toll Free Numbers 08006003 / 0731999999 / 0712832804 or WhatsApp 0731999999 or E-mail: info@timb.co.zw