GPS tracking a mandate for Cargo trucks

The customs commission will draft a law mandating that tracking devices be installed on cargo trucks as a measure to better monitor customs crossings and make sure the trucks are going where they say they are.
Tracking devices are pricy, the customs commission had hoped to convince companies to put the devices in voluntarily but the devices’ pricy cost made transporters reluctant.
“Transporters have shown no interest in installing the device because the cost of maintenance is too expensive” said Debele Kabeta, who leads the customs commission.
Previously a company won a 20 thousand birr bid to provide the monitoring device and 33 USD to maintain them.
Debele says this new rule will make transporters provide better logistics service.
Ethiopia wants to improve cargo standards as it lags behind neighboring Kenya, which has an average of 80,000 trucks on its Kenya-Mombasa route, whereas 13,500 travel the Ethio-Djibouti route.
These monitoring systems can provide information on fuel consumption, reduce speeding and accidents and help manage idle and maintenance time. Transporters will have to have the device installed on trucks to be allowed to work in the country.