Dongfeng and Jasa Bumi Logistics – the ordinary, done extraordinarily

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CBT Online (Malaysia) / March 17, 2015

When your service is a common one – in this case, haulage and logistics – there are precious few ways to set yourself apart from the competition. What Jasa Bumi Logistics has done is to concentrate on doing the little things well.

Part of the greater Jasa Bumi group of companies, Jasa Bumi Logistics is a relatively young company, founded early in 2014 to handle the transportation of palm oil in its many forms, such as crude palm oil (CPO) and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), to name but a few.

Directors of Jasa Bumi Logistics Azmir Yahya and K.K. Ong both felt that there were areas in the logistics industry that left much to be desired, particularly in the upholding of quality and safety standards.

Both agreed to use Dongfeng as the backbone of its transportation fleet; in fact Jasa Bumi Logistics’ fleet consists entirely of Dongfeng prime movers, currently 20 units strong and set to grow by another eight by the end of the month.

“We are particular about quality,” says Ong, a sentiment echoed by his business partner Azmir. Ong adds that “cheaper is not necessarily worse”, because not only does Dongfeng undercut other makes on purchase price, but the trucks have also been found to be reliable and fuel efficient despite their relative affordabillity, according to the Jasa Bumi Logistics chief.

Jasa Bumi Logistics is proud of its partnership with Dongfeng, displaying the truck manufacturer’s name on its trailer alongside that of its bodybuilder, Jithra, which constructs the gleamingly finished stainless steel tanks for Jasa Bumi Logistics.

Of course, there is an element of perception behind the choice of finishing for the tankers.

Where handling of food products is concerned, there will always be concerns for cleanliness, and here Ong likens his operation to the presentation of food itself: “It is like serving good, delicious soup with a good, clean ladle, rather than a dirty one,” says Ong.

On that front, Jasa Bumi Logistics claims to be the first in the Malaysian food products transportation industry to use stainless steel tankers, where others have traditionally used mild steel tankers.

The shiny facade seems to have drawn positive attention; Ong says some of the general public come up to the trucks at rest stops out of sheer curiousity, and there was once a representative of global procurement from one of Jasa Bumi’s customers who was so impressed with the trucks, she asked to have a group photo taken with the shiny tanker.

There is also another innovation from Jasa Bumi Logistics, which was hitherto only seen on petroleum transporters – the hand rail-equipped tank.

The hand rails deploy remotely at a push of a button, giving the truck personnel a steadfast grasp in addition to the safety harnesses used when checking of tanks is required.

“Even if the harnesses are unavailable, our staff will still have some security from the hand rails,” adds Ong.

Jasa Bumi Logistics’ staff charged with driving the prime movers are not merely called drivers. Ong says: “We call them pilots, and that gives them greater pride in their occupation.”

His “pilots” are each given a familiarisation course at a Dongfeng centre before commencing driver duties with his company, to ensure optimal operation of the trucks.

Ong wraps it up by saying that “if you don’t take care of your people, your people can’t take care of your company.”

In the immediate future, Azmir and Ong aim to make Jasa Bumi Logistics the market leader in palm oil product transportation.

Further ahead beyond the horizon, the duo plan to venture into transporting petroleum, which they are confident of doing because they are certain that their standards of practice have set them in the right direction.

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