Thousands of trucks move goods across Lagos daily, connecting seaports to warehouses, factories, distribution centres and markets. How quickly these trucks complete trips, access cargo terminals and return to service affects haulage costs, delivery timelines and the movement of goods across the supply chain.<\/p>\n
Around Lagos ports, digital truck scheduling has become part of efforts to organise vehicle movements, manage terminal access and reduce waiting times. However, efficiency also depends on terminal capacity, access roads and the availability of properly managed truck parks.<\/p>\n
One company operating in this space is TTP Limited, the Nigerian intelligent mobility infrastructure company behind \u00c8t\u00f2, an electronic truck call-up system used around Lagos ports. In this exclusive interview with Nairametrics, its Managing Director and Co-founder, Jama Onwubuariri, discusses changes in truck management and their implications for cargo movement.<\/p>\n
He also speaks on truck processing times at Apapa and Tin Can Island terminals, the impact of scheduling on transportation costs, infrastructure gaps, truck parks, transit hubs and the prospects for expanding intelligent mobility solutions beyond Lagos.<\/p>\n
Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: TTP is a Nigerian technology and infrastructure company that improves how people, goods and vehicles move. We were founded in 2017 to solve a clear and costly problem: the gridlock around Lagos ports. We became the Nigerian Ports Authority\u2019s preferred partner in 2019 and, in February 2021, launched \u00c8t\u00f2, Nigeria\u2019s first electronic truck call-up system, which brought structure, visibility and accountability to port-bound truck movements.<\/p>\n Three decisions shaped what followed. We built our own technology, we invested in physical infrastructure alongside software, and we applied our data beyond the ports. Running \u00c8t\u00f2 showed us that the same gaps in access control, facility management, traffic coordination and reliable operational data exist at factories, depots, industrial estates and highways. That insight took us into vehicle scheduling, access control, transit hubs, smart parking, mobility consulting and logistics intelligence. Our repositioning as TTP, with the tagline \u201cInnovating Mobility, Transforming Economies\u201d, reflects that ambition. We want to be known not only for managing truck movements but for the technology, infrastructure and intelligence that make mobility systems work.<\/p>\n Scaling has demanded constant engagement with regulators, infrastructure owners and industry stakeholders, alongside infrastructure constraints, financing needs and enforcement that depends on partners. Those experiences have sharpened our understanding of the market. Our next step is to take what we have proven in Lagos to other corridors, industrial clusters and logistics environments across Nigeria and Africa.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: The introduction of \u00c8t\u00f2 significantly changed how truck movements around the Lagos ports are managed. Previously, truck access was largely unstructured, with trucks converging on the port corridors without adequate coordination; traffic queues stretched for miles, from the Lagos port gates to Obanikoro and from Tin Can port gates towards Cele bus stop. This resulted in prolonged queues, unpredictable waiting times, trucks waited, on average, 10 to 15 days to gain port access, increased transportation costs, and considerable pressure on road infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u00c8t\u00f2 introduced a more structured approach through electronic booking, scheduling, sequencing, and access control. Trucks are now required to book their movements and proceed to designated parks and pregates before being authorised to proceed to the port based on their scheduled access windows.<\/p>\n Since its introduction in 2021, the platform has coordinated over 4 million truck movements, demonstrating the scale of freight activity a digital system can manage. Our operational records also provide valuable insights into daily, monthly and annual truck bookings and journeys by port, terminal and truck category, revealing demand patterns and growth trends. They also track time spent at each journey stage (park, pre-gate, port and terminal), identify bottlenecks, measure end-to-end turnaround time from call-up to port exit, and assess terminal performance and capacity utilisation against pre-\u00c8t\u00f2 benchmarks. The bigger achievement is that we have moved from reactive traffic management to a more coordinated, data-driven approach.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: Before \u00c8t\u00f2, truck turnaround times around the Lagos ports could extend to two or three weeks. Our operational experience and published figures show that this has reduced considerably, with turnaround times now generally within two to three days under normal operating conditions. Inside the port, measured from in-terminal to let-terminal, turnaround averaged 37 hours at Lagos Port Complex and 31 hours at Tin Can Island in the first ten months of 2026.<\/p>\n This improvement is largely driven by automated truck sequencing, batching, coordinated truck releases, designated parks and pregates and improved control over access to the port corridors, all managed through TTP\u2019s \u00c8t\u00f2 call-up system.<\/p>\n However, truck call-up does not eliminate every source of delay. Terminal processing capacity, cargo documentation, road infrastructure and compliance with scheduled appointments continue to influence turnaround times. Our position has always been that effective traffic management requires collaboration across the entire port ecosystem. You cannot achieve sustainable efficiency by managing the movement of trucks alone without addressing the operational constraints at the receiving end.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: The impact has been significant, particularly in reducing the indirect costs associated with moving cargo. Before the \u00c8t\u00f2 electronic call-up, trucks could spend weeks waiting to access the ports, with operators incurring substantial expenses on fuel, driver allowances, vehicle maintenance and other operational costs.<\/p>\n Our records indicate that cargo transportation costs have reduced by as much as 65% following the introduction of \u00c8t\u00f2. This improvement is largely attributable to shorter waiting periods, better vehicle utilisation and more predictable truck movements.<\/p>\n The benefits extend across the logistics value chain. Haulage operators can maximise the use of their fleets and complete more trips, while importers and manufacturers benefit from lower transportation costs and more predictable cargo delivery schedules. It is also important to recognise that these savings are influenced by several factors, including terminal efficiency, road conditions and other operational costs. Electronic call-up addresses a significant part of the problem by making truck movement more organised and predictable.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: Our experience shows that congestion is not simply a function of the number of trucks on the road. It is often a consequence of the imbalance between truck arrivals, terminal receiving capacity\/ and the availability of satellite parks or pregates.<\/p>\n For instance, where truck arrivals consistently exceed the number of vehicles a terminal can process, or the terminal isn\u2019t processing quickly & efficiently, congestion becomes inevitable unless that demand is properly managed. Parks and pregates provide the necessary buffer, while digital scheduling helps regulate the movement of trucks towards their destinations.<\/p>\n Our operational data helps us understand these relationships by providing visibility into truck volumes, movement patterns and facility activity. It also reinforces the importance of investing in supporting infrastructure, including parks, access roads, terminal capacity and efficient cargo-handling arrangements. The greatest improvements will come from addressing these constraints together rather than treating congestion as a standalone traffic-management problem.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: An intelligent mobility system must do considerably more than generate bookings. Its real value lies in the ability to use data to understand demand, anticipate operational challenges and support better decisions.<\/p>\n \u00c8t\u00f2 provides visibility into truck bookings, truck turnaround time, movement patterns, destinations and access activity. Over time, this information helps us identify peak periods, understand demand fluctuations and assess the operational capacity of different facilities.<\/p>\n Historical data helps with forecasting, while real-time operational information supports scheduling and adjustments when disruptions occur. For instance, if a receiving facility experiences delays or a temporary reduction in capacity, truck movements can be managed with that constraint in mind rather than allowing additional trucks to converge on the facility.<\/p>\n This is the direction in which intelligent mobility is evolving: moving from simply coordinating individual truck movements to providing the data and insights required to optimise entire logistics networks.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: For businesses that depend on frequent vehicle movements, delays often occur at the points where dispatch, transportation and receiving operations intersect. Trucks may be ready to move, but the receiving facility may not be prepared; documentation may be incomplete, or access roads to industrial hubs may experience severe congestion, restricting truck movement and delaying the entry of trucks to load finished products or offload raw materials.<\/p>\n Digital scheduling and access-control systems like TTP\u2019s Vehicle Scheduling and Transit Management System (VSTMS) help address these gaps by providing better visibility into vehicle movements and aligning truck arrivals with available receiving capacity. This reduces unnecessary waiting, improves fleet utilisation, and makes delivery schedules more predictable.<\/p>\n We have seen the value of structured traffic management in industrial environments, where daily truck throughput can increase significantly when truck arrivals and facility operations are properly coordinated. Ultimately, businesses should be looking beyond the number of trucks they can dispatch and focusing on how efficiently those trucks complete their entire operating cycle.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: TTP does not operate the Lekki\u2013Epe system, so we would not speak to its data.<\/p>\n What five years on Apapa and Tin Can have taught us applies to any corridor. Call-up only works when the terminal gate refuses unbooked trucks, when satellite parks are the only route in and are sized for peak demand, when every cargo type, including tankers and bulk trucks, is covered, and when enforcement is consistent. Lekki is a strategically important corridor, and we are open to supporting government and stakeholders with our experience.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: The starting point should be actual and projected freight demand. Governments and investors need to understand where goods originate, where they are going, the volume of truck movements involved, and the infrastructure available to support those movements.<\/p>\n Other important considerations include proximity to ports, dry ports, domestic warehouses, agriculture aggregation centres, industrial clusters and major distribution centres, road connectivity, land availability, security and the operational requirements of the proposed facility. However, building a truck park is only one part of the equation. Its long-term sustainability depends on a viable business model, adequate occupancy, efficient management and the availability of complementary services.<\/p>\n We believe government and private investors have complementary roles to play. Government should provide the enabling environment through land-use approvals, policies, infrastructure and regulatory oversight, while private operators can bring investment, technology and operational expertise. Public-private partnerships offer a practical model for achieving this, provided responsibilities, commercial arrangements and performance expectations are clearly defined.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri<\/strong>: One of the biggest gaps is the fragmentation of logistics data. Different stakeholders, including government agencies, terminal operators, manufacturers and haulage companies, collect operational information, but these datasets are rarely integrated sufficiently to provide a complete picture of freight movement.<\/p>\n This makes it difficult to accurately assess logistics demand and ensure that economic and infrastructure planning is aligned with actual freight movement patterns. Decisions around road construction, rail development, logistics hubs and other critical infrastructure are often made without sufficiently reliable data on cargo volumes, truck movements, trade flows and projected demand. We need a more coordinated approach to collecting, analysing and sharing logistics data across the ecosystem. This would enable governments and investors to make better-informed decisions, prioritise infrastructure investments and develop transport networks that respond to actual and projected economic activity rather than assumptions.<\/p>\n Equally important is the need for better alignment between infrastructure development and industrial growth. Roads, parks, terminals and logistics hubs should be planned with a clear understanding of how goods move across the supply chain.<\/p>\n The fix starts with common data standards and a shared freight data platform where agencies, terminals, manufacturers and transporters contribute and draw anonymised movement data. Government would then invest where the bottlenecks actually are, and businesses could plan with confidence. Less uncertainty means lower freight costs. \u00c8t\u00f2\u2019s integration with the CBN\u2019s Nigeria Export Proceeds platform shows what connected systems can achieve. Ultimately, reducing logistics costs requires a collective effort. No single agency or organisation can independently resolve the inefficiencies within Nigeria\u2019s freight ecosystem.<\/p>\n Jama Onwubuariri:<\/strong> The biggest challenge is that different locations have different infrastructure requirements, freight patterns, and regulatory environments. What works around a major seaport may require some adaptation before it can be deployed in an industrial estate or an inland logistics hub.<\/p>\n Some of the barriers include poor road infrastructure, inadequate roads, lack of structured and standardised truck park infrastructure, fragmented data systems, absence of laws and regulations to support investment in park and logistics infrastructure, inconsistent regulatory enforcement, and limited investment supporting technology.<\/p>\n Successful expansion requires strong partnerships and adequate funding. Government agencies must provide the necessary regulatory framework and enabling infrastructure, while infrastructure owners, logistics operators, technology providers and investors need to work together to mobilise the required funding, deploy solutions and ensure that systems are properly integrated and sustainably managed.<\/p>\n At TTP, we see significant opportunities beyond the traditional port environment. However, our approach is to understand the specific mobility challenge in each location and develop solutions that address its operational and commercial realities. Technology deployment must be supported by the right infrastructure and a sustainable operating model.<\/p>\n Source: <\/p>\n Thousands of trucks move goods across Lagos daily, connecting seaports to warehouses, factories, distribution centres and markets. How quickly these trucks complete trips, access cargo terminals and return to service… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Nairametrics: Since the introduction of the electronic truck call-up system around Lagos ports, how has freight traffic management changed, and what do your operational records reveal about the volume and pattern of truck movements now being coordinated?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: What has changed in truck waiting and turnaround times along the Apapa and Tin Can Island port corridors?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: How has electronic truck call-up affected the cost of moving cargo through Nigeria\u2019s major port corridors?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: What does TTP\u2019s operational data reveal about the relationship between truck demand, terminal capacity, holding-park availability and congestion?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: Beyond digitising truck bookings, how does an intelligent mobility system such as \u00c8t\u00f2 use historical and real-time data to schedule truck movements, respond to disruptions and identify emerging capacity constraints?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: For FMCG manufacturers and other businesses that depend on frequent vehicle movements, where do the biggest avoidable logistics delays occur?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: With the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Dangote Refinery and other industrial facilities generating freight traffic, what lessons from Lagos port operations could apply to the Lekki\u2013Epe corridor?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: What data should guide decisions on the location, capacity and viability of truck parks and transit hubs in Nigerian states?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: What are the most significant gaps in Nigeria\u2019s logistics data and infrastructure planning, and how can better coordination help reduce freight costs?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Nairametrics: What are the main barriers to extending intelligent mobility systems beyond Lagos\u2019s established port corridors into other states, industrial estates and transport hubs?<\/strong><\/h4>\n