Logistics and transport

What interviewers look for

• Fleet control with numbers: logbooks and fuel logs checked every week, and consumption per vehicle that you can explain.
• Preventive maintenance on a schedule, so vehicles are serviced before they break down, not after.
• Safety and security before speed: approved movement plans, check-ins, security clearance, and the courage to postpone a trip.
• Knowledge of shipping and customs documents, and the patience to follow a clearance step by step without shortcuts.
• Cost awareness: you know what a trip, a vehicle or a shipment costs, and where money leaks.
• Fair, firm leadership of drivers: clear rules, fair rotas, respect, and discipline that follows the HR process.

Questions they ask

1. 1“How do you control fuel for a fleet of vehicles?”

   Why they ask: Fuel is one of the biggest places money leaks in logistics. They check your controls, your analysis and how you react to an odd number.

   How to answer

   • Every fill is recorded: date, vehicle, odometer, litres, cost, station receipt and the driver's signature.
   • Check consumption per vehicle every week or month, in km per litre, and compare vehicles on similar routes.
   • Investigate outliers fairly: the vehicle first, then the routes and trips, then the receipts.
   • Use controls that reduce risk: approved stations, fuel cards or coupons, and no cash to drivers where possible.

   At my last post we had nine vehicles. Every fill was recorded with the odometer reading, litres and the station receipt, and the driver signed. At the end of each week I entered the logs in Excel and calculated kilometres per litre for each vehicle. One vehicle dropped well below the others on the same routes. I did not accuse the driver. We sent the vehicle to the garage first, and they found a leaking fuel line. After the repair the figure returned to normal. If the vehicle had been fine, I would have reviewed the trips and receipts with my manager.

2. 2“How do you plan maintenance for the vehicles you manage?”

   Why they ask: They check that you prevent breakdowns instead of reacting to them, and that repairs and spare parts are controlled.

   How to answer

   • Service each vehicle by kilometres or months, as the manufacturer's manual says, and keep the schedule in a tracker.
   • Drivers do a daily check before the first trip: tyres, oil, water, brakes, lights, and report faults on a form.
   • Use approved garages, get quotations for big repairs, and ask for the old parts back.
   • Keep a file per vehicle with every service, part and cost, so you can decide when a vehicle is too expensive to keep.

   I keep a maintenance tracker with each vehicle's last service date, odometer reading and next service due, based on the manufacturer's interval. The tracker turns orange two weeks before a service, so I can book the garage around the movement plan. Drivers fill a short daily checklist, and any fault reaches me the same day. For repairs above a set amount, I get quotations from our approved garages, and the garage returns the old parts. Each vehicle has a file with its full history, which helped us show that one old pickup cost more to repair than to replace.

3. 3“How do you plan a field trip to a new or insecure area?”

   Why they ask: They check that you put people's safety first, follow the security procedure, and would postpone a trip rather than take a risk.

   How to answer

   • Prepare a movement request with route, passengers, times and purpose, and get clearance from the security focal point.
   • Check the vehicle and the kit the day before: communications, first aid kit, spare tyre, water, fuel.
   • Agree check-in times and what happens if one is missed.
   • Say plainly that you would postpone or cancel when the security advice changes, and give an example if you have one.

   Before any trip to a new district, I prepare a movement request with the route, passengers, departure and arrival times and the purpose, and I send it to the security focal point for clearance. The driver checks the vehicle the evening before, including the spare tyre, first aid kit and communications. We agree check-in times on departure, at a midway town and on arrival, and the radio room knows who to call if a check-in is missed. Once, the security advice changed on the morning of a trip, and we postponed it by two days. The programme was disappointed, but nobody was put at risk.

4. 4“Explain how you would clear a shipment through a port such as Berbera or Mogadishu.”

   Why they ask: They check that you know the documents and the order of the steps, and that you work only through licensed agents and official payments.

   How to answer

   • Collect the documents early: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, and any permit or exemption papers needed.
   • Check that names, quantities, weights and values match on every document before they go to the agent.
   • Describe the steps generally: declaration, customs assessment, inspection, payment of duties or exemption, release, collection.
   • Track free days and storage charges, and say you check current rules with the agent and the authorities, as they change.

   For a sea shipment I start before the vessel arrives. I get the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin from the supplier, and I check that names, quantities and values match on every document, because one mismatch can hold the container for days. Where our organisation has a tax exemption, I prepare that request early. Our licensed clearing agent submits the declaration, customs assesses it and may inspect, and once release is given we pay the official port charges against receipts and collect. I keep a tracker of free days, because storage charges start after that.

5. 5“What do Incoterms such as EXW, FOB, CIF and DAP mean, and why do they matter to us?”

   Why they ask: A technical check. The Incoterm decides who pays for transport, insurance and customs, and where the risk passes, so it changes the budget and who acts if goods are lost.

   How to answer

   • Say what Incoterms are: standard trade terms from the International Chamber of Commerce, written into the PO or contract with a named place.
   • EXW: the buyer collects from the seller's premises and handles almost everything. FOB: the seller loads the goods on the ship, and the risk passes then.
   • CIF: the seller pays freight and minimum insurance to our port, but the risk passes at loading. DAP: the seller delivers to our named place; we handle import clearance and duties.
   • Link it to the job: the term changes the landed cost, the insurance you need and who follows up at the port.

   Incoterms are standard terms from the International Chamber of Commerce that say who pays for transport, insurance and customs, and where the risk passes from seller to buyer. Under FOB, the supplier loads the goods on the ship in their country, and from then on the risk and the freight are ours. Under CIF, the supplier pays freight and basic insurance to Berbera, but the risk still passes at loading, so I check whether we need extra cover. Under DAP, the supplier delivers to our named place, and we handle import clearance and duties. I always check the term before I budget a shipment.

6. 6“How do you manage and track the organisation's assets?”

   Why they ask: Vehicles, generators, laptops and phones are expensive and easy to lose. They check that every asset has a record, a custodian and a yearly check.

   How to answer

   • Keep an asset register: tag number, description, serial number, location, custodian, purchase date, value and donor.
   • Tag assets on arrival and hand them over with a signed form; transfers and returns also need a form.
   • Check every asset physically at least once a year and report missing or broken items in writing.
   • Dispose, sell or donate only with approval and a record, following the donor's rules for assets bought with its funds.

7. 7“Tell us about a time you reduced transport or logistics costs.”

   Why they ask: They check that you look at costs, not only operations, and that your savings came from better planning, not from cutting safety corners.

   How to answer

   • Show that you knew the cost first: cost per trip or per kilometre, fuel, repairs, rental, driver overtime.
   • Explain the change: combined trips, a weekly movement plan, renting versus your own vehicle, a framework agreement with a transporter.
   • Give the result honestly, even without an exact figure, and say how you kept safety intact.

   At an INGO in Kismayo, different teams booked separate vehicles to the same sites on the same days. I started a weekly movement plan: requests came in by Thursday, and I combined trips going the same way. I also compared the cost of our oldest vehicle, including its repairs, with renting from our contracted transport company for long trips, and my manager approved renting on those routes. Within a few months our fuel receipts and driver overtime went down, and the old vehicle was sold through the approved disposal process. The safety rules did not change: no more passengers than seats.

8. 8“A driver often comes late and there are complaints about his speed. What do you do?”

   Why they ask: They check supervision: that you act on safety quickly, use facts, listen, and follow the HR process instead of shouting or ignoring it.

   How to answer

   • Collect the facts first: the logbook times, the complaints in writing, and tracking data if the vehicles have it.
   • Talk to him privately, listen for causes such as family problems or long hours, and remind him of the rules in writing.
   • Treat speeding as a safety issue: act at once, and follow the HR disciplinary steps if it continues.

Example answers are in English, the language most panels use. Say it in your own words.

Topics to revise

• Vehicle logbookThe record of every trip: date, driver, from and to, start and end odometer, purpose and the passenger's signature. Checked against fuel logs and movement plans, it shows private use and gaps.
• Fuel consumption (km/l, L/100 km)Kilometres per litre is distance driven divided by litres used; litres per 100 km is the same idea turned round. Compare each vehicle with its own history and with similar vehicles. Expect a calculation in the test.
• Preventive maintenance scheduleServices planned by kilometres or months from the manufacturer's manual: oil and filters, brakes, tyres, belts. Cheaper and safer than waiting for breakdowns, especially on rough roads between towns.
• Movement plan and check-inAn approved plan for each trip: route, passengers, vehicle, times and communication. Check-ins at fixed points tell the base the team is safe; a missed check-in starts the agreed response at once.
• Bill of lading (B/L)The document from the shipping line for sea cargo: a receipt for the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage and, in its original form, the document of title needed to collect the cargo. Know who holds the originals.
• Commercial invoice and packing listThe invoice shows the value customs uses to assess duty; the packing list shows what is in each package, with weights and dimensions. Both must match the B/L and each other.
• Customs declaration and clearing agentThe declaration is the formal statement of what is imported, its value and its origin. A licensed clearing agent usually prepares it and follows the assessment, inspection and release. Official payments only, always against a receipt.
• Demurrage and storage chargesAfter a set number of free days, the shipping line charges for keeping its container (demurrage) and the port charges for storage. Late or wrong documents turn directly into these costs.
• Incoterms (EXW, FOB, CIF, DAP, DDP)Trade terms that split costs and risk between seller and buyer. DDP means the seller also pays import duties and clears customs. Learn five terms well rather than all eleven badly.
• Asset register and taggingA list of every asset with tag, serial, location, custodian, value and donor, plus a tag on the item itself. They may ask how you would run the yearly verification or handle a missing laptop.
• Cost per kilometreTotal vehicle cost (fuel, maintenance, insurance, driver, depreciation) divided by kilometres driven. It lets you compare your own vehicle with renting, and one route with another.

Practical tasks you may get

1. 1Fuel and logbook analysis in Excel (30–60 minutes): calculate km per litre for each vehicle, flag the outliers and find the impossible entry, such as an odometer that goes backwards. Practise the formulas and a short written finding.
2. 2A movement planning case: ten trip requests, four vehicles and one road closed for security reasons. Show your plan, which trips you combine or postpone, and how you tell the teams.
3. 3A document check for an import: an invoice, a packing list and a bill of lading with one or two mismatches in quantity, weight or consignee name. Practise reading all three side by side.
4. 4For driver supervisors and transport officers: a practical vehicle inspection, and sometimes a driving test. Walk around the vehicle out loud: tyres, lights, fluids, brakes, seat belts, first aid kit and fire extinguisher.

Mistakes to avoid

• Saying you have 'contacts at the port' who make things fast; the panel hears a bribery risk.
• Treating security as the driver's problem, or saying the trip always goes ahead because the programme needs it.
• Describing only repairs after breakdowns, with no service schedule or daily checks.
• Mixing up Incoterms, or pretending to know all eleven; a short, correct answer on five terms is better.
• Talking about fuel and costs without a single number or method, such as km per litre or cost per trip.
• Blaming drivers for every problem instead of checking the vehicle, the route and the plan first.

Quick check

5 questions. Answer each one to see the explanation.