Who would have known about the economics of bemos? For sure not me, but I do now.
A few questions?
How much does a new bemo cost please?
Please, remember that I do not live in Bali and that the economics may be (slightly) different in Bali.
In my region there are NO new bemo/mikrolet since NO new license are issued by the government, which explain that these vehicles became priceless for their owner and the source of a very fair ROI. License which were granted to old vehicles, prior to September 2001, are extended yearly at a minimal cost. No new licenses being issued implies that your old vehicles does NOT loose in value but in fact increase in value because anyone know the kind of money they bring in.
However, if you asked the question about the price of said vehicles I guess you are interested by the full details of the economics of mikrolets in my city.
To give you an idea, the "youngest" one of our "fleet" is from August 2001, a month before that the local government decided to stop the issuance of new licenses. We bought each of the 2001 vintages for Rp 50.000.000 to Rp 52.500.000 at the time while the patriarch of the "gang" was from 1992. This old junk has been acquired for just Rp 17.000.000, with quite a few others in between this age gap of 1992 to 2001.
Each of them have brought us a rental income everyday since then starting at Rp 120.000 per day for the old beast at the time to Rp130.000 for the youngest cars. Since then the rental (called setoran) has slightly increased to reach Rp 150.000 per day (+ extra for 24 hr rental, which is the case for most vehicles) now. The competition with other emerging type of transportation in my city, both private and public, is what explain the slow increase. Yet, mikrolets remain strong for a simple reason: they are the cheapest mean of transportation and for many, it is the only type of transportation they can regularly afford.
Yearly maintenance fee and licensing extension have amounted to an average of 7% to 15% of the annual income, depending on the vehicle. This include the heavy maintenance such as complete overhaul of machine (these vehicles do about 70.000 km / year and requires an overhaul every 3 years on average). We have operated them starting since 2000 and, save for Christmas, Easter and perhaps three of four other odd days in the year, they have bring in their setoran (rent).
I have to add that, unlike perhaps other owners, we have maintained ours the best we could, with original spare parts (bought in bulks directly from PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian since they are all Mitsubishi vehicles) and the constant attention of our in house mechanic who was taking care of all our mikrolets, trucks, pick ups, rental cars and private cars. Needless to say that the guy was pretty busy.
Today, I receive regularly offers from potential buyers offering in between... Rp 120.000.000 to Rp 140.000.000 per mikrolet for the 1997 to 2001 vintages we still operate. There are no typos, Markit. This is more than two and up to three time what we paid them 15 years ago. Even at Rp 150.000.000, even at Rp 200.000.000 I would not sell any of the remaining one (we kept only 4 of them), especially since I have good connection in the Dinas Perhubungan and know that there are NO plans to issue new licenses and I know enough of mechanics to predict that the economics of operating these remaining vehicles for at least 5 years or more are good.
Now you can do the maths. :smile:
Why would you Atlantis be asking not only for the rental fee for the bemo but also for the earnings of the driver? I mean he rents the bemo from you and as a free agent goes out and either makes money or hangs around at the local coffee shop chatting with the friends. If you were to rent "his" bemo to someone else would you then pay his expected earnings to him?
In my extended 'hood Markit, 99% of the male (and even some of the female) population are drivers. If you would be starting in this "business" you would perhaps say "cool, human resources are no going to be a problem". You would be terribly wrong. Human Resources is THE problem, especially in my region.
Out of this 99% of the local population, 99% of them are the drivers who would ruin all the economics highlighted previously. To operate our vehicles we have tried hundreds (yes, hundreds) of drivers with many not finishing the week, some even not finishing the day. For each vehicles we have ended with only 1 driver, responsible for the car and the setoran and we have kept them for as long as we could, some of them being with us since the very beginning (16 years) and being responsible to operate themselves (or sublet and still being responsible) our vehicles 7 days a week and almost 365 days a year. When and if we have sold "their" mikrolet we have made sure to employ them as driver of trucks or pickups in other business fields we deal with. In fact, if I consider all of our drivers for all vehicles, public or merchandise transportation vehicles, only 1 has been with us for less than a year. After him, the "less senior" has 5 years of seniority.
When you have find this breed of reliable people you don't tell them "Pak, this week you look for someone else to give you a tool to feed your family". He would undoubtedly find a way to feed his family... but he won't be back when the car will be back and it will take me more than the 7 days you would have paid his salary to find the same breed of guy. That's why I would ask you to pay his salary for the time you want to rent my mikrolet.
Well, if we ignore the fact that you can't get a SIM A "umum", if you are willing to accept Rp 100.000 a day and work 7 days a week, if you can drive defensively without me raising once an eyebrow on a 10 km stretch of road, know how to change oil and do a bit of basic mechanic (I can teach you that on your free time at no charge), if you can quickly learn how to swear in Manadonese while strictly avoiding to do it in front of my kids and wife (only me has this privilege and, shame on me, I abuse of it), if you can say "no" whenever I politely propose you to share a bintang or a rum (remember, you have to drive), if you can use the trash bin when you clean your car instead of littering the parking lot with the sampah and puntung rokok the passenger have left, if you can call me "bos" or "pak" rather than "bule" or even "mister", if you can be responsible for both the car and the payment of the full setoran every day, I can consider a trial. Do you want to try?
