With the rapid growth of the metropolitan area of Matola and Maputo, the efficient production and transport of sand and stones is critical for the construction of roads, civil infrastructure and residential and commercial buildings. Starting in sandpits and quarries, the value chain goes through transporters, who take materials to commercial and individual customers, including resellers in customer areas, especially those who need small quantities or do not have adequate trucks. The operating efficiency of sandpits and quarries, the condition of the roads from suppliers to customers and the existence of weighbridges and polices along the trajectory affect the cost per cubic meter (m3), the price, the total income and the net profit of carriers. Faced with weighbridges and police, transport companies rigorously assess the implementation of regulations and laws and the loyalty of police and employees and decide to favor the good and fast lanes or the bumpy, slow and costly ones, according to their correct or incorrect assessment of operating costs and long-term for fuel, maintenance and depreciation incurred when going the long lane versus those incurred on the good and short lane after considering the likely amount of bribes or fines levied on each route. The same factors influence their decisions whether or not to overload trucks in an attempt to maximize net income, which has serious implications for the longevity and cost of road maintenance, a social and state cost that has little to do with private calculations. carriers.
