ROAD TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE OF DANGOTE CEMENT COMPANY PLC GBOKO, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of road transport management procurement performance of Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko Benue State. Specifically, the study examined the effect of vehicle scheduling, route planning, vehicle tracking, vehicle disposal, and vehicle maintenance on procurement performance of Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko. The study adopted a case study research design. The population of the study was 164 staff drawn from management staff, unit heads, transport/logistic and procurement departments of the company. Census technique was adopted and data was collected through structured questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of tables, frequencies, simple percentage, means and standard deviation. Regression analysis was used to determine the effect of each transport management variable on procurement performance. Findings revealed that all the five road transport management dimensions had significant effect on procurement performance, with vehicle maintenance emerging as the most critical determinant (β= 0.606, t = 13.774, p = 0.000). Route planning follows in significance (β = 0.421, t = 9.648, p = 0.000), indicating that optimized travel routes enhance procurement efficiency. Vehicle scheduling also proves highly effective (β = 0.333, t = 7.635, p < 0.001), confirming the role of structured transport allocation in reducing delays. Vehicle tracking is found to be a significant but relatively weaker predictor (β = 0.184, t = 4.184, p = 0.002), highlighting the need for active utilization of tracking data beyond passive monitoring. Vehicle disposal, while the least influential, remains a significant factor (β = 0.109, t = 2.498, p = 0.014), suggesting that timely fleet renewal contributes to procurement efficiency over time. The study concluded that transport management has a significant positive effect on the procurement performance in Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko It is recommended that Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko, should institutionalize predictive vehicle maintenance systems, adopt AI-driven route optimization tools, streamline scheduling with transport management software, enhance tracking with automated analytics, and implement structured vehicle disposal policies.