Considering the fact that rail and waterway transport are not available in Bhutan, around 95 % of the cargo and goods are transported by road and the remaining by air. Most freight within Bhutan is moved on eight to ten trucks owned by private transporters. There are four or five major transporters and many smaller transporters in the country, mostly located and operated from the main business hub of Phuentsholing. There is a network of passenger buses throughout the country owned and operated by private individuals.

The current capacity of transporters seems to be adequate to meet the normal demand, however, during cash-crop seasons such as harvest time of potatoes (November to December), oranges (December to February) and apples (September to October), there is a higher demand for trucks from farmers to transport the produce for sale in India. During such periods, it is more difficult to obtain trucks at the prevailing market prices, as they obtain better prices for transporting seasonal farm produce.

It should be noted that that there are no government operated transport companies, and there is no regulation with regard to the price the transporters can charge. As a result, depending on the demand for transportation services, transportation charges can vary. During peak seasons, the cost can go up while during lean seasons they can come down, purely determined by the market forces.

Presently foreign / Indian trucks are not allowed to travel across Bhutan, except in cases when the cargo cannot be transported by Bhutanese trucks (such as for some sensitive materials that require customized transport facilities). Most trucks / trailers / sea containers coming from India are off-loaded at Phuentsholing and the cargo transported to other parts of Bhutan through smaller Bhutanese trucks. However, in 2016 Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) devised a Motor Vehicle Agreement that seeks to facilitate seamless cross-border movement of passenger and cargo vehicles in the sub-region. Although the present government was determined to ratify this agreement, the opposition and National Council are very much against it, stating that it will do more harm than good to Bhutan. Therefore, the BBIN agreement has been deferred by the parliament at the present time.

For more information on transport company contact details, please see the following link:

HQ staff will input a link to section 4.8 Transporter Contact List here.

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