Piloting pdf

You will also be managing shelves and inventory, operating the cash registers, and maintaining the overall appearance and cleanliness of the store. After you submit your application for a job at Pilot Flying J, you will receive a phone call from the company. The goal of the phone call is to conduct an initial screening.

After the phone conversation, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview with a manager. There may be additional in-store interviews after the first one.

The interview includes questions regarding your work experience, teamwork skills, and career goals at Pilot Flying J. After the interview process ends, you will be informed whether you get the job or not usually within the next few hours. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

How do I apply for a job at Pilot Flying J? Go to the career website of Pilot Flying J. You will be provided with the job openings list at Pilot Flying J. Click a job title for more information about the job position.

Read the job description. Prerequisite: 21 years of age. Pilot Flying J Interview After you submit your application for a job at Pilot Flying J, you will receive a phone call from the company. These data were combined with yield data for the four covered crops to create a weather-index for triggering payments KII, The AWS proved too limited in coverage in part because of the large geographic areas represented.

Seven AWS were installed in Rajshahi, six in Sirajgonj, and seven in Noakhali, but these are large areas with highly variable terrain.

There were also delays in AWS installation, which blocked the marketing of the project for almost a year and a half. Because these were new, there was no historical data, which is imperative if one is to test the connection of rainfall measures to historic crop yields. Some of the AWS experienced internet or SIM disturbances, which limited the data quality and forced the project to rely on end-of-the-month measurements for a period.

This weakened the initial timeliness of payments, which complicated relations with some farmers. Most weather- index systems go beyond rainfall and temperature data by including satellite measures of flooding, vegetative indices, soil moisture, etc. Finally, as detailed next, there was a need to integrate weather data with crop yields using small ecological units to fine-tune the index and reduce basis risk progressively.

Sustainability , 13, 12 of 18 5. Challenges of Automation The major idea behind WIBCI is that a weather-index system can be constructed that is largely automated and capable of monitoring remotely temperature, rain, wind speed, humidity, soil moisture, standing flood water, etc. The entire aim is to replace field monitoring and personnel with an automated weather-index system. Further, it is important to have multiple types of data to ensure a better fit with actual crop losses on the ground.

This requires some level of ongoing in situ assessment, if only to recalibrate and check automated systems, but the ultimate aim is to automate the collection of relevant data. Crop damage assessment is best performed by remote sensing, combined with local field checks. The latter can be semi-automated by using smart phones to report periodically on planting and crop status In-depth interview, This can be built into farmer contracts or administered by field agents [52].

Multiple methods have been devised for assessing vegetative density using satellite images or more expensive drones , so the major assessment problem is sorting out different crops. Combined with small-scale local field testing, satellite data can provide near real-time measures that can be used to estimate crop yields and combine these with rainfall and other weather measures. A key feature of such an automated weather index system would be the collection of accurate data on planting dates and crop development.

Because of variation in rainfall, temperature, and individual farmer work schedules, planting dates vary from place to place and farmer to farmer. Further, seed varieties vary as to their maturation cycle. Only an automated continuous monitoring system in which farmers share their data about local planting and crop status could fully accommodate this complexity.

The WIBCI pilot lacked this complex input and could only crudely estimate this type of information, which is important to reducing basis risk and false payments positive or negative. One cannot fine-tune a product or assess subscriber uptake without continuous and regular feedback. While the WIBCI pilot used focus groups as part of its initial educational and marketing program, these created limited feedback opportunities and were not followed up so as to generate new timely information.

Below, we discuss remedies that involve continuously adjusted products that are impossible without regular feedback. It is notable that in the areas where NGOs and MCIs were the major intermediaries, farmer acceptance and uptake were significantly greater, reinforcing the point that a trusted institution and set of contact people are vital to developing trust and a viable system [53].

Only multiple years of continuous experience, including payments that reduce farmer concerns about basis risk, can build the depth of trust and information required. As a key informant commented in his interview, reaching out and educating small farmers is the primary challenge in micro-insurance and requires far more back-and-forth than the WIBCI pilot provided. A second problem is inter-agency coordination.

Poor planning created a year and half delay at the outset to install the AWS. Otherwise, relations between the Meteorological Dept. The biggest gap was the absence of ties to the agricultural extension agents and their colleagues in the Ministry of Agriculture, especially regarding farmer choices about crop selection, seeds, and fertilizer, and a history of crop yields that could have refined the weather-index FGD, A second missing party was the Dept.

The Bangladesh government is a centralized set of bureaucracies where inter-agency coordination is difficult. Sustainability , 13, 13 of 18 It requires cooperation at multiple levels. This problem is unlikely to change. Below, we dis- cuss some opportunities for fostering inter-agency cooperation at both the headquarters, the regional, and the local level that would strengthen a future WIBCI.

Uncertainty of Insurance Policy to Farmers Most small farmers are minimally literate and less educated and have never been exposed to insurance. Our focus group interviews confirmed their insurance illiteracy.

Many believe that after getting the premium, the insurers will flee with the money, that pay- ments will not be made after a crop loss, or that if no damages are experienced, all premiums will be returned at the end of the coverage period. To be open to learning more about the insurance concept, they first have to trust in the vendor. This is no doubt why farmer uptake was much greater in the areas serviced by the microfinance partners in-depth interview, A related problem is providing clear communication in formal state- ments about coverage.

The Pilot had to experiment with providing clear statements about weather-index triggers and coverage terms in-depth interview, Lack of Actuaries, Crop Scientists, and Meteorologists in Bangladesh A key problem confronted by the WIBCI is insufficient actuaries and other profes- sionals with experience with weather data, seeds, crop yields, and agricultural prices.

Actuaries need to be problem solvers and strategic thinkers with a deep understanding of financial systems and creative methods to estimate risks and costs. In this WIBCI pilot, the meteorological basis was the stronger of the three, but even it failed to provide geographically fine-grained information as it was limited by relying on AWS that focused on rainfall and temperature, which were often distant from farming areas.

Additionally, historical records were lacking. Fine-grained weather data needs to be integrated with historical crop yield data to pro- vide an accurate baseline for a weather index. Although the actuaries and crop scientists were able to come up with basic information, they were challenged by a lack of detailed information on local crop yields and links to weather data.

As mentioned, lack of topo- graphical detail was a problem. As a result, a stronger professional and data foundation for WIBCI needs to be developed that can provide a platform for a more accurate weather index system.

Other research shows that a somewhat more complex product that not only specifies preferably multiple risk items but also provides varying loss coverage i. Small farmers are often quite satisfied with receiving lower coverage for a lower premium and may prefer products with varying coverage. Table 5 shows that the WIBCI pilot was the most efficient, keeping its administrative costs at the lowest level, which should facilitate farmer participation.

There is some evidence that small farmers start off purchasing low coverage and gradually move up as they come to trust the system and are more affluent. They also prefer multiperiod coverage, but this has to be fine-tuned to the area, risks, and specific crops. Sustainability , 13, 14 of 18 Table 5. A related issue is subsidies and the possibility of providing a different mix of coverages.

Some WIBCI projects have combined fully state-subsidized catastrophic loss coverage with premium-based variable coverage. This focuses the public subsidy on catastrophic risk while leaving it to the farmer to decide about other crop losses.

In any case, alternatives such as this, which would work best by coordination with the DDM, should be considered in future initiatives [47]. In our farmer focus groups, the comment was often made that additional crops and perils should be included. If a farmer loses their crop because of riverbank erosion or pests but has only flood or drought insurance, they end up losing both the crop income and the insurance premium.

Such expansion to additional crops and perils is a question that requires further study. As part of a system of continuous adjustment, a WIBCI could weigh the possibilities of adding crops and perils depending on available data and the ability to automate such monitoring.

Only experience can tell what coverages will be popular, effective, and operational. Another common farmer comment was the idea of creating a petition system for crop loss assessment. The difficulty here is that some may be thinking of a claim system, which is incompatible with a weather-index system [48].

Some WIBCI pilots have experimented with a petition system for crop loss assessments, which can provide additional information for improving the weather-index. The practicalities and potential for misunderstandings are significant and need to be weighed against the advantages. A final point about product design is the need to create a continuous adjustment system that regularly adjusts premiums and coverages based on recent data. With an auto- mated index data system in place, such a flexible system can be implemented.

Some con- tend that public subsidies can be phased out or significantly reduced over time as small farmers become accustomed to crop insurance and its benefits. This also has major advan- tages relative to climate change. If climate change means gradually increasing risks due to increasing weather extremes, then such a continuous adjustment system will be imperative to dealing with long-term changes. Certainly any viable WIBCI will have to incorporate adjustments to the evolving weather risks that are being covered.

An Improved Business Platform Although the WIBCI pilot purchased the software to run an online business platform so that purchases could be entered via a cell phone including traditional 3G phones, which are common in rural households and information looked up on pricing, etc. The internet is technically accessible, but few rural households have immediate access, and so cell phone traffic is the best method. The payment for crop losses was available through mobile banking, including Bkash and Rocket.

However, there were many complaints about mobile banking payments with phone literacy being part of the problem. Over two-thirds of households have access to a cell phone, but this does not ensure that all are familiar with its operations on specific sites or apps.

Conclusions and Recommendations The WIBCI pilot demonstrated that a weather-index system could be developed and combined with an online business platform and a largely automated weather monitor- ing system to create weather-index insurance for small farmers.

The pilot also demon- strated that major improvements in weather and crop data, including historical data that can ground an accurate weather-index system, are imperative. Without such a system, timely and accurate adjustments, which will reduce basis risk, cannot be made to the weather-index. With significant basis risk, small farmer uptake will lag and confidence in the system will not develop.

Only multiple rounds of insurance and payments triggered by an accurate weather-index that is strongly correlated with actual farmer losses will build farmer confidence and trust. Building such a system will also require a better supply of qualified actuaries, crop scientists, and meteorologists. In some sense, broader improve- ments in the insurance industry in Bangladesh, including the creation of actuarial and insurance professional training are needed. There are signs that such developments are taking place in Bangladesh, and the WIBCI pilot has contributed by creating a pilot model, recommendations about a broader policy framework, and an operations module.

Ultimately, the major challenge is educating small farmers about the benefits of prepaid crop insurance system that can be organized around a weather-index basis. In a sense, a market for crop insurance needs to be built.

The evidence shows quite clearly that combining insurance with other transactions, such as seed and fertilizer purchase or loans, creates greater uptake. Smallholders are hard-pressed to pay for crop insurance when they are short on cash. Working with NGO and MFI groups is also a major advantage, in part because it encourages trust and familiarity with business platforms. For example, we may allow the insurance mechanism to translate to other agro sectors of Bangladesh, such as community-based mangrove forest management e.

This could be linked to meso-marketing or simply organized through these local groups. Where local clubs can be organized to be collective groups, group insurance could be adopted, which saves costs. This effort should also consider inter-agency cooperation with the Ministry of Agri- culture and its local agricultural extension agents.

Evidence [56,57] suggests that these agents have significant farmer trust and are highly knowledgeable about local crop, seed, and fertilizer decisions, which are often bound up with decisions about how best to protect against crop losses.

There may also be a possible partnership with the DDM, which is immediately responsible for responses to weather disasters. Ultimately, there may be ways that catastrophic risk to crops can be absorbed by the DDM or structured to provide intermediate-term business loans that can allow small farmers to get back on their feet, thereby limiting the need for a WIBCI to cover all types of weather losses.

Such inter- agency collaborations are complex and difficult. They require working simultaneously at national, regional, and local levels. Bangladesh is an increasingly globalized country with major imports and exports. At present, the SBC operates the reinsurance system for the entire country.

As part of the development of a WIBCI, it will be imperative to internationalize aspects of this reinsurance system so that financial stabilization against broad regional losses can be assured. Several large reinsurance companies have been involved in agricultural insurance and could likely become business partners.

In fact, the insurance industry in general is underdeveloped. This pilot showed that such a system is feasible but requires better resources and capacity to scale up. It requires a better supply of professional actuaries, crop scientists, meteorologists, and other porfessionals.

Most importantly, it requires a stronger operational plan and an institutional framework within which upscaling is possible and from which a viable system can be launched. It may require public subsidies, perhaps for a significant time, but will have significant benefits in reducing poverty and human insecurity.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Data Availability Statement: Supporting data of the findings of this study are available from the first author, upon reasonable request. Certain data cannot be made publicly available because of restrictions, e. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. References 1. Githeko, A. Hossain, S. Problems and prospects of weather index-based crop insurance for rural farmers in Bangladesh.

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