Hire truck drivers in India for heavy vehicles, even though the road transport sector in India is highly unorganized & expensive as compared to rail and water, it is the second highest employment generator after agriculture sector.
When you talk about road transport you cannot ignore the last mile connectivity and backbone of the industry and they are none other than the truck/lorry drivers of India who are unfortunately the most neglected part of the industry.
The sector is facing a huge shortage of truck drivers due to which the industry and economy in particular is taking a hit.
As per data(The all India transporters welfare association) driver to truck ratio is 750 per 1000 vehicle currently and it was 1300 in 1982 which dropped to 890 in 2012 which resulted in around 30% vehicles idle on any given point.
We at drivers in India tried to understand the issue by meeting fleet operators and truck drivers to understand their pain points and look where we can bring in the solution.
Lets deep dive to understand the pain points through feedback & which we have gathered so far.
Pain Points Of Truck Drivers In India
We have around thousands of registered truck drivers from India for hire at the time of writing this article.
During our interaction with them while on boarding on our platform,
we probed them and found common pain points which we believe are the collective reasons for shortage of truck drivers logistics industry is facing.
- LACK OF RESPECT & WORK DIGNITY-
This the most common feedback we have got from all types of truck drivers driving long haul applications like trailers, tanker, dumper, etc.
They say that on road they often become victims of abuse from locals, authorities & sometimes abused and thrashed too.
- LONG WORKING HOURS-
Most of the truck drivers complain about stressful working hours which is burning them out.
- LONG PERIODS AWAY FROM HOME-
Truck drivers generally ply truck on long routes & returning back to families after extended period of times sometime as long as one year.
Few fleet operators offer them the route which is near to their native place & allow drivers to stay back for a couple of days in their home on return.
But the truth is that not all the drivers are fortunate enough to get this kind of opportunity.
- VEHICLE RELATED ISSUES-
In our observation we found that truck drivers are very choosy in selecting the job and they focus more on the condition of vehicle, .
Fleet owners who have well maintained vehicle have an advantage over the other in terms of driver retention.
There is another angle to this as well, a bad maintain vehicle gives less mileage and hence leads to quarrel between the operator and driver.
- UNORGANIZED SALARY STRUCTURES:
Due to unorganized nature of logistics industry drivers’ salary are highly unstructured and made up of 4–5 different elements.
Fleet operator proclaim that an average long-haul commercial vehicle driver earns in range of Rs. 30–40,000 per month depending upon the route and vehicle.
But the drivers have to rely on unethical practices like fuel selling, avoiding tolls etc. in order to reach the above figure.
The fixed salary of drivers we have interacted with falls in range of Rs. 8–10,000 only per month .
- IMPROPER ROADSIDE INFRASTRUCTURE & AMENITIES–
Unlike western countries, there is an absence of adequate roadside infrastructure & basis amenities for truck drivers like hygienic good, clear rest areas and bathrooms.
Truck drivers often fail to find secure & safe places to do rest and constantly grapple with the risk of cargo theft and crime.
- LIFE RISK ON HIGHWAYS-
Due to tedious nature of job and insufficient road side facilities, there is a high risk of occupational hazard and accident related death.
Many insurance companies do not prefer truck driver category for extending life& health insurance.
- POLICE & RTO HARASSMENT-
Truck drivers often report that they are being harassed by RTO and police for no reasons and at times being abused and thrashed as well.
- LACK OF JOB/SOCIAL SECURITY–
Being most of the time on wheels also bring in all sorts of health issues and accident risk.
Moreover only a few fleet operators offer social security benefits & insurance in a mandated manner to their truck drivers.
Due to the above reasons no driver wants to make his son a truck driver or recommend somebody to join the profession.
Pain Points Of Fleet Operators In India
You read about the pain points of truck drivers now let us understand the general pain points of fleet operators which they face from truck drivers.
- FUEL THEFT BY TRUCK DRIVERS:
Fuel theft is the most common complaint we hear across the board, there are also fleet operators who are ok with this theft and say if the driver manages to save on fuel it is considered as an incentive.
There are also certain fleet operators who deduct the driver salary on suspicion of fuel theft & also thrash & shame the drivers.
- DIFFICULTY TO FIND DRIVERS DUE TO PERCEIVED NEGATIVE PERCEPTION:
Due to legacy issues some fleet operators find it very difficult to attract new drivers in their fleets. This has resulted in reduction of fleet sizes and also led to closure of business.
FO’s inability to source new drivers is also leading to loss due to idle truck.
- HIGH DRIVER ATTRITION RATE:
Since most of the drivers don’t have a career path, company benefits, rewards and recognition, loyalty among truck drivers is very low and they switch jobs too frequently without any intimation.
- IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR BY DRIVER:
Due to lack of loyalty & reckless behavior by drivers, sometimes trucks are left abandoned at roadside by drivers. This create additional uncertainty and losses for the fleet operator.
- TRUCK DRIVER RECRUIMENT–
Unfortunately, there was no formal way to hire truck drivers in India till now. Fleet operators need to depend on hiring drivers though reference and guarantors.
The guarantors are those who bring group of drivers whom they usually know personally and place them at fleet operator. However, it is a two-edged sword.
If the guarantor has some dispute with the fleet operator, he takes away all his drivers along with him and the vehicles are left idle overnight incurring huge losses to fleet operator.
Suggestions To Bring In More Truck Drivers In Profession
- Building charm towards the profession
All the industry stakeholders should contribute to build aspiration and charm around the job though the work has started in this direction.
Tata Motors affirming its commitment towards improving the life of Driver community in India has launched several driver welfare programs and schemes.
- Organizing the logistics sector:
Logistics sector as discussed above is highly unorganized.
We have observed that the organized players have less attrition rate and disputes,
after hiring truck drivers in India which results in good brand value among truck driver community.
- Improved salary structure:
Current payment structure is highly unstructured and needs a reform,
so that truck drivers have higher visibility on their monthly take home salaries.
Social security benefits should be a part of drivers’ pay packages as the nature of work is high hazardous.
Ministry of labour and employment must step in to lay down the guidelines for this sector.
- No harassment from RTO/Police-
The government should step in to stop such kinds of harassments and the concerned person should be dealt strictly.
- Pitstop for resting-
The stakeholders should build resting stops on highways exclusively for truck drivers.
Though, some players like Tata motors have started this project, however more needs to be done in this direction.
- Looking to hire truck drivers in India?
We at ‘Drivers in India” have started a project called ‘Desh Ke Saarthi’ where we register truck drivers in India on our platform who are interested in truck driving jobs.
Several fleet operators across Pan India in different applications & routes are there on our platform.
Supported by Tata motors for training of the truck drivers. For more info please get in touch with us we will be happy to find a truck driver near you
Call us 8655 022 022
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