The Great Indian Trucking story!

Trucking is a critical component of the transportation eco-system for any large country and India is no exception. Whilst there has been significant improvement in this space, especially with the advent of start-ups implementing smart solutions with technology interventions, there is perhaps a lot yet to be done in this important area. 

India has been undertaking significant efforts for her “Make in India” & “Aatmanirbhar” initiatives and positive results and green shoots are visible. While we all hope to see India as a manufacturing powerhouse sooner or later, the current pandemic has fast tracked and redefined various aspects of business which required urgent attention and needs to be addressed considering the new normal. 

India is home to about 60 million MSMEs operating in numerous clusters across the length and breadth of the country, which by its demographics and sheer magnitude is unique and inimitable. Hopefully, we will witness a slew of new factories being setup across the country including in states which are landlocked. 

Given the geographic dispersion, uneven population density and demographics, it may not always be viable to setup hard infrastructure like airports, rail stations for a small cluster of manufacturing units in a small town which may lack critical mass and the economics of such an investment may not simply work.  

However, the good news is that India has made significant progress in road development over the past decade. The pace of construction of highways and other key connecting roads have been formidable and this has resulted in key cities of India being extremely well connected by road. 

If we look at the technology landscape, India has made phenomenal progress in areas of digital penetration, smartphone ownership and online payments. Inexpensive data costs have surely supported this transformation. Certain visionary organizations have fast tracked the digital footprint of India significantly over the past few years. As a result, citizens residing in remote villages are digitally connected today and a potential customer of E-Commerce companies. 

Therefore, in the near future, the manufacturing sector will require improvement in seamless flow of raw materials, components and finished products to reach the end consumer at the soonest possible time. Manufacturers will find trucking to be a viable, economical and workable solution to meet their needs. Similarly, E Commerce companies will find it useful to reach customers in the remote locations and operate through regional hubs from even smaller towns. 

Trucking is not only a requirement for point to point transportation but also plays an important role in the multi modal transportation eco system. 

Trucking in India has been fragmented and historically lacked synergy between the various elements of the eco system. Seamless data flow of operations, quality equipment, specs, facilities, adequate maintenance and availability on demand were some other challenges. Directional imbalances impacted the economics of additional investment and fleet expansion. 

However, given the importance of trucking in the transportation eco system, it is imperative that all stakeholders join hands and improve the Indian trucking infrastructure. It will provide various ancillary benefits like supporting “Make in India” and “Aatmanirbhar” initiatives, providing jobs to thousands of cab drivers and others who have migrated back to their hometowns/villages during the pandemic, support MSMSe to manage their supply chains more efficiently and connect them (as component manufacturers) with the larger manufacturers once they start operations under “Make in India” initiative and reach customer markets faster.  

Similarly, E Commerce players can expand their footprint into even smaller towns across India. This will provide the much-needed directional load balance for the trucking companies thereby improving the route economics.  

Also, active demand aggregation online platforms will help trucking companies to optimize their loads and revenues by transporting shipments from multiple players. 

Given that work from home could be a permanent reality for many sectors post Covid, reverse migration of city-based professionals to their hometowns will de-distribute the demand streams erstwhile concentrated in large metropolis. To cater to such increased demands across product verticals, it is imperative that surface transportation becomes more efficient which will help local businesses to serve customers better and thrive, hereby growing local economies. 

From a technology standpoint, advancements in GPS, maps, telematics, geo tagging, imaging, IoT, cloud storage and network, dynamic route optimizer and other technologies can be leveraged to ensure a seamless operation and data flow. 

Similarly, on the export front, India will have an advantage if it can ensure a seamless connectivity of air-cargo and ocean with trucking since factories are typically located away from large cities. Pharma is one example where India is a strong player and her dominance in the global market is increasing phenomenally. If adequate refrigerated trucking options are available, especially for temperature sensitive medicines and vaccines, it will help Indian pharma companies to truck their products and connect to large airports from where they can be transported to importing destinations. Since some Pharma categories are temperature sensitive products and subject to temperature excursions due to high ambient temperatures, which leads to damages, a robust and dependable trucking option is imperative. India has significant advantages in various other product lines and can improve its export prowess if a seamless multi modal transportation infrastructure can be ensured, where undoubtedly, trucking will play a critical role. 

Any views or suggestions, please?