Highway pirates
The respect due or “aukat” has come up in the truckers’ protest. And it is something the drivers themselves feel keenly as not much respect comes their way when they are dealing with hostile police, entitled small vehicle drivers, thieving locals and hired goons of political bigwigs looking for their cut as goods make way through their states.
The driver of a truck, flush with cash and goods is a vulnerable target on the highways — he is a target that can be looted.
Ramesh Kumar, a Drivers’ Relationship consultant, has driven alongside many truckers and shared their worries. “Most of them can’t sleep a wink even when they stop the truck at halts. They are scared someone will steal their fuel, their tyres, or their goods. Locals will lynch a driver because they know he has money …they can steal his mobile phone or they’ll loot his truck.”
Truckers typically carry money to not just pay for fuel or other journey-related expenses, but also to pay official and unofficial “tolls” when they cross borders. They have to be ready to pay off RTO officials or local goons of political bigwigs as they pass through their areas. They are a moving but vulnerable target for these ‘pirates’ of the highway. Off-the-book tolls and bribes collected in this way, according to one expert estimate is around Rs 8000 crores a month, though systems like FasTag and eWay bills have helped reduced this drain. Transporters have to budget for this despite it being illegal even as GST has, in most cases, eliminated the need for state-based toll collected at borders.
Truckers, therefore, prefer to travel at night when there is less traffic and less chances of running into money-grabbing opportunists. “They get messages. Someone up ahead will relay, ‘there is a pack of dogs ahead’ — dogs being the codeword for RTO officials out to make a quick buck or the local MLA’s goons. The driver will wait on the side of the road, till he gets the all clear. And then he will move again.”
To still maintain time, despite these unscheduled stops and starts, drivers will speed through the night to get their loads to the destination on time. Reaching on time or before time means they will get an “inam” – extra money to supplement their meagre monthly salaries of about Rs 10,000 or so. They will bulk up with side hustles — everything from overloading trucks to selling fuel saved on a trip to winning “prize money” for arriving extra early.
But speeding at night also means dealing with poor visibility, sleep deprivation and accidents.
On an average, Kumar says drivers will get 3 to 4 hours of sleep on a trip after driving for 12 to 16 hours but they won’t sleep properly as they are constantly on alert. “There are no proper facilities. To rest, shower, or change clothes,” says Kumar.
Drivers sleep in their truck cabins to avoid getting robbed. Only sometimes will they find the rare private facility that provides them with a safe area to park their truck and get some proper shut eye. Sleep deprivation is common and the norm for long haul truckers.
And yet, despite this all, it is the truckers who make good on promises of ecom sites promising same day ‘rush’ delivery and other equally tight timelines on essentials that keep the country running.
“From Nasik to Kolkata, it is about 1800 kms. Truckers will drive through the night and reach before the fastest train on that route. Without trucks, where would this country be?” asks Pandey in a seemingly rhetorical question.
Amritlal Madan, currently the president of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), says the government has “assured” them that the law will not be enacted without “consultations”.
But AIMTC is the lobby representing truck fleet owners (not truckers themselves) who are also equally concerned about the losses they face when their drivers strike. Madan, who owns 100 trucks, says he faced losses worth Rs 3000 per truck per day during the strike. But they are sympathetic to drivers because they see a looming shortage of drivers in the future.
“I think there will be a 25 per cent shortage in the future. And then you want to bring in such a law? Our drivers are not causing accidents on purpose.”
A ray of hope
Jehaan Kotwal of JFK Transporters Pvt Ltd is a fleet owner with a difference. As a son of truck driver, he knows first-hand what truckers face on the roads. He knows that the issues are systemic and deep-rooted.
“If you do the math, if a truck driver has been driving for 30 years, statistically, he will have been in at least one accident that resulted in a death. That is a burden he has to live with even as he tries to make sure he keeps earning and driving to feed his family,” he says.
However, he believes that tech, in particular AI tech, could vastly improve matters. He is currently also the co-founder of a social enterprise revolving around helping heavy vehicle drivers stay safe on the road via an app called HumSafer – a play on the hindi word ‘humsafar‘ or fellow passenger.
The app that can be downloaded on any smartphone monitors the driver’s reflexes and faces – if he is blinking too much, indicating he is sleepy, the app will urge him to take a break and nap. It will play quizzes and other trivia games to keep him alert while driving. It will coach him on rules to follow or give necessary information the driver needs.
Kotwal has also identified 9 stakeholders — like the drivers, the police, fleet owners, insurance people, hospitals, among others.
Kotwal’s aim is to have the driver having the ability to reach out for help depending on his situation — connecting him to the stakeholders who can help him. For instance, an alert that alerts the nearest doctor or hospital
The idea is to both prevent accidents by reducing human error but also giving the driver a support system he can rely on.
“It is in a very very naescent stage and we have to build a detailed tech stack for each stakeholder, but it is a solution that will work,” says Kotwal. He has already seen some measure of success in his own company with his drivers using the app that is still being improved and built on.
His dream is that, in time, most of the 8 million truck drivers in India will have the app installed to ensure safer and accident-free travels. The road is long but tech might be the only way the truckers are finally heard despite the ad-hoc nature of the Indian logistics industry.
Credit: Source link
