Bangalore Diary-6
Only the wearer of the shoe knows where it pinches. Right?
Or..
The proof of the pudding is in eating. Right?
Cent per cent.
Have we not heard the axiom, “an ounce of practice is worth a tonne of theory?”
Karan Shaha’s narration of his entry into freight aggregation fits the above axioms 100 percent.
Who’s Karan? What does this IIT Kanpur alum have to do with the trucking or aggregator model?
“My uncle has a rice mill in Chattisgarh, and he had challenges arranging trucks and sought help,” says Karan. That’s when he plunged into understanding the trucking business, and that exposure convinced him that the business potential of finding a permanent solution to this perpetual problem was humungous. With a colleague from IIT Kanpur, they floated the fleet aggregator Vahak. And there is no looking back.
Before meeting the architect of Vahak, I visited Vahak’s Delhi office in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, where I got a briefing on its offerings. Nothing unique. Such load boards have existed for many years. Remove the computerized and wall-mounted displays of available loads to various destinations and enable load-seekers to bid and deal directly with the shippers; they are the modern-day brokers. A subscription model follows free trials.
Vahak’s model is backed by PE/VC funding. Obviously, the promoters of educational background and their business acumen on the one side and the decade-long unresolved logistics nightmare of empty miles (and therefore loss of business for fleet owners) and disconnect with the shippers (who prefer to save time and energy by ‘deputing’ dalals to do their work ought to have been the lollypop for moneybags abroad.
The business is okay. The urge to expand is to be expected. Vahak has inducted Niaz Hussain, a veteran in the logistics arena, with time spent in DHL, Blackbuck, etc, to procure and manage the business. Yes, the competition is huge.
What draws Vahak into my circle is its desire to explore improving truck drivers’ working and living conditions. “We are planning a health camp in Delhi,” says Hussain. Why Delhi? Why not in Bangalore’s Devraj Urs Truck Terminal, which is as huge as Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and nearer Vahak headquarters? “Our focus is NCR,” avers Hussain matter-of-factly.
It is pleasing to note that the stakeholders are waking up from deep slumber to “explore” enhancing the basic needs of truck drivers, who have been ignored and treated shabbily for a long time. On the one hand, the government is making AC cabins mandatory starting April 2025. Truck makers offer scholarships for drivers’ girl children. Fleet owners are “organizing” Drivers Day functions regularly.
It is never too late to recognize the contribution of the weakest supply chain to nation-building.
You bet I am in the seventh heaven! Vahak deserves a pat for “considering” conducting health camps for truck drivers.
