Battling truckers’ technophobia
Over the past fortnight, there were three conference calls: one from the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, the United States; Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and the third from Chennai, India. But the common theme was on the technology induction into the Indian trucking segment.
Unsurprisingly, all participants were Indians, of course a group of techies in the US, watching and experiencing the Covid-induced supply chain disruption; the transporter-turned-entrepreneur from Indore now in Dubai and another set of techies in Tamilnadu wanting to “sell” solutions to improve the operational efficiency of the transport ecosystem by “nudging” truck drivers to download their app for use.
“We are watching the supply chain disruption in the United States and there is a lot of discussion about supply chain visibility, driver shortage, port congestion etc,” crowed one of the participants from the Bay Area. That was just a preamble. His interest was in: being a techie with a deep understanding of logistics and supply chain in the land of Josef Biden, he and his team are interested in exploring offering “solutions” to the Indian trucking segment. The big question is: are Indian truck drivers ready to accept technology?
The Dubai acquaintance broached the same subject with a twist: he wants to try the Uberfright model in the UAE. His drivers are from Pakistan majorly. Will these long-haul truck drivers accept apps to do business? The Chennai team’s reach out to me was on the same theme. Will they or won’t they? How to win their confidence and help them “download” their apps?
Technophobia is rampant in the Indian trucking scenario: not only truck drivers even fleet owners nursed doubts. For instance, the concept of GPS in long-haul trucks is still not 100% despite its apparent advantages. So auto majors, outsourcing car carriers to move their vehicles from plants to dealer points across India, have to put their foot down on the transporters serving them for decades and read out the riot act of “no GPS, no load.”
Fleet owners had to face the wrath of their drivers who have no love lost for technology in general and GPS particularly. Ultimately, drivers realized that their owners would get no load without GPS, which might lead to no jobs for themselves. Until then, they used the “invasion of privacy” logic to defend their right to remain invisible. Technological infusion into trucking would get a boost provided the end-user/shipper insists on GPS-fitted vehicles while contracting transporters and include this element in the Service Level Agreements.
It is no secret that drivers abhor Apps. However, they do not resist, provided such app installation increases their business in the form of loads. Otherwise, the plethora of app-based marketplaces on the web, such as iFreightbox, Mytrux, Trucksuvidha, etc., would not have survived. The challenge is that most of these apps seek registration and succeed but cannot provide load from where drivers need to avoid empty runs. Thus, there is sheer apathy.
The biggest hurdle is the prevailing payment system for drivers. There is no employer-employee relationship but an oral contractual obligation to be compensated on a per kilometer basis. By and large, drivers prefer to halt en route at their home for a day/night, and GPS expectedly would alert such infringements to the load-giver and lengthen the delivery schedule. On the other hand, drivers argue that they have committed to a pre-fixed delivery schedule, and therefore, there is no need for minute-by-minute vehicle movement. Both sides have valid reasons.
However, GPS installation alone does not improve logistics efficiency dramatically. One needs the buy-in of drivers for this goal to be met. Techies think they have a “solution” for every conceivable problem through their super algorithm. They seldom look beyond at the real-world challenge. Fleet owners hesitate to tighten screws on their drivers, fearing an exodus in the current scenario where the demand exceeds supply for drivers. Remember the 22% shortage fact?
It is pertinent to draw attention to the recent Coyote Logistics survey in the United States. The perfect balance of technology and humans is 44% humans and 56% technology. However, in 2020, the survey pointed out a 3% shift in favor of humans compared to the previous year. “With such an incredible global trend pushing digital adoption, surely the balance would move further towards technology, right? Not quite,” says the report.
The survey sheds light that people scored over technology in 2020 — at the height of Covid — for five tasks:
resolving delivery problems,
load scheduling,
communicating with brokers and 3PLs,
obtaining quotes, negotiating prices, and
communicating with customers.
The trucking fraternity recommends a blend of humans and technology. “After a year of remote work, the logistics industry has become much comfortable with digital communication — but there is still a strong demand for a person when they are needed,” adds the report.
