The Dwarka Visit
A steep climb. The fleet strength ballooned. Can you guess it? From two a decade ago to 1,400 today. The Singh brothers from Paniyali, near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, scripted this unusual story.
The elder Rajbeer has a huge operational exposure, while the eight-year-junior Jasveer walked into the territory with a banking repertoire. A phenomenal cocktail of hardcore finance and trucking. Mind you, and these siblings are the first generation of truckers. Boot-strapped. No external funding.
I ride the elevator to the 14th-floor KPO/BPO-type ambiance in the swanky Dwarka facing the upcoming Dwarka Expressway. I have known the brothers for over a decade, and my previous rendezvous was at their purana corporate adda on the Delhi-Jaipur NH48. Almost 7–8 years ago.
I stand transfixed at the glass-fronted corporate headquarters, rubbing my eyes in disbelief. Is this the same “Instant matlab trucking” tagline transport company? There is more surprise in store as I step in. The ambiance reminds me of an MNC. A sea of young faces, averaging 25 years. Open office with several cabins on the periphery, canteen.
Honestly, it does not look like the conventional trucking company setting. By the way, most desi transport companies have metamorphosized and embraced modernity. The credit for this goes to the nextgen quietly moving into the ecosystem to occupy hot seats, displacing seniors who ran the business in their style for decades, as they perceive a brighter future for trucking in India.
The political stability, the awakening of India’s growth potential coupled with our ability to absorb the global shock of Covid and rise above, and the policy palliatives to realize the $5 trillion dream in the form of the National Logistics Policy and the infra push are clear positive signals. Seniors are conceding space to their tech-savvy wards, more humane in their employee-worker approach. A surefire tonic for overall prosperity. Collaborative logistics.
Looking back at the end of the three-hour guftagu with Rajveer climaxing with a sumptuous Bikanerwala lunch and truckloads of his take and gyan on the trucking world makes me feel on the top of the world. Learning is life long.
All the talk about rail eating into the road is meaningless, avers the clean-shaven, fortyish banker-turned-motor malik. Why? Did you not notice the growing size of the cake? asks he rhetorically. How much rail can gobble up?
A stupendous growth thus far, and the Singh brothers have not stopped dreaming and blue-penciling strategy for the next decade. He floors me with the technology absorption in his operations.
A four-page appointment letter for his truck drivers with everything I have been dreaming about renders me speechless. He proudly admits that that is the handiwork of his better half, doubling up as HR head.
How did he succeed in installing the Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) and Driver Management System (DMS) in his motorized iron horses? “I follow the ‘What is in it for me?” mantra learned in my banking career. I highlight the benefits, not features, of these technological tools. My saratis are fully convinced. Got it?”
Yes, Jasveer! I got it. I have to return to scoop more ladles of trucking gyan at Instant Transport Solutions citadel. Rajbeer, expect me to gate crash into your eight-acre parking yard at Bilaspur and pick morsels of your gyan at the ground level. See you soon.
