What does it take for a 25-year old to start a new business? A lot of will and an idea to change the working of the Indian transportation industry. Let’s hear from Ishu Bansal about his brain child, Trucksuvidha.com, and how he plans to solve problems of logistics!

Q- You have brought the trucking industry on an online level. How has the experience been?

A- We have only adopted the initiative, which every company has taken. There is nothing different as such for us. This is our initiative to bring logistics for the people of our industry. Rather than a person getting stressed, we want them to check and track everything online. 

Q- What was the biggest challenge faced by you when establishing Truck Suvidha?

A- We had to make quite a number of field trips, sometimes leading to frustration, and a lot of time, money and effort was spent on this. But, our trip to the Azadpur Mandi, where we interacted with the people who directly worked in this industry, assured us that we were on the right track. Also, we were convinced that we could bring about a change in their lives. It was an eye-opening moment for us. When we travelled to different parts of India like Bengaluru and Chennai, we found out that unavailability of a systematic process is not a problem in Delhi NCR but all over the country. We were determined after our trips that we will provide a one-stop solution for everything.

Q- So, what is the fleet of trucks you own?

A- We have more than 17, 000 trucks at your disposal in different parts of India. We cover over 600 cities in the country. 

Q- What’s your business model? What is the mode of income and funding?

A- Ours is a subscription based model. Suppose there is a company, xyz, and how you subscribe to it. We have transporters attached to us and we look at their profiles. Then we determine on the data that comes after all the profiling and research, if the company can convert into a big transportation company, we take them and build their reputation accordingly. We provide them with the trucks and they do their business and we get our revenue. 

Ishu Bansal 1.

 We provide them with the trucks and they do their business and we get our revenue. 

Q- What amount do we have to pay, if we lease five trucks from Truck Suvidha?

A- 45,000 per year.

Q- And what all services do you provide in the said amount?

A- We provide end-to-end solutions.

Q- Suppose if I have goods and I want them to be delivered from Delhi to Mumbai. As a load runner, what do I have to do? 

A- You just have to register and subscribe to the website and there is no charge for load runners. You can track your shipment and get an update from time to time basis. 

Q- How many people are working under you?

A- There are 19 full time employees with the company right now. But there are many interns in different parts of the country. 

Ishu Bansal

 But there are many interns in different parts of the country. 

Q- What do you think are the concerns of the truck drivers?

A- If you were to talk to the drivers, their only concern is that nobody respects them. Police is also not supportive and takes bribes and harasses them. They get sleep deprived due to long distance journeys. There is no adequate safety measures for them. Comfort is another concern for truck drivers that requires addressal.

Q- Any plans to publicise your website?

A- You know, earlier there was no traffic on website, there were no bookings for trucks and there were a lot of problems. But now the word of mouth publicity has helped a lot. No exaggeration, but if once a transporter books a truck with us, he comes back more often than not.

Q- How is the payment done for your trucks?

A- We charge $6 for every lease. That is about `360 per truck booking. That is done through online bank transfer. There is verification process done for every booking to make sure that it is not a fake booking. Unless and until it is done, we don’t proceed with the booking. It takes us not more than 2-3 hours to do all the checking and verification.

Q- There are new people coming every day in this industry. How do you think you can manage the competition?

A- Market is very deep now. And it is increasing every day. There are more than 76 lakhs registered heavy commercial vehicles in the country and they make more than 700 million kms trips in a year. These are the registered numbers by government of India and these numbers are increasing. But the approach with which we deal with the logistics industry is quite different, compared to others. We provide a platform for transporters, logistics personnel, etc, to connect with the customers and vice-versa. We provide trucks from every corner of the country, you name it and we will have it. No other site boasts of these many facilities as Truck Suvidha does.

Ishu Bansal 3.

No other site boasts of these many facilities as Truck Suvidha does.

Q- So, can we call you the platform for e-commerce logistics?

A- Yes, it’s a platform to meet the demand and supply of the industry, but we are not the brokers who take money from both the sides to fulfil our needs. 

Q- Then how do you plan to sustain and extend your business without charging any money?

A- We are earning quite well. People are subscribing to our portal. If they require our services, they pay for that. I will narrate an instance where a transporter from Jaipur called up our customer care centre complaining that his trial package of three months had expired and he was trying to convert it into a weekly. So, we blocked his account because he wanted it discontinued. Then after a few days, he called again from a different number and requested to renew his services.

Q- Where do you think is the bigger market for you? North or South India?

A- North India is a bigger market for us. We have a good base here and we are trying to build a stronger network across India. 

Q- What will be your advice for the aspiring entrepreneurs from different fields?

A- I would say nothing is impossible. If you have the will and determination to do anything, you will succeed in life. have faith in yourself. Just believe in yourself and your ideas.  

Truck Suvidha

 Just believe in yourself and your ideas.