[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by avkurian

I understand there would be a few negative bureaucratic experiences along the way, but in these days with a number of political and administrative leaders active on social media, maybe a well-timed tweet could actually begin to bring about change. Of course, I know it isn't all that easy, but it would be a start.

Said with the right intentions, however, what you've said only compounds the risk for the freight company! You'll be delaying their shipment and causing them long-term relationship damage (with the corrupt officials they have to deal with on a daily basis).


Here's a truck experience you can live vicariously through : LINK

[sudev]

Interesting. Would like to do this. Or even think of buying a truck and get it enrolled with some good transport company.

[autobahnjpr]

What an idea sirjee!

I have also been toying with the idea for some time but i came to the conclusion that one needs to give time for this to actually happen.

1) You need to get a heave vehicle licence - may be two months
2) You need practice - lots of it before you can confidently take up the driver seat
3) You need to accompany someone on actual trips on the highway to see what are the challenges which one faces and how comfortable you are with that - you have to stop at shady dhabas (surely you cannot drive your truck in MacD ), bribe the cops and suffer the humiliation for no fault of yours, stand in long queues for tax payments, sleep in truck itself, be comfortable with the prevalant level of hygiene among the truck drivers etc.
4) Be in company of truck drivers and helpers and learn their roughness in talk and attitude
5) Peacefully control your anger when all the car owners cut you across and zoom past you while you continue your 40-60kmph ride, specially those vin diesel fans who flash lights and honk simultaneously without slowing down.
6) Pray that some two wheeler does not cut across from your left such that you are unable to see him/her.
and so on.

It is an endeavour i wish to accomplish someday but when - no idea sirjee!

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

ANY truck fleet or courier company would agree. I have met atleast half a dozen such business owners who are really at their wits end in recruiting staff post MNREGA. No one wants to drive even trucks with AC cabins these days for a salary of 25000 (per my last such conversation a year back).

OT, MNREGA salary are not so high (in some cases they were even below the minimum amount stipulated for formal labor)so as to impact the supply of drivers. It though, did impact the supply of farm workers in north western states for sometime, but not now.

I remember, at one time a lot of youths even from well to do families wanted to become truck drivers in Punjab. Reason being it gave them the opportunity to understand the business and later start a transport company on their own and secondly, it was a preparation to get a truck drivers job abroad.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

OT, MNREGA salary are not so high (in some cases they were even below the minimum amount stipulated for formal labor)so as to impact the supply of drivers. It though, did impact the supply of farm workers in north western states for sometime, but not now.

I remember, at one time a lot of youths even from well to do families wanted to become truck drivers in Punjab. Reason being it gave them the opportunity to understand the business and later start a transport company on their own and secondly, it was a preparation to get a truck drivers job abroad.

Agreed. I had the exact same query but I have heard multiple courier company / fleet owners bemoan the same reason. I am not professionally into the business to know any further - but given the circumstances of such discussions (sitting next to each other on a plane) and the remarkable convergence between unrelated people - I believe so.

In your experience, what really accounts for the significant shortage in drivers?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/10334172.cms
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4686488.ece
http://blog.trucksuvidha.com/truck-i...ge-of-drivers/

[a4anurag]

Great Idea. BUT.

Though I'll urge you for going up the ladder than directly jumping the gun and landing on the drivers seat of a Truck. (Not discouraging you in anyway). try laying down hands on a Tata Ace or some such vehicle. Get familiar with space and size judging. These vehicles (Average Trucks that we see around) are a decade old with no features and protection to the driver nor do they have the comfort one is used to in their cocooned cars. A different world altogether!

Reading through the posts here, I agree fully with John Doe. One will realise how difficult it is for truck drivers and buses to jostle around commute. We all keep blaming / cursing them for their skills and habits. All one realises is when made to sit in their seats are drive around.

A simple example of how a common man would feel if he is put in the drivers seat of a truck laden with load and has no experience in truck driving. The below videos outlines everything.

We all are familiar with Top Gear. The video is of the truck driving challenge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtTOQSRMRcM

See from 7:10 to 7:45

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkE029a8bys

All I can say is All the best buddy and keep us updated on the way of action ahead.

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

In your experience, what really accounts for the significant shortage in drivers?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/10334172.cms
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle4686488.ece
http://blog.trucksuvidha.com/truck-i...ge-of-drivers/

One of the main reasons is Tata Ace. Due to its low cost, many drivers prefer buying it and starting their own work. They have the opportunity of earning as much if not much more and also get all the associated social benefits. (I can talk about the scene in Punjab and this is the main reason.)

There are many other reasons too - popularity of online retail backed logistics, popularity of formal blue collared jobs which pay less but provide much much better work environment and also have a better social stature.

[Thilak29]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

VRL has a very successful print media division(vijaya karnataka)

TOI group owns VK, VRL Owns Vijayavani.

[Ricci]

AVK , before I wanted to be a pilot, I wanted to a train/locomotive driver, and before that a truck driver. My parents are surely grateful that better sense prevailed and I grew out of "I want to be a truck driver" phase. Even in the US/Europe, being a truckie is a tough life. Better pay, better hygiene yes, but still life on the road is not a cakewalk.

Since you only want to do this as an adventure, a one-off , it will be very hard to get someone to simply hand you a truck and say, go have fun. Others have already spoken of the real world problems you'll have. Unless your motivation is to understand trucking business and start your own, I'd say sit back and re-think this whim.

[Tapish]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hope you jested. In my experience what you described is a double edged sword.

I did, partly! But I'm sure if the OP carries all documents, it should not be a hassle at all.

Best'
Tapish

[chef-de-jeep]

To be honest it does sound exciting but I did have a first hand experience of traveling in the cabin of a tattered Tata truck when I was to receive some consignment from Gujarat to Mangalore. The driver (seemed like a very seasoned one)had taken the old highway routes instead of the new ones to save on the toll but ran out of money for diesel at Murudeshwar(reason partly being his owner had delayed him by a few days near the mh border and hence the extra expense so).

Whilst at a dhaba was overhearing some of the conversation between drivers-apart from cops there are several places where locals/goons etc also demand their share of hafta, in certain cases it was also called "danda" tax. In some cases people on motorcycles randomly stopping truckers and accusing them of a "hit and run" incident a few km earlier. in some cases even informers at dhabas tipping of their gangs on truck convoys and who is the leader to extract cash.

The ride in the cabin was quite an adventurous one - saw a overturned truck getting relief, a man on the bike (maybe killed or injured real bad)- to cops trying to locate the killer truck at a check post a few km ahead. And a sudden heavy shower that forced the trucker to stop for a while till visibility issues got better. Don't intend to disillusion you but did start to respect truckers much more for the hardships they go through and yes needs a lot of determination to go on

[swiftnfurious]

You should probably take a ride as a cleaner/helper on a 500 km journey or so first. If you still 'feel' like being a truck driver after that, you could think harder. Being in the cabin of an airbus for 5-6 hours in a night (when ambient temperature is relatively lower), I can assure you that it's not a great place to be.

The experience in a Volvo cabin was better, but nothing short of crazy, everytime the driver overtook another heavy vehicle in a 4-lane highway @ 100kmph.

Plus, I have a feeling you are underestimating the skill required for a loaded truck's driver. The weight of the truck can actually put you in tricky situation as the speeds / gradients change. Add to it the inferior equipment levels compared to the passengers cars which you may even have extensive experience with. A truck may be a completely different ball game.

[yamaniac]

Wow! I have the same thoughts. I want to drive a truck too. And your questions are the same I have in mind and exactly the same I wanted to ask someone.

Here is what I found out from a friend who owns a truck. He is just 20 years old. Has his own Tipper which loads sand. The truck is driven by a hired driver. Who gets paid 15k a month, and rs 250/- for every trip made. This is called BATA in the local language here. So on an average a driver earns 25K a month as BATA if he does 100 trips. Which is a definite.
The tipper mostly does city routes and occasionally Madikeri and Mysore. It is very difficult to find good drivers, And he himself drives it sometimes because of no availability of drivers.
He has asked me to be a driver for his truck as part time since I was so interested. So, I had to inquire about the license.

There are 2 ways to get your license here in INDIA. or at-least in my town.

The ordinary citizen way
So, to apply for a heavy license you need to be a 10th (sslc) "PASS". You need to get an LLR done first for a month. And after that you need to give a driving test. You can arrange for your own heavy vehicle.
or the RTO will arrange one for you by pairing up with a local driving school (500 for a test drive vehicle). This method of acquiring license is for those who don't have any contacts within the RTO.


I have the contacts way.
Pay up and get a Heavy license (YEAH!!! THAT'S IT there is to it) - without LLR and without a test drive. all you need is your 10th (SSLC) pass certificate. And voila you are immediately a truck driver.

Hope this helps in someway. btw, I have completed my one month of LLR and on my way for a DL test next week. And then its trucking time.

[apachelongbow]

I have one question. Why a truck driver? Why not do long distance driving in a private car? What is so special about traveling across the country by truck? If it is the life of a trucker what you want to experience then it seems better if you try the same using a smaller vehicle first, say a pickup truck or a Tata ace.
As several members have written, the life of a trucker in India is no joy. Constantly being harassed by all and sundry, driving slow under powered vehicles with very low visibility, constant fear of accidents and breakdowns, no comfort, long queues at all toll nakas and checkposts, fear of robbery are some of the highlights. If most of the trucking companies are finding it extremely hard to recruit drivers, then all the people rejecting a job which pays 25/30000 per month must have a point...

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by avkurian

The vision is to take a fully-loaded truck on a regular job, and bring back to city of origin with another load. It may seem like a case of taking an opportunity that could benefit a professional driver, but still wanted to put this out there to see if there is the opportunity.

Hi, even I had though the same after watching Ice road truckers. Inquired about HCV licence, but the biggest deterrent was that I don't have a truck! Unlike car driving school, no one teaches you how to drive a truck. And just renting a truck to learn for a month will prove quite expensive.

Another option I saw was that Volvo trains atleast 2 drivers per customer and even drivers from open market. But even they need a valid HPV/HTC license + 3-5 years experience of HCV training.

Driver training help desk.
Contact no- 80 6691 4326
Mail- hari.babu@volvo.com

You could contact them and see if they can make an exception for you.

All the best to you.

EDIT- it seems that Ashok Leyland offers a training for beginners ! Its a 3 month long course. This is the website.