* Mumbai - Six million truck drivers are employed throughout India, for medium and heavy commercial vehicles
-- Currently, in India, three million truck drivers are employed for medium and heavy commercial vehicles for seamless logistics operation throughout India... Trucks criss-cross our country for miles, irrespective of weather, ensuring that consignments reach their destination on time. They move literally everything from food grain, vegetables and fruits, meat and fish to clothes, machinery and consumer goods. With six million truck drivers in India, the trucking industry represents a notable proportion of the labour force (2.5 per cent). But what do they get in return?... “The worst part of our job is that everyone hates us,” stated Ajay Saroj, from Azamgarh, who was standing in front of his truck with a group of drivers in Azadpur Mandi, all wearing smiles on their faces... Another young driver, Ajit Yadav, who hails from western UP, joined in, saying, “The problem doesn’t stop here. While on the highway, police thinks we are rupee making machines. They harass us” ... There are many tough jobs in the world and driving a truck is one of them. Unlike other jobs, here, they don’t have a fixed time for their food, sleep and other activities. Most of their precious time of their life they spend in the cabin. For them, the truck is their home, which provides them shelter when they are on the road they sleep in it, under it and even on top of it. They hardly spend quality time with their family members... On the top of this, these drivers are continuously at risk, health-wise and life-wise. They have to drive trucks with mechanical faults, are under pressure to transport on time and the police takes advantage of their miserable condition... For all their trouble, they get paid very poorly... The outcomes and the grievances captured through this finding are that there is no proper road infrastructure, no place to eat healthy food, poor highway safety, high risk sexual behaviour and STD, low salary and low end facilities in trucks...
(Photo: Container trucks are seen parked in Torkham, close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, on July 4, 2012)
... Mostly truck drivers are illiterates and school dropouts or from poor families. They begin life on the road as cleaners and later learn how to drive. It’s a harsh life right from start. A majority of drivers do not have their own trucks and are dependent on their owners. This leads them to drive non-stop, 12-15 hours daily. “Usually we are on salary basis, but on each trip we get extra money or we save whatever money our owner gives us to spend on the journey. Therefore, we drive fast and continuously, so that we can get maximum number of trips,” asserted a truck driver, in Azadpur Mandi... Vineet Kumar, who owns a fleet of trucks, didn’t hesitate to admit that the drivers are highly underpaid. “They are the most vulnerable creatures on the road. They don’t have any proper time for food, sleep or rest. They are highly dependent on roadside eateries. They have to drive 400-600 kms per day, which leads them to consume drugs,” said Kumar. According to several studies, they are twice as likely to contract HIV infection... Less pay, over-stretched duty hours and mental pressure have made this job less popular among today’s generation. These days, hardly anyone is interested in this grueling job. They would rather focus on going to abroad to drive. If this trend continues, many fear that one day the Indian trucking sector, which contributes about 4.5-5 per cent of the GDP, is in danger... One can only hope concerned authorities can provide some succour in the form of regulations for these drivers, to create a safe and decent working environment for these hapless truck drivers...
Mumbai, India - The Statesman, by Rakesh Kumar - 23 July, 2015Labels: truckers' stories, truckers' way of life
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