Indian Truck Drivers Are Burning Out

A recent study has been found out that Indian truck driversare burning out.

- Bhushan Mhapralkar

Kulwant Singh is driving on a long route from Ludhiana to Chennai. Save for a few trips between Ludhiana and Delhi NCR, which he terms as ‘local’, Singh has been doing long routes for as long as he can remember. He is into the profession for the last 10 years, and his job keeps him away from his family for weeks together. It is a good paying job he says, but probe further and he mentions that he does not want either of his sons to enter this field. “It lacks life,” he reasons. We are at Delhi’s transport nagar where Singh has come to meet an acquaintance. The innocence with which he spoke about the life he leads as one of the million truck drivers in India, it did not leave a very positive impression. Two years back when I met a friend Will Shiers who edits Commercial Motor magazine of UK at the Tata T1 Truck Racing Championship at Greater Noida, we got talking about the treatment meted out to drivers in either country, and he told me that it is not very different from how they are treated in India. If it felt like a reality check, a recent survey carried out by Castrol India in association with Kantar IMRB has concluded that the nation’s truck drivers are burning out. It is not surprising for the survey to come to this conclusion since the driver community in India lacks the ability to lobby or make an effective electorate.