Category Archives: Rail/Road

Commenting on the aggregation model where truck owners are connected by the goods supplier, Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans India emphasised, “A lot of attempts have been made whether through private players or associations. To bring in efficiency, aggregation models should be strengthened, and they must be accessible to everyone, be it a truck aggregator or direct consumer. However, since the volume is so huge, probably one aggregating platform may not be able to sustain. It is only possible if three to four players merge, whether it is private or government, in order to make the truck seamlessly available to everyone. So, the data would be available but it is more about how easily we are able to access it with the use of technology and get the vehicle wherever you required it.”

Continuing its efforts towards greater environmental sustainability, Bolloré Logistics Taiwan has launched a first hybrid truck for local deliveries in collaboration with Chieh Yu. The Hino 300 HV was selected to meet growing demand for greener logistics solutions on the domestic market and comes equipped with a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery which has the advantage of proven reliability, safety and durability even in high current applications, as well as resilience to overcharging. It is a 6.5 tonnes truck with a payload capacity of three tonnes per trip. The new Hino Hybrid can also accelerate gently without increasing diesel engine revs, using the electric motor for propulsion instead. Additionally, the vehicle will cover nearly 20,000 km per year, plying from clients’ warehouses up to their boutiques anywhere within Taiwan Island. “Powering sustainable logistics is not just a tagline to us, we actively practise this philosophy to deliver greener, smarter, and cost-effective solutions across the domestic market. We truly believe that the use of cleaner trucking technologies will help to shape the future of the logistics industry in a responsible manner and are thankful to the stakeholders who have stood beside us in pioneering such initiatives and innovating towards a greener, better future”, said Helen Hung, Managing Director, Bolloré Logistics Taiwan.

Stressing on the difficulties being faced by the unorganised sector and how difficult it is going to be for them to survive, Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCI Express said, “The unorganised segment is going to go through a tough time in the next few years because if they are not asset light or manpower heavy, it’s going to be very challenging.” He continued, “Looking at the way the organised segment is positioned, the entire crisis has helped us to manage our cost and become more lean.” Adding to this, Goyal said, “With the help of technology, manpower cost has come down; it has made us realise that a number of field staff were not even required.”

The maiden Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO-RO) train between Bengaluru (Nelamangala) to Solapur (Maharashtra) consisting of open flat wagon was flagged off by BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister, Karnataka through video conferencing. According to South Western Railway, the train will take 17 hours to cover 682 kms and reach its final destination. The SWR said in a statement that a total of 42 trucks with goods can be carried at time in this train which will run via Dharmavaram, Guntakal, Raichur and Wadi to reach Bale near Solapur in Maharashtra. The SWR noted that the RORO service reduces accidents on the road, improves safety, saves fuel, and foreign exchange. The RORO service is also set to ensure faster transport of essential goods, food items and smaller cargo and can also play an important role in facilitating large-scale movement of goods and reduces pollution.

“The standard story is that no industry is at 100 per cent levels; FMCG and pharma were the first ones who sprung up because of requirement irrespective of lockdown as they fall into the essential category. These verticals recovered but not to 100 per cent; they also had their struggles in terms of manufacturing or last-mile delivery. Chemical industry has also sprung back decently in May and June because chemicals are also required either in pharma or in FMCG. However, the auto industry is definitely a challenge for a little while and is not coming back so fast like other sectors. The entire chain in the auto is going to remain a challenge for a while whether it is a truck or car or two-wheeler. There will be a buying challenge at the consumer level. Probably, the sales of tractor and spare parts may not get impacted because of the agriculture and farm sector,” informed Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans India.

Addressing challenges of speedy delivery and cost efficiencies of services, Delhivery and Volvo have come together to test and deploy an articulated Volvo FM 4×2 solution for express operations. In line with the governments ambition of reducing the logistics cost of the country Volvo will work towards better solutions that will render faster turn-around time, higher up-time of the trucks, safer and comfortable trucks that will enable the driver deliver increased productivity. These custom built solutions will enhance the efficiency of the express cargo movement through trailers of higher capacities of around 93 cum, maintaining an average running of over 20 hours a day and 3,00,000 km in a year. These tractor-trailers will revolutionise the industry by delivering efficiency and productivity which is more than double compared to the current range of tractors in India. The logistics industry needs trucks that will set benchmarks in vehicle uptime, reliability, load carrying capacity and running km per year, to meet the demands of the e-commerce business. With the changing ground realities, the logistics industry is gearing up for new opportunities, which will revolutionize the long haul transport industry.

ZYPP Electric Mobility has declared that the start-up has successful delivered of more than 5 lakh shipments for its customers in the last 4 months since the outbreak of COVID-19. ZYPP has partnered with top e-commerce and e-grocery companies like Amazon, Big Basket, Future Group, Flipkart, Spencers, and many more hyperlocal merchants and helped them deliver essentials to their end customers’ homes. The start-up doubled down on last mile delivery services during COVID-19 eyeing to accommodate the void created due to surged demands in the essentials delivery category with tie-ups with top e-commerce and e-grocery majors. Akash Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder, ZYPP Electric Mobility said, “eGrocery is growing at 30 per cent CAGR in India and this is pre-Covid growth. Now post Covid-19, last mile delivery is touching a new inflexion point and we as Zypp Electric are able to provide upto 20 per cent savings to our customers on every delivery which is huge savings at scale in the logistics eco-system. Zypp Electric is here to disrupt the last mile ecosystem and would try and target 100 per cent of last-mile logistics to go electric by 2025 which is what Delhi EV policy also suggests. Zypp has worked aggressively in last 12 months to build the fleet, the infra, the tech, has a network of trained riders and also all key partners already working with us. Hence, Covid-19 has acted as the moment of demonetization for last mile deliveries.” Adding further, KB Nagaraju, Chief Customer Experience Officer, bigbasket, said, “bigbasket is committed to providing best possible services to customers and ensuring that deliveries are done in an environmentally sustainable yet timely manner. It is towards this end that we …

The turnover of the automotive component industry stood at Rs 3.49 lakh crore (US$ 49.2 billion) for the fiscal year 2019-20, registering de-growth of 11.7 per cent over the previous year,” informs Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). Commenting on the performance of the auto component industry in India, Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA said, “The overall vehicle industry witnessed a severe downturn in 2019-20 that saw its sales slump by 18 per cent. Auto Component aftermarket at Rs 69,381 crore (US$ 9.8 billion) remained stable while sales to OEMs in the domestic market at Rs 2.87 lakh crore (US$ 40.5 billion) declined 17 per cent. Both imports and exports declined by 11.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively; imports stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore (US$ 15.4 billion), while exports at Rs 1.02 lakh crore (US$ 14.5 billion)”. Sharing his insights on the performance of the auto component industry in the year gone by, Deepak Jain, President, ACMA said, “The automotive industry faced a prolonged slowdown in FY 2019-20 with vehicle sales in all segments plummeting significantly. Subdued vehicle demand, investments made for transition from BSIV to BSVI, liquidity crunch, lack of clarity on policy for electrification of vehicles and slow-down in key export markets, among others, had an adverse impact on the performance of the components sector in India as also on its expansion plans.”

Talking about industry’s readiness on working on its own, Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans India, said, “Working on our own is sort of a reality for logistics and the transport industry. The government body is doing its job but the real essence is, we have to build up our own capability and stand up tall. Eventually, if there is no help in future the question remains how will the business model sustain? We have to figure out a business model that would sustain without help and the larger part is already standing on its own. As an industry, we can collaborate amongst ourselves; have some best practices or hand-holding with each other.” Continuing on the collaboration, he said, “Collaborations are opening up slowly but we still have a long way to go.”

Sharing his views on continuous hike in diesel price, Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCI Express, informs, “Most of the logistics companies in India are asset heavy. These companies cannot survive due to the increasing diesel price. They can have growth of 60-70 per cent but their bottom line will be 40 per cent. And, imagine 95 per cent of the unorganised economy is having heavy losses; how they are going to continue providing services? The government has to get a hold on this.” Suggesting the solution, he continued, “One important way of doing that could be if there is a change in diesel price, the manufacturing companies which are using the transportation services should be made liable to pay for that change. If the government imposes this on manufacturing companies, a large chunk of the unorganised segment will not face a massive cash crunch and they will be able to survive longer.”