Ashok Leyland launched a unique placement scheme for trained commercial vehicle drivers in the country at a function held at the company’s Driver Training Institute in Namakkal. The new scheme offers a sound value proposition to both drivers and fleet owners. While, on the one hand, it promises affordable high quality training and assured employment to drivers, on the other fleet owners get access to better trained and skilled drivers to manage their fleet.
“This placement scheme is an important step towards not only improving the quality of life and professional standards of drivers but also enhancing the possibilities of attracting the youth into this profession,” said Mr. B. Venkat Subramaniam, Executive Director, Strategic Allied Business Initiatives, Ashok Leyland, at the launch of the scheme. “We constantly endeavor to help customers make more profits by providing them the ideal mix of product and service, and with this initiative, we have embarked on a journey to address the critical issue of dearth of well-trained commercial vehicle drivers.”
The company also dedicated to the driver transport community a state-of-the-art, 6-degree motion-platform driver training simulator at the Namakkal institute, co-developed with the technology supplier. “This move is reflective of our intent to introduce global best practices in driver training techniques to accelerate the learning curve. A driver can now be trained in a variety of simulated driving and operating conditions which are not very practical in normal circumstances”, he added.
Ashok Leyland has at present two driver training institutes (DTIs), one at Namakkal and the other at Burari, near Delhi. Built with all conceivable road and terrain configurations and equipped with modern facilities, these DTIs follow a structured curriculum whereby divers are trained for life both on and off the road. So far, more than five lakh drivers have been trained at these two institutes. More driving training institutes are planned at Khaital (Haryana), Chindwara (MP), Rajasmand (Rajasthan) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha).