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MOTORINDIA
l
September 2012
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VRL is currently the largest pri-
vate fleet owner in India with a fleet
size of 3860 vehicles which includes
550 tourist buses and 3310 goods
transport vehicles. The company
finds mention in the Limca Book of
Records as the single largest fleet
owner of commercial vehicles in the
private sector in India. The passen-
ger carrier fleet includes 130 Volvo
coaches while the cargo carrier fleet
includes nearly 2500 Ashok Ley-
land vehicles, which reflect its trust
and confidence on the Ashok Ley-
land and Volvo brands.
The company has recently bought
20 BharatBenz trucks which are cur-
rently plying between Mumbai and
South India. It has a good number of
Tata Aces for last mile transport and
is likely to place an order for some
Ashok Leyland DOST vehicles
soon. With 85 per cent of its total
turnover coming from goods trans-
portation, the company is looking to
consolidate its presence in the seg-
ment, while continuously expanding
its passenger carrier fleet.
VRL has also entered the car-
carrier segment and currently has
102 car carriers in its fleet. Though
initially the segment attracted good
response, owing to the slump in
car sales off late, the demand has
slowed down. The car-carrier seg-
ment though being a very important
one reveals some shocking num-
bers. Out of the 14,000 car carriers
in the country, less than 500 are in
compliance with the Motor Vehicles
Act. Legally speaking, the car car-
riers should at most be 18.75 metre
long, while most of the carriers are
over 22 metre long which is a huge
cause of concern. Despite adhering
to the rules, organised players face
the heat owing to the various loop-
holes in the industry which are ex-
ploited by unorganised and unethi-
cal players.
Unique policy
When it comes to targets and
plans, VRL is a company which has
its own unique way of operation.
In fact, the company does not have
huge business targets and turnovers.
The main targets are fixed for its
drivers who are given an incentive
bonus for every punctual trip. The
reward increases if he manages to
cover the distance before the stipu-
lated time. The company operates
on a strategy of catering to the lo-
gistics requirements of clients in dif-
ferent fields which reduces the risk
of high dependence on a particular
sector.
A fleet of over 3,500 vehicles calls
for around 7,000 drivers. Though
VRL has rarely faced driver short-
age, thanks to its high salary pack-
logistics
‘An entrepreneur in his own right’
Mr. Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director, VRL Logistics Ltd. is an entre-
preneur in his own right. A multi-faceted personality, he has been recognized
as a ‘Youth Icon’. A man of vision, well-tuned to changing times and emerging
trends in the publishing world, He has been instrumental in scripting the suc-
cess story of a popular Newspaper.
Major achievements:
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Mr. Anand Sankeshwar’s landmark achievement is in print media. In testi-
mony, he was honored with the prestigious ‘Youth Icon Award’ by ABCI of
Mumbai, which reads: “He never had legacy of Newspaper industry passed
on. To him the creation of Newspaper is entirely his own. He has set an ex-
ample of a youth icon”.
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He was honored as the ‘Marketing Professional of the year’ by the Indira
Group of Institutes, Pune.
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He was also honored by TIE as the ‘Best IInd Generation Entrepreneur’ from
Mr.Gururaj Deshpande, Trustee for Deshpande Foundation in Hubli.