Alarmed by the phenomenal rise in road accidents in India, the Government, stakeholders of surface transport and road users alike are bent upon finding a solution to the problem. Well, you could ill-afford to ignore the 400 fatalities every day on our roads. A dubious distinction for the country!
The buzz word in the transport industry in India is training and that too more around truck drivers. A heart-warming and progressive step indeed. Awareness is being created of road safety and behavioural aspects of the driver, besides the various other evils associated with his profession. At the same time, the industry is eager to witness the outcome of the training imparted. Instantaneous outcome! Perseverance – what is that?
Even before thinking of the positive impact on the trainee drivers and even before we assess the percolation of awareness down the line we have to first and foremost assess how far the driver is impressed about our sincerity in approach.
The employers of the industry may get perturbed with such an approach. But let us face the reality. The driver community is facing job insecurity. It has no recourse to dignity of labour. On the other hand, if the honchos of the industry start thinking “training” as a favour, the real sense of the word is lost. Training is a learning process. Even if he is learning and leaving after the training the fact remains you are contributing towards national asset creation. One should feel proud about it.
The most glaring is the fact that this category can jump from one job to another in a fraction of a second. When survival is at stake loyalty becomes an alien word for him. And who is responsible? The industry at large. All of us. We have never treated them as part of the organisation, part of the society. A non-existent entity as long the work is being carried out. A workforce taken for granted, forgetting they are an important link in the value chain of the industry. When he starts co-ordinating and working towards the common goal the effectiveness emerges.
Back to training
Though the importance of the aspect is catching up still there is no dearth of owners who consider training as a wasteful exercise and they simply don’t believe in it. Rather they would at the most take an insurance for him and there ends their responsibility. Most of them refuse to accept that it is a continuous learning process. It is not a school day classroom scenario. You have to sit with them. It is a learning platform for the owners too who sit with them and talk to them. Get involved and see the wonders it could bring for the company. His health, safety and security concerns have to be addressed.
Imagine what kind of threat a drunken driver poses to the society. Classroom training may help. It should be a systematic attempt. Besides, we need hundreds of people in the transport sector to empathise with the drivers. We need such well-intentioned people to give them love and affection. We need good Samaritans to drive home the point that they are not alone and their interests are taken care of.
Even before the training process starts, it is pertinent to ensure that they are paid well for their skill set to make their ends meet. On one side we tend to close our eyes towards his minimal needs, but we never fail to blame them for everything. Labelling him a thief. Give him food at par with your staff. Take them in your value chain. Talk to them. Drivers also progress. They are a huge source of information for your business. It is a futile attempt to teach morality to the person with empty stomach.
No doubt, insurance brings at least some financial solace, but think of the people who lose their lives, people who are injured and unfit to carry on their profession. What is the compensation they get? No, no their wards are not willing to get into the shoes of their fathers. Rehabilitation in the transport sector itself if he has survived but unable to carry out driving profession. Yes, a step in the right direction.
Seasonal trainers will vouch that training never yields cent per cent result. Far from it. Even a success rate of 5%-10% where drivers could be changed from good to better should be a welcome step.
One thing for sure, without consistent training the organisation’s graph is bound to be southwards. Challenges are constant, and so also the importance of training without which challenges would become roadblocks.
No doubt the transport sector margins are wafer thin and invariably the brunt is borne by the hapless drivers. Transporters want to cut expenses where they cannot be cut. The axe cannot fall on the drivers whose condition is turning from bad to worse.
You are aiming for on-time or should we say before time performance. ‘Pay the driver an incentive and let him risk his life’ is the line toed by most of the transporters. Achieving on time/before time goals, the man behind the wheels should not be crucified.
With the induction of most sophisticated vehicles on our highways the shortage is bound to be upward. Where will you go without drivers? The driverless concept is still way beyond!
The driver not only drives his truck. In fact, he drives the economy of the country. The industry as a whole has to see the capability of the driver in terms of a proper licence and whether he has been properly trained. Compromising on these pre-requisites for the sake of overcoming shortage or for immediate gains will lead to long-term complications. Such an approach will not only bring down the efficiency levels of the organisation and the industry but will prove ineffective in arresting the accident rate which the industry wants to bring down to 50% by 2020.
By Raghuram Sharma