It is very well known that the average speed of trucks in India is only around 20 kmph. There are estimates of a loss of Rs. 60,000 crores because of this. The Global average speed is said to be 60 - 80 kmph. These numbers point to a significant cost reduction opportunity in logistics.
The toll plazas, checking points and the poor road conditions are the familiar culprits for this ailment of low speed. Firms have been pointing fingers at the government and are painting a picture of them being in a helpless position. However the frequent truck breakdowns, vehicle overloading and poor driving discipline are also major causes of this low speed. These factors can easily be regulated and are in complete control of the firms.
A two lane road (with one lane for each side) with all vehicles moving in an exact straight line can easily have vehicles travel at a very high inform speed. There are many assumptions in this statement however. The first assumption is that all vehicles are moving at a uniform speed. Because of over loading and also poorly maintained vehicles the speed of a very few vehicles is at around 20 kmph. Especially in cases of two lane highways such vehicles can easily slow down all the other vehicles. Given that only about 14% of the national highways have 4 or more than 4 lanes, this problem affects more than 85% of the Indian National highways.
In most cases the truck drivers are also least likely to follow the discipline of lanes. For four lane roads (with two lanes for each side), if all the slow vehicles could drive in one lane, the other lane could accommodate fast moving vehicles. Because the truck drivers choose to use the lanes that they deem fit at the spur of the moment, the entire highway network is slowed down.
Frequent breakdowns are also a major cause in slowing down the vehicle movements. For various reasons we have had poor maintenance management in professional as well as the owner driven vehicles. The high average age of vehicles (debated to be around 12 - 15 years) is also partly to be blamed for the high rate of break downs. Like the issue of a slow moving vehicle mentioned above, a vehicle breakdown would also cause a reduction in speed for all traffic on that route.
The altruistic answer to this problem would be for all firms to pay attention to vehicle maintenance and driver training and also ensure that all instances of overloading are avoided. Easier said than done. Low margins in business are forcing logistics firms to minimise the immediate expenses on maintenance also to resort to over loading and such tactics. It would seem that any firm that stays 'honest' would obviously not be able to survive. The honesty and survival issue are topics for another blog.
The main point here is to get the industry to work on the same set of rules that minimise road disruptions and thus lead to high overall speeds. Such industry wide change can only come by forcing the application of the relevant laws in earnest. Instead of lobbying for easier rules, Organised firms should in fact push for strong rules and strict application. Given their expenses, it would be close to impossible for single truck owners to survive without overloading. Such changes would easily throw the unorganised players out of business and allow the organised players to expand their business footprint. That such strict rule implementation could also improve vehicle speed and thus profits would of course be an extra added advantage
The toll plazas, checking points and the poor road conditions are the familiar culprits for this ailment of low speed. Firms have been pointing fingers at the government and are painting a picture of them being in a helpless position. However the frequent truck breakdowns, vehicle overloading and poor driving discipline are also major causes of this low speed. These factors can easily be regulated and are in complete control of the firms.
A two lane road (with one lane for each side) with all vehicles moving in an exact straight line can easily have vehicles travel at a very high inform speed. There are many assumptions in this statement however. The first assumption is that all vehicles are moving at a uniform speed. Because of over loading and also poorly maintained vehicles the speed of a very few vehicles is at around 20 kmph. Especially in cases of two lane highways such vehicles can easily slow down all the other vehicles. Given that only about 14% of the national highways have 4 or more than 4 lanes, this problem affects more than 85% of the Indian National highways.
In most cases the truck drivers are also least likely to follow the discipline of lanes. For four lane roads (with two lanes for each side), if all the slow vehicles could drive in one lane, the other lane could accommodate fast moving vehicles. Because the truck drivers choose to use the lanes that they deem fit at the spur of the moment, the entire highway network is slowed down.
Frequent breakdowns are also a major cause in slowing down the vehicle movements. For various reasons we have had poor maintenance management in professional as well as the owner driven vehicles. The high average age of vehicles (debated to be around 12 - 15 years) is also partly to be blamed for the high rate of break downs. Like the issue of a slow moving vehicle mentioned above, a vehicle breakdown would also cause a reduction in speed for all traffic on that route.
The altruistic answer to this problem would be for all firms to pay attention to vehicle maintenance and driver training and also ensure that all instances of overloading are avoided. Easier said than done. Low margins in business are forcing logistics firms to minimise the immediate expenses on maintenance also to resort to over loading and such tactics. It would seem that any firm that stays 'honest' would obviously not be able to survive. The honesty and survival issue are topics for another blog.
The main point here is to get the industry to work on the same set of rules that minimise road disruptions and thus lead to high overall speeds. Such industry wide change can only come by forcing the application of the relevant laws in earnest. Instead of lobbying for easier rules, Organised firms should in fact push for strong rules and strict application. Given their expenses, it would be close to impossible for single truck owners to survive without overloading. Such changes would easily throw the unorganised players out of business and allow the organised players to expand their business footprint. That such strict rule implementation could also improve vehicle speed and thus profits would of course be an extra added advantage
