(Left to Right): Mayank Laul, Anand Lakhani & Devinder Kohli
Ramesh Kumar
As you walk into the spacious conference room, one cannot miss noticing quotable quote frames. One of them reads:
"If Today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
That's the late Steve "Apple" Jobs.
"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you"
That's another one which credits none. Anonymous. But the import of messages understood.
These nuggets of commonsensical morale booster frameworks, I reckon, belong to the NextGen Lauls: December 1992 born Mayank and August 1997 born Rishab, currently pursuing finance in the University of South Carolina, United States.
The fragrance of fresh distemper on the walls and the smell or odour of wooden furniture permeates the air-conditioned conference room. Actually, this does not distract me much. Out of the blue, mind reruns my understanding of formaldehyde-treated wooden items at home or office. LTC Logistics has moved into this corporate office hardly a few weeks ago to bring every single department under a single roof - including maintenance and workshop. Barring Inder, the Managing Director, others operate in an open office environment. A few empty cabins are very much there. One half of the spacious office is occupied by the operational team, monitored by Devinder Kohli, General Manager (Operations). Every vital department is just a buzzer call away for Inder.
Lakhani saab, the eldest in the group inching towards 70, unzips his plastic bag and digs out a bunch of musa acuminata. Hang on, what I mean, is bananas. Kela!
No proper lunch? He is a fruitie. Light eater!
Meanwhile, several dabbas containing daliyia, sabzis, daal, salad and aluminium foiled oil-less chapatis surface on the table. Inder quickly begins to empty containers onto the plates. The female catering executive rushes in with a set of cutleries and cold water.
I sit at the edge of the table with Inder on my right and Mayank sitting to my left (90 degrees); Lakhani saab, bang opposite and on to his left is Devinder. Soon, another young man joins, whom Inder introduces as his Finance hand. Another relative of the owners. It's all in the family. Why not, if talent is readily available within, asks Lakhani saab. Of course, why not? Again nothing unusual in the Indian transport fraternity. Trust gets the maximum vote because it is a business of cash all the time.
"If Today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
That's the late Steve "Apple" Jobs.
"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you"
That's another one which credits none. Anonymous. But the import of messages understood.
These nuggets of commonsensical morale booster frameworks, I reckon, belong to the NextGen Lauls: December 1992 born Mayank and August 1997 born Rishab, currently pursuing finance in the University of South Carolina, United States.
The fragrance of fresh distemper on the walls and the smell or odour of wooden furniture permeates the air-conditioned conference room. Actually, this does not distract me much. Out of the blue, mind reruns my understanding of formaldehyde-treated wooden items at home or office. LTC Logistics has moved into this corporate office hardly a few weeks ago to bring every single department under a single roof - including maintenance and workshop. Barring Inder, the Managing Director, others operate in an open office environment. A few empty cabins are very much there. One half of the spacious office is occupied by the operational team, monitored by Devinder Kohli, General Manager (Operations). Every vital department is just a buzzer call away for Inder.
Lakhani saab, the eldest in the group inching towards 70, unzips his plastic bag and digs out a bunch of musa acuminata. Hang on, what I mean, is bananas. Kela!
No proper lunch? He is a fruitie. Light eater!
Meanwhile, several dabbas containing daliyia, sabzis, daal, salad and aluminium foiled oil-less chapatis surface on the table. Inder quickly begins to empty containers onto the plates. The female catering executive rushes in with a set of cutleries and cold water.
I sit at the edge of the table with Inder on my right and Mayank sitting to my left (90 degrees); Lakhani saab, bang opposite and on to his left is Devinder. Soon, another young man joins, whom Inder introduces as his Finance hand. Another relative of the owners. It's all in the family. Why not, if talent is readily available within, asks Lakhani saab. Of course, why not? Again nothing unusual in the Indian transport fraternity. Trust gets the maximum vote because it is a business of cash all the time.
Every single vehicle, bought at a hefty price tag with one's own money or bank-financed or NBFC-leveraged, with or without load is something like an elephant: with a huge appetite. It has to be fed whether it carries load or no load. Plus, fleet owners spend upfront and wait for payment from end users with no fixed delivery date on the horizon. Few end users behave like gentlemen. For a lot of expenses (including the bribe en route), there is no supporting receipt for accounting purpose. Imagine the plight of finance head! This kind of cash transaction without receipts is a major dampener for private equity to touch the traditional transport companies with a barge pole even! Finance portfolio, invariably, has to be family-managed. That's also one of the reasons why PEs prefer to shower dollars on start ups in this segment because they have no past and begin with a clean slate.
Between bites, the conversation continues, enabling me make mental notes. LTC Logistics is majorly into the movement of two-wheelers, tractors, earth moving equipment. You name the biggies in each of these segments, they ride on LTC Logistics' shoulders. Ashok Leyland is the dominant vehicle supplier. Tatas, yes. Mahindra inducted of late.
What's great about Leyland? "Superb performance. Best after sales service," responds Inder. Not that Tatas don't match, but Inder's comfort with Leyland is pretty high. Want to ask him about his tire preference, but hold back because Devinder already hinted that his fleet management - especially tire management - is top notch.
What about drivers? A major chunk of them come from Agra region in Uttar Pradesh. Basti from Bihar and, of course, the inevitable Mewat of Haryana. Once upon a time, the Mewati group dominated but over the period of time, their numbers dwindled. Inder is happy. Devinder too.
Somehow, the Mewati drivers are considered as necessary evil. I spend a lot of time regularly in Mewat since I have several long haul truck driver friends from that zone - hardly 100 km from Delhi towards Alwar in Rajasthan. Every home will have more than one truck driver. Reliable? Trust worthy? Debatable. Having said that, you buttonhole any transporter and he would grudgingly admit that his flock of drivers would invariably consist of Mewatis. You cannot escape from their clutches! A few years ago, a well known transporter from NCR, created a website to blacklist errant truck drivers to alert other prospective employers of the minefield they would walk into if they hire those blacklisted. Well, the list mostly consisted of Mewati drivers!
By the way, the proportion of Mewati drivers servicing the Indian transport/trucking ecosystem is so high that there are dedicated Mewati dhabas across the length and breadth of Indian highways.
Like there are good transporters and not-so-good ones, there are good drivers and not-so-good ones as well. Have not come across any fleet owner who is 100% Mewati driver-driven.
We talk about empty back haul, payment cycle from clients, emergency relief operations with regard to their own vehicles, the business cycle and last, but not the least, the utility of various transport associations. Lack of unity among the office bearers of umpteen transport lobby groups is a bane, concedes Inder.
Vehicle dimension is a serious challenge, particularly in Maharashtra, concedes Lakhani saab. He shares the meetings with the state bureaucracy in the recent past and still keeping fingers crossed. What's the outcome of the recent nationwide transporters' agitation? Silence rents the room. I don't want to embarrass them by probing deep and leave it there, therefore.
The business, concedes Inder, is good. Growing. GST? "Will manage. Have to," admits LTC Logistics bossman. Practical and pragmatic. No point of breast thumping of "How can we? We are too small." While everyone is falling in line with the GST roll out, transporters can ill afford to antognize the government, however strong or valid their viewpoint maybe.
Elsewhere I heard someone cribbing, "am a two truck owner. Am I also suppose to follow the rules and fulfill all norms?" Yes, he must. There are no exceptions. Does this two-truck owner has nation wide branches? Good question. Maybe one or two. To that extent, his headache or challenge is negligible.
What about LTC Logistics which has 20 odd branches and 250 odd vehicles? Mind boggling. Inder does not deal with pigmies but the giants in each vertical, who will be 100% GST compliant. To derive due tax credits at each stage, paper work is a necessity. No papers, no credits. This simply translates into big dent into one's top and bottomlines. Forget about that. Non-compliance means penalty as well. Yes, tough times for transporters who have been doing business like any mom-and-pop shop for decades. Time to mature. Never too late.
That's precisely what Inder has embarked upon. The new office. Infusion of young and fresh talent - from within the family and outside. Adapt, if one wants to survive and thrive. That's the spirit.
"How about one more banana?" beseeches Lakhani saab extending another one. I accept and share half of it with Mayank, who luckily does not refuse. Good god.
Lunch over. Table cleaned. Inder suggests Devinder show me around the office and workshop.
Inder exits to his cabin. I follow the trio: Lakhani saab, Devinder and Mayank into the heart and soul of the business enterprise. Operations.
Between bites, the conversation continues, enabling me make mental notes. LTC Logistics is majorly into the movement of two-wheelers, tractors, earth moving equipment. You name the biggies in each of these segments, they ride on LTC Logistics' shoulders. Ashok Leyland is the dominant vehicle supplier. Tatas, yes. Mahindra inducted of late.
What's great about Leyland? "Superb performance. Best after sales service," responds Inder. Not that Tatas don't match, but Inder's comfort with Leyland is pretty high. Want to ask him about his tire preference, but hold back because Devinder already hinted that his fleet management - especially tire management - is top notch.
What about drivers? A major chunk of them come from Agra region in Uttar Pradesh. Basti from Bihar and, of course, the inevitable Mewat of Haryana. Once upon a time, the Mewati group dominated but over the period of time, their numbers dwindled. Inder is happy. Devinder too.
Somehow, the Mewati drivers are considered as necessary evil. I spend a lot of time regularly in Mewat since I have several long haul truck driver friends from that zone - hardly 100 km from Delhi towards Alwar in Rajasthan. Every home will have more than one truck driver. Reliable? Trust worthy? Debatable. Having said that, you buttonhole any transporter and he would grudgingly admit that his flock of drivers would invariably consist of Mewatis. You cannot escape from their clutches! A few years ago, a well known transporter from NCR, created a website to blacklist errant truck drivers to alert other prospective employers of the minefield they would walk into if they hire those blacklisted. Well, the list mostly consisted of Mewati drivers!
By the way, the proportion of Mewati drivers servicing the Indian transport/trucking ecosystem is so high that there are dedicated Mewati dhabas across the length and breadth of Indian highways.
Like there are good transporters and not-so-good ones, there are good drivers and not-so-good ones as well. Have not come across any fleet owner who is 100% Mewati driver-driven.
We talk about empty back haul, payment cycle from clients, emergency relief operations with regard to their own vehicles, the business cycle and last, but not the least, the utility of various transport associations. Lack of unity among the office bearers of umpteen transport lobby groups is a bane, concedes Inder.
Vehicle dimension is a serious challenge, particularly in Maharashtra, concedes Lakhani saab. He shares the meetings with the state bureaucracy in the recent past and still keeping fingers crossed. What's the outcome of the recent nationwide transporters' agitation? Silence rents the room. I don't want to embarrass them by probing deep and leave it there, therefore.
The business, concedes Inder, is good. Growing. GST? "Will manage. Have to," admits LTC Logistics bossman. Practical and pragmatic. No point of breast thumping of "How can we? We are too small." While everyone is falling in line with the GST roll out, transporters can ill afford to antognize the government, however strong or valid their viewpoint maybe.
Elsewhere I heard someone cribbing, "am a two truck owner. Am I also suppose to follow the rules and fulfill all norms?" Yes, he must. There are no exceptions. Does this two-truck owner has nation wide branches? Good question. Maybe one or two. To that extent, his headache or challenge is negligible.
What about LTC Logistics which has 20 odd branches and 250 odd vehicles? Mind boggling. Inder does not deal with pigmies but the giants in each vertical, who will be 100% GST compliant. To derive due tax credits at each stage, paper work is a necessity. No papers, no credits. This simply translates into big dent into one's top and bottomlines. Forget about that. Non-compliance means penalty as well. Yes, tough times for transporters who have been doing business like any mom-and-pop shop for decades. Time to mature. Never too late.
That's precisely what Inder has embarked upon. The new office. Infusion of young and fresh talent - from within the family and outside. Adapt, if one wants to survive and thrive. That's the spirit.
"How about one more banana?" beseeches Lakhani saab extending another one. I accept and share half of it with Mayank, who luckily does not refuse. Good god.
Lunch over. Table cleaned. Inder suggests Devinder show me around the office and workshop.
Inder exits to his cabin. I follow the trio: Lakhani saab, Devinder and Mayank into the heart and soul of the business enterprise. Operations.
A board "Golden Rules", listing five items in English and Hindi is lying behind the reception desk waiting to be hanged on the wall.
The May heat hits the face, though we are inside the concrete building, not out in the open space.
Pushing open to the tinted glass door of Operations wing, we enter.
What did I see?
Ciao.
Ciao.
Check this link to read Visitor's Diary: LTC Logistics-1
Check this link to read Visitor's Diary: LTC Logistics-2
Check this link to read Visitor's Diary: LTC Logistics-3
This is really great article!! Thank you for sharing.
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