Poor truck drivers? Are you joking?

Ramesh Kumar from Greater Noida

"If you don't mind, tell me for whom you are buying sarees in bulk?" asked the salesperson seated at one of the busiest saree shops in the Bazaar near Barhi, Bihar on a steamy June 2015 afternoon. Akib Mohammed, representing Darcl from Delhi, responded: "For our truck driver parivar. We are visiting them for the first time. We want to give ladies nice saree."  

Good God, the sales guy asked a pertinent question. Otherwise, what was originally planned to keep the budget in mind, our gift would have been used as a cleaning mop instead of adorning Darcl drivers' wives. We were told that these ladies do not wear cheap items. Why? Because they are wives of truck drivers, not agricultural or construction workers - signaling their sartorial tastes are way up and above all, they can afford!

It was not the typical shopkeeper sales pitch. The village we were about to visit was hardly 10 km away from the bazaar and the villagers frequent this bazaar for their purchases. After the inevitable bargaining on account of bulk order, we settled around Rs.325 per saree and took delivery of 100 pieces.

Yes, there were murmurs and debates in the accompanying team about the cost of gifting! At the school ground, we came face to face with the huge gathering of Darcl drivers' parivar under the massive shade of benign peepul trees. After a short speech from the company representatives about the purpose of this "driver parivar connect" event, we began distributing gifts. 

We noticed the women folk running their fingers over the sarees to get the feel of the fabric and debating quality aspects. By the way, the sarees they were wearing amply demonstrated their taste and their approximate pricing! The same story repeated at other bastis (villages) of Darcl drivers as we transited to Faridabad over the next six days. Visits to their home proved there was not much of a difference in terms of gadgets and other amenities they enjoyed in those remotest parts of India. The point is that it is a misconception to claim that Indian truck drivers are poor. They roil in dire poverty. Definitely not. Utter nonsense and total misjudgment. 

Over years, I had traveled to several pockets of villages that supply long-haul truck drivers to serve the 1.3billion populace - from north, south, or west. I have never come across any driver living in poor, thatched roof dwelling units. All brick and cement houses. With refrigerator, TV sets, sound system, at least one motorcycle. Curtained windows. Not to be missed is the branded apparel: fake or genuine is secondary. The families are tasting a nice lifestyle. Above all, their children studying in private educational institutions which levy hefty fees vis-a-vis almost free education in government-run ones.  Truck drivers can afford it. Got it? 

In Jhumritalaiya, Jharkhand on a visit to a driver's house, the father shows me around the huge house: ground plus first floor with several rooms to accommodate the 10-member parivar of two brothers each occupying one entire floor. The previous house, opposite the new home, is still in use: as cattle shed! There are goats, chickens, ducks and a garden where vegetable grows for captive consumption. Not to be forgotten is the piece of land where they grow paddy, corn, millets, etc. 

Another time, in Bhim, Rajasthan, another driver hosts me for two days and nights, too. I was traveling with him with vehicles from Rudrapur to Bangalore. We halt on the highway, five km away from his home at a shop cum parking space belonging to his uncle. A lot of items collated by the driver during his journey get unloaded onto a jeep and I pillion-ride with him on a motorcycle. Here again, it is a huge space with five brothers living together in the same complex but in different houses. 

I get royal treatment during my stay. The only hitch was: no toilets, thus compelling me to "fertilize" in open space! There is no concern over the lack of privacy. They got used to it. Wherever I have visited driver clusters and stayed overnight, this was a challenge and I always told them about the Swatch Bharat Abhiyan. 

Road safety expert Pradipto Bhattacharya, who was with me at Jhunjhunu, almost ran away one night due to this hitch! He could not and would not visualize the open space bowel movement, having got used to performing the daily act behind closed doors. Since the driver's house was in the midst of a huge tract of farmland with tall stalks obstructing visibility at night and no proper road to lead him to the hotel we had booked on the highway, he had no option but to stay put. Two years later, the same driver invited us again and pompously declared that he has built a toilet on his premises. 

Such stories are endless. What is the secret behind such prosperity? I ask my host. "We have everything in our village. House. Farm, however big or small, does not matter. Our food is taken care of. Cows, buffaloes, and goats give milk. Chicken gives eggs and they are eaten also. The goat provides milk and then becomes mutton. No shortage of firewood. We are self-sufficient. Possibly, we may have to buy matches and masala!," explain the lady of the house in Jalna, Maharashtra. 

I am tempted to ask: what do you do with the money your driver-husband earns? But I don't, out of politeness. Long haul truck drivers are truly rich, provided they do not have negative attributes such as drinking, drugs, extra-marital affairs, etc. Actually, their earnings go towards children's education and meeting the health needs of their elderly parents. 

There is another solid evidence to support my theory that they are not poor but well-off. For instance, unlike the white-collar types, their job is more or less like a mini business. Why? Because they are not on the payroll of any fleet owner. More or less like a verbal contractual obligation. Their earning is based on the number of kilometers they drive. The more kilometers they drive, the more they earn. That simple, it is. 

It is no secret that long-haul truck drivers don't work for 11 months without a break and take a month off - away from work. They don't have perks such as privilege leave, sick leave, and casual leave. Not even weekends. Their calendars have no Saturdays and Sundays. They work all day. Either driving with or without load or waiting outside factory gates or distribution centers either for load/unload - away from home, always.  Their trucks are also home for them and hence these vehicles are maintained well: their kamadhenu (milch cow) that bestows riches perpetually. (This kind of kinship with trucks is also the reason for drivers unwilling to be part of rest and relay formats. Multiple handling of a single vehicle, they compare to polygamy! So possessive. 

When they decide to go home, there is no fixed date when he would return. Come harvest time, there will be a sudden shortage of drivers as they go home to help to harvest on their farms. Their leave of absence from the steering wheel may run into two or three months also.  So the key question: when they are not earning, how do they manage? They stay away at home by digging into their nest egg built over the previous months. Ought to be substantial. They use this time for harvest or conduct or attend marriages and other family functions or to celebrate festivals: holi, diwali, bakrid, ramzaan, etc. Or they simply loiter around. 

Unless their financial health is robust, they cannot exhibit such behavior. I have never heard of a driver taking the family out on a vacation. The family enjoys his presence at home. That itself is a celebration for the parivar. With no tax compliance burden - most of them earning is in cash - a big convenience for the fleet owner and him as well. Significantly, they know nothing about financial planning as the city-bred folks understand. Most of their earnings/savings are kept in gold and land; not in the form of fixed deposits or mutual funds and other securities. 

Yet, their appearance may distort reality. They may look ugly, shabby, uncouth, etc. They may crib a lot - like their owners - as if the entire world is pitted against them. It is all farce. So long as they remain as drivers, they will be on a roll. However, the moment they get ambitious and want to become truck owners, the matrix will change, bringing into play various challenges that they are not adequately equipped to handle. That's the reason why the much-talked-about chalak-se-malak campaign has not succeeded. 

The wealth effect (or prosperity) of the driver clan becomes apparent when one catches up with others in the same neighborhood. Involved in farming, a seasonal work, they have more free time, idling. Little disposable income and the consequent lower living standards vis a vis his driver neighbor. One big boast of them is that they have more time for their family, unlike driver parivar. Well, there is always a trade-off. Like the indifference curve: more work, less leisure, or vice versa. That's the life of a driver careerist. Long home-aways, yes. 

All said and done, a driver is definitely well off comparatively speaking. Had he not taken up this career, his existence would have been at par with his non-driver neighbor with more leisure, less work, and therefore less income and the consequent lower living standard. 

I have never come across any truck driver paying income tax! Whereas those who make fun of him or ill-treat him at head office, branch office, loading/unloading centers, factory or warehouse security guards, or on highway babus all pay income tax! 

It is no exaggeration to say it is better to be a driver than a driver-owner. On average, a long-haul truck driver earns approx. Rs.45,000/- a month. Most of it, in hard cash with no tax compliance hassles. Like any other job, driving has its own challenges. No sensible driver will kick his job and go away because the opportunity cost is pretty huge. Barring truck driving which does not demand any paper qualification, honestly, he has no desire to opt for any other career option. Where else, he can earn good money, plan his daily routine and be a king and see the country free of cost and ensure prosperity for his parivar? And the cynosure of his neighbors. Poor driver? No way. It's an oxymoron. 

Had it not been for truck driving for the past two decades, Sultanpur-born Anil Pandey could not have educated three of his younger brothers up to post-graduation, helped them settle down in good jobs, and also ensuring his children's college education and marriage. Even today, he is at the steering of the truck ferrying steel items - not as an owner but as a driver - across the Indian highways. So also, fiftyish long haul truck driver Shaheed Khan of Mewat with a huge tract of fertile land, like Pandey. He does not take driving assignments unless he is assured of Rs.50,000 a month. 

On a November 2016 afternoon, I met a lean and emaciated Bikha Singh outside Garware Synethic factory in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Asked about his monthly salary, he mentioned, "one thousand rupees". He has been driving for the same Kolkota company for more than a decade. His parting shot was his fourth daughter is ready for betrothal and he is equally ready with cash! Three daughters already married off even while his declared monthly income of Rs.1,000. How did he manage this magic is a mystery. On second thought, it is no mystery! The untold or hidden wealth effect, huh! 

Truck drivers are poor financially is an anomaly. An oxymoron. Such a species does not exist in the world you and I co-habit with them.