Vahak Teams Up With AIMTC To Digitalise Indian Road Logistics
Vahak, a transport community platform, has unveiled its Delhi Centre at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar - Asia’s largest transport hub. The company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the apex body of transporters, to digitalise Indian road logistics.
Under this agreement, AIMTC and Vahak will work together to deliver Vahak’s AI and ML-backed technology solutions and value-added services (VAS) to AIMTC, across its affiliated member associations and individual members. These tech solutions include easy load-lorry booking, a secure payment gateway, membership perks and much needed VAS such as GPS, vehicle and cargo insurance and business loans.
Sharing his vision, Karan Shaha, CEO, and Co-founder of Vahak, said in a statement, “Our vision is to build a trusted transport community platform that looks out for transporters, shippers, fleet owners, and truckers’ growth and well-being. The trucking community is a major contributor to the Indian economy, and we have captured less than a percent of the $250 Billion market. Over the next 4-5 years, for road logistics and freight movement to evolve, we need deeper internet penetration and growing technology adoption within the trucking community.”
This tie-up signifies a joint effort to leverage technology for the betterment of the trucking community.
Amritlal Madan, President of AIMTC, said “India’s logistics cost currently stands at 14 per cent of GDP, a figure the government aims to reduce to 9 per cent. Road transport accounts for two-thirds of India’s transportation, employing over 2.2 crore people and playing a vital role in the nation’s growth ambition to become a $5 trillion economy.”
Explaining the needs of the sector, Madan added, “The number of trucks in India is expected to grow fourfold to 1.7 crores by 2050, reflecting the significant expansion of the trucking industry. The industry is fragmented, with 75 per cent of truck owners having less than 5 trucks, and 80 per cent engaged in daily spot business.”
Highlighting the challenges faced by the trucking industry, Madan explained, “Truckers face high percentage of empty runs due to difficulty in finding loads, taking one to three days on an average. Here, technology can play a transformative role in connecting load and lorry owners efficiently. Our MoU aims to address these challenges as well as bridge the trust deficit by providing a secure payment option for the transport community that will mitigate the risks associated with fraudulent links and QR codes.”
Vahak operates an ecosystem connecting over 25 lakh transport MSMEs, shippers, lorry, and fleet owners through its community-driven open marketplace app for load and lorry bookings.
Addressing the trucking community, Kultaran Singh Atwal, President of Federation of Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and Former President of AIMTC, explained the need of digitalisation for the trucking fraternity. He elaborated, “India is generating a significant transport demand of 2.2 trillion tonne-km at the cost of Rs. 9.5 lakh crore presently. This road freight movement is expected to increase to 9.6 trillion tonne-km by 2050. The sector is poised for substantial growth, with expectations of a 10.5 per cent expansion over the next 5 years, underscoring the importance of technological interventions to bring efficiencies across the entire logistics value chain.”
