Mahindra Truck and Bus
The second
meeting of the Transport big-wigs was held in Chennai. 11 out of 16
customers were present and two of them took part via teleconference. Mr. Saurab
Ghosh (Sr. VP and Head Transport & Handling, Arshiya International), Prof.
Sekar (Professor, Indian Maritime University), Ms. Nandini Dias(COO, Lodestar
UM), Mr. Ramesh Kumar(Journalist & Author, CV Industry) were all part
of our esteemed jury.
The nominees
in South India showed their enthusiasm by presenting detailed and insightful
AV’s to the jury. Four candidates presented ideas for the Lady Transport
Personality awards. Funnily, they highlighted the need for soft skills to
improve the present troubles of the truck drivers.
The CEO and
Director of GATI, Ms. Chitra Shinde, a resident of New Zealand, shed some light
on the improvement of the transport industry by getting a deeper understanding
of the Indian audience and adjusting to cultural factors. Her experience and
knowledge was an asset to the meeting. The idea of making drivers, partners in
the Fleet Owners’ business
seemed to be the strongest recommendation of the jury members as a way forward
on the vexatious issue of the driver-owner conflict.
They etched
out plans to resolve the discrepancies between the younger s and older
generations of truckers. The jury also recommended a “Best Thinker’s Award for
the best idea for the Transport Industry”. This will help MNAL gain insights
and take up projects in the future without hesitation. The Jury also pointed
out that nominees ought to use current affairs to personify previous case
studies and bring them to life. This will help nominees focus on recent
achievements and plan better for the future. The jury opened their arms to
suggestions and feedback from transporters, drivers, YTPs, financers and LTPs
to broaden their outlook.
The idea of
Dhabas also acting as service centres for drivers received impetus from the
panel. The jury discussed fool-proof plans to understand the business better by
doing a SWOT analysis of the situation. They recommended that the nominee
evaluation be more rigorous and an increase in the entry barrier would yield
better output.
Various
topics were discussed and many ideas were deliberated upon, making the Chennai
Jury meet yet another successful event leading to the Mahindra Navistar
Transport Excellency Awards.
