Story by: Gunjan D. Bidani
The eighth edition of Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards 2018 was a grand success and accomplished what it set out to. It inspired the stakeholders of road transportation in India to rise above their limitations. Held at Hotel Ashok on March 19’ 2019 in New Delhi, like in the past editions, the Transport Excellence Awards recognized and rewarded ‘Outperformance’, ‘Excellence’, ‘Innovation’ and ‘Change Leadership’. Reckoned as the forum to showcase excellence and outperformance through the year, the eighth edition, held under the patronage of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), received a total of 5467 entries and 9991 nominations and case studies spanning stakeholders of the commercial vehicle industry.
Driven by the pillars of Mahindra’s ‘Rise’ philosophy – ‘Accepting No Limits’, ‘Alternative Thinking’ and ‘Driving Positive Change’, this year, among the newer categories introduced, were ‘Perishable Goods’, ‘Urban Public Services’, ‘Courier/eCommerce Transportation’ under the SCV and LCV segments; ‘Emerging Transport Business of the Year’ in the ICV and HCV segments; ‘End User Organisations’, to award the corporate customers transported through categories like ‘Torch Bearers of Safety’ and ‘Logistics Manager of the Year’. Avana Logistek won the award for being the ‘Outperformers in Business – more than 100 HCVs’. Shadowfax Technologies bagged the top honours for Alternative Thinking in ‘Dream Chasers’. Ajanta Transport emerged as the national winner under the category ‘Outperformers in Business – more than 50 CVs’ and DHL Supply Chain India was bagged the ‘Outperformance in Integrated Logistics Services.’
Setting the tone for the evening, a panel discussion on ‘Commercial Vehicles and Road Safety’, drew attention to the transport ecosystem. A no-brainer that the psychological distress to a CV driver has a negative impact on safe driving practices echoed the sentiments of those who had gathered. Y. S. Malik, Hon’ble Secretary, MoRTH drew attention to this fundamental issue that the industry is grappling with. “In exchange for handsome earnings, unrealistic driving targets are set by the fleet owners,” he claimed. “Instead of providing incentives, which would make the drivers feel a sense of pride in their harsh profession, the exact expenditure for diesel, toll and food is being given before a trip commences. Sadly, respect should be given first,” he asserted. Driving since 2003, Yogita Raghuvanshi, HCV Truck Driver, cited her example to further stress upon the need for the industry to respect the driver community. Forced to take up the profession due to financial constraints, Raghuvanshi elaborated upon the on-ground situation to drive home the point. “The mindset to undermine the drivers is still the same,” she opined. The panel discussion highlighted the role of different stakeholders similarly and touched upon how they could help enhance road safety.
The eighth edition of the awards also awarded drivers that are said to be the ‘real’ enablers of the CV industry. Chhatarapal Singh of N.K. Transport bagged the laurels as the ‘Super Outperformer Driver of the year’ along with a brand-new Mahindra Blazo X 25T as a token of appreciation for his 16 years of professional commitment.
