For logistics SMEs can take advantage of truck aggregator cos: Navin Gupta

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Saurabh Gupta | 05 Mar, 2016
The logistics industry is extremely sensitive to supplyâdemand situation. While selecting logistics at best freight rates small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must gather information from various points of sources. If SMEs can connect themselves with many different brokers, their chances of finding the carrier at the best possible rates will go up significantly, said Navin Gupta, Director and Co-founder of Autoload.

In an interview, he told SME Times, "When we talk about costing. Online transactions helps bring transparency and eliminate problems like overâ invoicing, favouritism or kickâbacks. On the Internet, we today have a number of truck booking portals. SMEs can start trying these portals to find out about the advantages that they offer."

Excerpts of the interview...

Please tell something about Autoload? What is so unique about it?
Navin Gupta: With a mission to become India's premier company for matching the aggregated demand with supply in the trucking industry, Autoload is India's versatile digital platform for booking loads and trucks.

With optimum presence on mobile and web, Autoload is accessible all through. Autoload is unifying the fragmented and disrupted transport industry in India, bringing technology and innovation together by providing a common platform to transporters and truck owners fulfilling their requirement for each other.

The company promises a remarkable experience both for transporters and truck owners. Autoload offers numerous benefits to the transporters that includes, automated truck hiring process, transparency in operations, safe delivery with GPS enabled tracking, reduced nonâplacement of truck in addition to optimal freight and verified third party trucks.

Autoload provides multitudes of advantages for the Fleet owners as well, such as, automatic load suggestions, load availability across country, higher probability of return load, price visibility in addition to profitable route suggestion and real time fleet management through mobile app.

It is an online platform. How it works?
Navin Gupta: Autoload is a very simple and easy to use application. Transporters and fleet owners can use Autoload's mobile app to post their requirements or contact the team online or by phone. Autoload has two mobile app first one is AUTOLOAD â Find Trucks, for transporters which is available on both android and ios. Transporters can create their account and login securely with One time password. After this they can post their loads and get bids from fleet owners operating on the same route. Transporters can accept or reject the offers from fleet owners. They can also view the remaining distance and estimated time to complete the trip. The other mobile app is AUTOLOAD â Find loads , for fleet owners, using which they can easily get loads for their vehicles. All they need to do is list their vehicles in the system and they can easily get available loads at a single click. Post their bids to show their interest for picking the loads. Keep track of all their vehicles during trip. After trip completion, they can update their vehicle to available for new loads.

What are the benefits of this and especially how a small entrepreneur can get the benefits of this platform?
Navin Gupta: Autoload is a transparent and efficient system which can immensely benefit the transport industry. In India, more than 80% of fleet owners are small and own up to 5 vehicles only. For them and other small transporters, getting loads and hiring trucks is a big challenge. Fleet owners vehicles stand idle for days before getting loads which not only deprive them of their profits but also costs them in terms of loans, interest and maintenance fee for the vehicle. Autoload is here to benefit them by connecting transporters and fleet owners through our platform where they can book loads and hire trucks/trailers fast and easy. Online transactions helps bring transparency and eliminate problems like overâ invoicing, favouritism or kickâbacks. When we talk about costing.

Please tell how you maintain the transparency in Freight rates?
Navin Gupta: Autoload works when a transporter posts their company's loads and a fleet owners bid for the corresponding loads. Here both the transporter and fleet owner are connected directly asking prices and bidding prices without any mediator. For any changes in the market rates, the system quickly reflects the true picture of current market prices and help them book loads and vehicles without any markup prices.

Any guidance that how to negotiate better Freight Rates?
Navin Gupta: Here are a few tips that the transporters can follow to ensure that they get their bookings done at the best possible price: Don't depend on single source for information â At times the search for a carrier can take several hours and dozens of phone calls. If you are connected with many different brokers, your chances of finding the carrier at the best possible rates will go up significantly. Don't show the broker that you have an urgent need â The transport industry is extremely sensitive to supplyâdemand situation. If the transporter sends out the signal that he is in urgent need for trucks/trailers, then the price will go up immediately. Try to develop long term relationships â The business transactions that you do on a daily basis should lead to the formation of long term relationships. If you have good relationships with certain brokers, then they are more likely to go out of the way in fulfilling your requirements whenever you have urgent need of a carrier. Take advantage of truck aggregator companies â On the Internet, we today have a number of truck booking portals. You can start trying these portals to find out about the advantages that they offer.

For your information - Autoload is one of the largest online truck booking platform in India - the company operates across the country and has an expert team to deliver on requirements of the transportation industry.

How could you ensure the safety of goods delivered by you?
Navin Gupta: A key concern of the transporters, while moving shipments, is ensuring the safety of their cargo. They want a reliable broker who has the experience and the expertise for making a safe and timely delivery. Online truck and load booking platform, Autoload has considerable experience in moving a variety of heavyweight shipments, ODC cargo, project cargo. The good thing about being associated with a company like Autoload is that here the process of truck booking is fully automated and is geared to help the transporters in saving their time and money.

How vast is your coverage? Please share
Navin Gupta: Autoload has a pan India coverage of both transporters and fleet owners. Autoload is currently operating in North, West and South regions of the country and has more than 35,000 trailers associated with us. Also, Autoload is planning its branch offices in Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Angul, Raigarh, Nammakal, Trichy, Kalamboli and Vizag.

How you see the present?
Navin Gupta: At present the market needs a solution that can consolidate demand and supply in the market and make it efficient. There is a big loss of productivity and resources in logistics sector that can be saved and given back to SME fleet owners and SME transporters. We see our efforts in the present changing the future.

And what are your future plans?
Navin Gupta: We are scaling up very quickly and gaining traction in the market. The future plan is to deliver benefits of Autoload to even greater number of SME fleet owners and transporters. We will strengthen our reach across India and ensure all fleet owners who are SME entrepreneurs are able to get return loads from any destination in India.