AA Bell, the award-winning author of Diamond Eyes and Hindsight has been quoted as famously saying, “I didn’t wait for luck, I tore after it with a truck.”
That’s what one could say about Nilesh Ghule too, co-founder and CEO of Forza Logistics Techlab. Pvt. Ltd, a technology-led logistics company, popularly known as ‘TruckBhejo’.
Himself a truck driver’s son, Nilesh grew up seeing his father’s pick-up parked outside the verandah of their home every time he returned from another of those long-haul trips that would take him away from the family for days, sometimes even during festivals and special occasions.
Having seen first-hand the trials of a profession that offered no financial security but invited social disdain, Nilesh, left Nashik in 2005 and enrolled at the College of Engineering Pune. After getting his degree, he had a brief stint with Infosys, before moving to the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Armed with an MBA from IIM-B, he jumped back into the corporate sector, joining Reliance Jio as Senior Products Manager.
It was while sending network equipment to 880 cities that Nilesh realised the challenges logistics posed even for a telecom giant like Reliance. “The market was huge, but it was unstructured, disorganized and fragmented with everyone doing their own thing. Some only did the first mile, others middle mile or last mile with even the vehicles being different. Multi vendor interface, geographical dependencies and limited technology adoption made the task complicated, long and inefficient,” he admits.
The digital wave triggered the idea of a scalable business through a viable amalgamation of logistics and technology. In July 2016, with his IIM batchmate Supreet Perisetla as co-founder and CFO, Nilesh flagged off his start-up, TruckBhejo providing services on an annual as well as flexible contract basis across all three delivery miles, promising operational efficiency, deadline certainty, transparency through real-time tracing and cost optimization.
“We started with just one order from Paper Boat, today we have close to 50 customers, including Nestle, Colgate, Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, DMart and Larsen & Tubro to name a few and across FMCG, infrastructure, manufacturing, retail, e-grocery, e-commerce and even the Central government, with a 95% contract renewal rate,” informs Nilesh, whose brainchild bagged the Indian Achievers’ Award in 2021 for ‘Emerging Company’ in recognition of its outstanding professional achievement and contribution in nation building.
Starting with 12-15 trucks, TruckBhejo has around 4500+ trucks today running on the platform, has completed 1 million deliveries and shipped over 2 million tonnages of goods. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years when several businesses globally ground to a halt, this company continued its relentless drive, undaunted by the threat of disease and death.
Applauding his drivers, the unsung frontline warriors, Nilesh raves, “Some fell prey to Corona, yet their spirit was more contagious than the pesky virus as they set a shining example in responsibility and dependability.”
He reciprocates their dedication by never forgetting the driving force of his company. From once wanting to make enough money to give his parents a taste of the good life, this young CEO now aspires to bring much-needed financial stability and social dignity to the trucking community as a whole through certainty of contracts, regular business and timely payments, eliminating the middleman.
Given his background, Nilesh is sensitive to their needs. Diwali gifts mean not just sweets, but something more sustainable like clothes or schooling for their children.
Aware of the dangers on the job with 10% of truck drivers dying in road accidents every year, he gently nudges his suppliers towards life covers, even creating cost-effective insurance packages for them.
His responsibility increased during the pandemic. “During the last two years, along with masks, protection shields and sanitisers, we undertook to give our drivers proper training in safety and protocols, even tying up with warehouse owners to ensure they were vaccinated on the go,” he shares, adding that 85 % of the truck-owners who have joined forces with him have come to them through word-of-mouth, and as satisfied as his customers, have stayed on.
The next time you think of trucks, remember this self-made entrepreneur.