Vikrant Gupta, Director – Supreme Auto Carrier is happy. For his 450 plus drivers. He is also happy that his family-owned company, Supreme Auto Carriers, had decided to tie-up with JK Tyre in 2015 under their cost per kilometer module. Along with it came a bunch of advantages of being JK Tyre customers for Supreme – one major benefit being the regular medical camps that JK Tyre hold for their drivers. Sarada Vishnubhatla walks in on the camp at their Gurugram office for a report.
JK Tyre recently organized a medical camp for the drivers of Supreme Auto Carrier. Supreme is known in the trucking fraternity for their genuine attempts at nurturing and taking care of the drivers. The camp, as is usual for JK Tyre, offered checking of basic health parameters including levels of blood pressure and blood sugar besides testing for vision and dermatological issues.
Since 2015, JK Tyre has been organizing medical camps once a quarter at both the centres of Supreme – one in Gurugram, Haryana, and the other in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. But from 2017 onwards, JK Tyre has begun holding the check-ups once a month.
Gupta shared: “Of our 450+ drivers – who are all on our company payroll – about 35 of them have been with us for more than 25 years. We want our drivers to realize that the health camps that are being conducted by JK Tyre are meant for their own health’s sake and for the happiness of their families and children. JK Tyre is pro-active in making our drivers become aware relentlessly on how to take precautions against contracting HIV/AIDS and other such STDs. This, we consider as more than what we have asked for and we are extremely happy about it.”
According to Gupta, the health camps by JK Tyre must not be seen in isolation. He has witnessed the overall change in their system and the business and how invigorated his drivers have become because of these camps. This, he feels, has worked out to be a win-win situation.
He said: “When these camps were being held once a quarter, most of our drivers used to miss out on them because not all of them would be available on that one day. It so happened that a majority of them would just not be able to attend even one camp in an entire year. But with the camps being held once a month by JK Tyre, our drivers can make up for any missed opportunity the following month. The ratio to those being able to attend at least one every quarter to those who missed out completely before is far better and robust now.”
JK Tyre has pulled out all the stops in making Supreme’s drivers feel comfortable and be open in attending these camps. The doctors are friendly and the presence of former drivers – who have now taken up the roles of supervisors or managers at Supreme – puts even the new recruits at ease.
Gupta agreed: “The first natural reaction of any person is to feel scared to undergo any health test. Willingly and without any apparent reason, no one will want to go to a doctor. JK Tyre’s medical camps have changed all that. Now, our drivers do not feel afraid to go through with these basic tests. If some still do feel, we take it up and counsel them in our daily morning tea sessions and make them understand the importance and benefits of getting screened for possible health issues.”
JK Tyre medical camps also provide their drivers with awareness regarding reducing stress levels and how to maintain basic hygiene whenever possible on the highways. As an extra safety measure, Supreme has literally barred their drivers to ply on the roads from 11 p.m. till 5 a.m.
He further shared: “We have seen a tremendous change since 2017. With the increased awareness in our drivers to regularly attend these medical camps by JK Tyre, and to follow all the prescriptions and counselling by the doctors here and using eye glasses and taking medicines without fail for their hypertension or elevated blood sugar levels, the direct benefit to our company has been reduction in the occurrence of fatal accidents. Before 2015, we had a fleet of about 300 vehicles and with infrequent medical aid, we had to face 5-6 major accidents a year where loss of lives was also involved. But now, even though our fleet has increased, major accidents a year has come down to barely 1-2. We are grateful for that. And we would be even more appreciative of JK Tyre if they could facilitate sharing full and detailed medical records of our drivers which can help us analyze the data and counsel them in a focused manner even in future.”
The complete satisfaction that one can see on the face of Vikrant Gupta is understandable in this context. Even if the drivers get delayed to take out their loaded trucks on the mornings of such medical camps, he is not complaining. And the entire credit goes to JK Tyre’s medical camps!