JK Tyre’s home-grown radial revolution has indeed benefited a large number of transporters in the country. After meeting some of the leading fleet operators in Jaipur and Kolkata who heaped praise on JK, we headed to the western region to find out Pune’s Shree Hatkeshwara Translines’ experience with JK Tyre, expecting something similar, only to end up getting something better.
Incorporated in 1999, Shree Hatkeshwara Translines Pvt. Ltd. is into the transport of cement and chemicals such as LPG and propane. Before entering the field, the owners of the company were running a single Tata truck in the early 1990s, and today, out of sheer hard work and focused effort, the company has a large fleet of its own.
Says Mr. Adityaraj Shah, Director, Shree Hatkeshwara Translines Pvt. Ltd.: “We were running one Tata Motors tanker truck way back in 1991 when we were into milk transport. We started our company in 1999, and today we have created a fleet of 750 vehicles. We transport cement using bulkers, cement bags using haulage vehicles, LPG and propane in bullet tankers. We transport LPG and propane pan-India while cement transport is mainly from the South to Pune and Mumbai. Ashok Leyland branded vehicles constitute 90 per cent of our fleet, while the rest is from Tata Motors.”
The firm, which clocked a turnover of Rs. 350 crores in FY15, does not consider any other transport company as its competitor owing to the fact that it takes utmost care of the customer requirements. “There is no competition for us in the logistics segment because we all work for the people. We have no competitor because our goal is to ensure we provide timely delivery and full satisfaction to our customers. We also ensure we take care of our drivers and employees very well and see to it that they are provided with everything they need”, adds Mr. Shah.
The JK connection
Shree Hatkeshwara Translines is one company which would swear by JK Tyre, simply because of its experience with both the brand as well as its workforce. Every single tyre the company currently uses is JK brand, thus showing the degree of confidence it has placed on the leading Indian tyre maker.
He further observes: “JK Tyre is like our heart, because we use so many tyres, and it is one of the most important components of our expenditure. Our company is fine today because our heart is perfectly fine. We use 100 per cent JK Tyre branded tyres on our fleet, and all of them are radials because of the huge benefits we get out of them. We have seen around 17 per cent reduction in operating costs including an enormous improvement in fuel efficiency in radials over bias tyres, and this translates into a lot of savings for us”.
While its fleet includes 6-wheeler, 8-wheeler and 10-wheeler vehicles, involving a sizeable tyre consumption every year, one would expect the company to have at least two to three different tyre brands in use, but it is not the case. The company did try out radials from other multinational brands in the past but soon returned to its most preferred brand – JK.
“Every year we consume tyres worth nearly Rs. 4 crores, excluding the cost for maintenance. We have tried out other brands as well and can safely say JK is the best. Their tyre performance is very good and so is their aftersales service. Going by our experience, if someone asks us ‘why JK Tyre?’, we would ask in return ‘why not JK Tyre?’. The approach of their sales team and management is fantastic, and we are completely happy to have such a partner”, asserts Mr. Shah.
The JK Fleet Management team takes care of Shree Hatkeshwara Translines’ retreading requirements by offering the best of retreads through JK Tread outlets and also helps the company in scrap disposal. The transport company retreads its tyres after a use of around 1,30,000 km, based on the vehicle route and the application.
He concludes saying, “we do not have any issues to be resolved with JK, simply because their Fleet Management team is in close and regular touch with us and they take care of our needs then and there”, giving an emphatic verdict on JK’s performance.