Cleaner to owner : The Shriram Way (Case Study)

Abstract: This paper speaks about the process in which a Motor Vehicle’s cleaner will grow into an owner and about the players in the market who will support him in achieving the ownership and how the company ‘Shriram Commercial Vehicle Finance Ltd.’, helps him in making his dream fulfilled.

The ‘cleaner to owner’ concept is mainly based on the truck finance and how Shriram Commercial Vehicle Finance Ltd. concentrates on transforming the life a truck cleaner into a full-fledged truck owner by providing truck finance in a customer-friendly way. Shriram also provides loans to small truck owners (STOs), Single operators to sustain them in the market with easy loan repayment provisions. This is a scenario that is transforming many lives. Growing into an owner from a cleaner position requires lot of effort, knowledge and finances. Here, that person has to approach any financial institutions for a loan. This study tells about a financial institution which is helping them in transforming their lives and which is helping them in making their dreams fulfilled. subsequently how a driver becomes an owner with the help of a financial institution. If one truck owner is there he appoints two persons to his truck one is driver and another person is cleaner. Driver’s duty is driving the vehicle and cleaner’s duty is cleaning the vehicle, changing the tires when tires are failed and all mechanic problems whenever occur. Sometimes, while travelling with the vehicle the cleaner gets a chance to drive the vehicle when the driver is at sleep.  Then cleaner gets a chance to drive the vehicle and learns the art of driving as and when he gets an opportunity. When driver leaves the job and if owner is happy with the cleaner, at that time the cleaner becomes the driver of the truck. Thus cleaner becomes a driver.

            After getting some experience in the field of driving and knowledge about maintenance of the truck etc., he develops a dream of owning a truck. He then decides to buy a truck and starts thinking about how to purchase the vehicle and approaching banks for a loan.  At times banks are not interested in giving him the loan due to his uncertain financial condition and lack of collateral security. Generally, this situation arises as he has nothing to show as surety because he has begun his life from the scratch hence, no accumulated assets. Then the person’s dream collapses and feels demotivated. In order to help such people who are not economically sound and who cannot provide any security, Shriram finds a business opportunity. Shriram has started granting loans to small drivers and thereby helping them to transform into truck owners.

             Shriram will give different percentages of loans to used vehicles and new vehicles.  For used vehicle they will give 75% of the actual price of the vehicle. For new vehicle, two types of loans are provided, one is for chassis only and other is for fully built.  To the type of vehicle i.e. fully built, they provide loan upto 75% of the actual price of the vehicle (for eg buy a school bus its cost 10, 00,000 on that amount they will give 7, 50,000 remaining amount 2,50,000 borrower bears). For ‘chassis only’ means partially vehicle ready i.e. only some part of the vehicle is built. For ‘chassis only’ type of vehicles Shriram will give 90% of the actual price of the vehicle and borrower is supposed to bear remaining 10% of the price and chassis building charges. If customer is already an existing member in the Shriram, chassis charges are also given as a loan by Shriram hence, customer with a minimum percentage of payment i.e. only 10% of the price one becomes the owner of the vehicle.

Shriram Way

Once the cleaner has made a decision to buy a vehicle he approaches Shriram commercial vehicle finance as no bank will grant a loan without any surety. Then Shriram will help that person in buying a vehicle by providing an easy loan. The financial institutions in the market or the leading banks will see only his financial condition where Shriram commercial vehicle finance first looks at the experience of the person in the driving field while providing the loan. The cleaner who turned into driver consults an officer in the Shriram and explains his wish of becoming a vehicle owner. Shriram officers advice him while making a choice of buying a vehicle either a new vehicle or a used one. Shriram officers usually suggest a small owner to buy a used vehicle rather than the new vehicle. The cleaner turned driver has less money in hand and used vehicle will generally be easier task to him because he gained some experience in handling a vehicle. it will also be easier for him to raise some portion of the finance of his own (25%) and the rest will be sanctioned by the company (75%). Otherwise, if he decides to buy a new vehicle the EMI will be more and sometimes he may not be able to pay the huge amount of EMI hence, Shriram suggests a driver to buy a used vehicle where the EMI will be less and a truck driver can easily pay it back. Shriram counsels the cleaner in a systematic way to make a better judgment by him.  Once the driver has taken a decision to buy the used vehicle then the Shriram officers will grant a loan to own the vehicle to change the life of a cleaner into a full-fledged vehicle owner.

Some Success Sagas: The Shriram Way

• Krishna a truck owner from Hyderabad used to work as a cleaner then he grew into a driver and worked for a salary of 12,000 per month with a private lorry owner. Once he thought of owning a truck by himself where he could enjoy the fuller returns. One day he approached Shriram after knocking the doors of some banks. Here he got a warm welcome and a helping hand along with guidance. Now he says that, “He is happy today because of the helping hand from Shriram.” “I never thought that my dream will be fulfilled and where I can enjoy the effort I keep. Today I feel that I’m the king of my truck,” he adds.

•  Raju a customer of Shriram since 3.5 years has taken finance for 2 trucks is happy with the service and the friendly advice that he gets from Shriram Commercial vehicle Finance. He came to know about Shriram from one of his friends and approached Shriram. By the time he stepped into Shriram office he lost all his hopes of owning a truck where his dreams were sprouted again, his lost hope helped him in fulfilling his dreams. He says “If Shriram wasn’t there I would have been a common driver forever. Now I’m enjoying the owner status, thanks to Shriram.”

•  Sujoy Das of Behrampur had been a truck driver's assistant for many years, cleaning the vehicle, driving when his boss was tired and running every kind of errand. And then one day he asked himself why he couldn't own a truck. He went to one or two finance companies. Then he asked him about his bank account and whether he had any collateral. But Sujoy Das was looking for a finance company that could see the fire in his belly. He didn't have to look far. He came across a Shriram Transport Finance branch nearby, where he not only got a warm welcome, but also friendly advice on how to grow his business, and of course a loan to purchase a used truck. Today Sujoy owns a fleet of trucks plying from one end to other end of the country to another with many assistants.

• Mohammed Firoz is a truck driver. He brought a second hand truck with the help of Shriram Transport Finance. He is happier today. “I started my journey as a cleaner. My duty was to clean trucks and to assist the driver and to drive vehicle when the driver sleeps. I never thought or dreamt of becoming an owner. Once, I’ve seen a fellow truck owner speaking about how he grew into a truck owner from cleaner. That inspired me and after 2 years I owned a truck with the help of Shriram. Without Shriram I couldn’t have done this” Says Firoz

Conclusion:

Shriram is driving the truck market with its customer-friendly truck-loan strategies and changing the lives of thousands of customers. Thus a small cleaner grows into an owner of the truck with the help of Shriram Commercial Vehicle Finance and making his dreams realized.


Yours

Anusha.ch(always in happy mood)