抖阴短视频

DUBAI: Midway through our Zoom call, Gaurav Biswas threw a big statistic into the mix: 鈥淥ne interesting fact I鈥檝e learned is that 抖阴短视频 has the highest per capita number of trucks in the world,鈥� he revealed with a flourish.

Biswas is the founder and CEO of TruKKer, the Uber of the trucking business and one of the fastest-growing logistics companies in the Middle East. Trucking statistics are his forte, and 抖阴短视频 is the main growth focus for his four-year-old company.

鈥湺兑醵淌悠� continues to amaze me with how innovation is accelerating at such a rapid pace. Young Saudis are so ambitious, believe in technology, and are keen to deliver,鈥� he said.

He told how the idea for TruKKer 鈥� which recently completed one of the biggest early rounds of capital raising in the region with a $23 million funding from some of its biggest investors 鈥� first came to him.

鈥淚 was having dinner with a friend who works in fertilizer manufacture. He was very agitated because he was let down by a haulage firm for a delivery the following day. It ruined dinner, but we saw an opportunity,鈥� he related.

Like Uber or Careem, TruKKer users can order their vehicle via an app under the slogan 鈥渁ny truck, any time, anywhere.鈥� 

Since it launched in 2016 as the region鈥檚 first technology-enabled truck aggregator, it has gained 12,000 drivers and trucks to keep the Middle East鈥檚 commercial lifelines moving, even in the trying circumstances of pandemic lockdowns and transport restrictions.

Biswas said he was 鈥渋nspired鈥� by similar tech-based haulage businesses in China and the US, but regards the Gulf region as especially suited to the concept. 鈥淭rucking is so fragmented here it makes even more sense than cabs. There鈥檚 a lot of smart investment going into an extremely fragmented business,鈥� he said.

BIO

BORN: 1982, Gujarat, India

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor of engineering, CEPT University, Ahmadabad
• Master of engineering, University of Dundee
• MBA Finance, SP Jain School of Global Management

CAREER:

• Senior project manager, Arup
• Director, AECOM

鈥淭he majority of cross-border truckers between, say, the UAE and 抖阴短视频, are individual owner operators, or very small transport companies. In the Saudi market, 70 percent are the small to medium sized fleet, up to 50 trucks. The top 10 or 15 percent is built of large fleet owners 鈥� more than 500 and up to 2,000 trucks. The fragmentation is huge and this is where the opportunity lies for us,鈥� Biswas added.

When the pandemic hit earlier this year, it was a challenge to TruKKer鈥檚 business model. 鈥淚 told our staff in a letter 鈥榞uys, I don鈥檛 think anybody knows how to deal with this.鈥� There is no book about how to deal with a pandemic. So for the first couple of months we were learning, waiting and watching. But then we realized how the industry was reacting,鈥� he said.

The impact came in various stages. First there was the hit on imports and exports to China, with its big container-based trade in the region.

Next there was the 鈥渕assive impact鈥� from regional lockdowns as 抖阴短视频, the UAE, Oman and other importing hubs imposed lockdowns and transport restrictions to combat the virus. 鈥淔or a lot of clients the top risk was the disruption to their manufacturing and their supply lines with employees falling sick,鈥� Biswas said.

Then came the broader economic impact as industrial and consumer demand was devastated. He saw demand fall off in consumer-focused industries like retail, but also, strangely, in water delivery, a big business for TruKKer.

鈥淲e do a lot of distribution of soft commodities 鈥� for example, we are one of the largest suppliers of packaged drinking water. You might think that consumption would not go down, people still have to drink water whether they鈥檙e at home or at work. But it does have an impact on packaged water, because a lot of it is consumed in restaurants,鈥� he said.

Even against this gloomy backdrop, Biswas saw an opportunity. 鈥淪maller brokers, smaller transporters were either going into hibernation, or they were facing financial difficulties. So we took the approach that this is our time to acquire markets share.

鈥淭his was not just an opportunistic thing. This is our business model. We want to consolidate smaller suppliers into one big broker. We want to become the 鈥榤other broker鈥� in the supply space, and this is our time to make it happen at a much faster rate than would have happened anyway,鈥� he added.

The signs so far are encouraging. March was TruKKer鈥檚 best-ever month of operations, but Biswas 鈥減ut the brakes on鈥� in April and May. July鈥檚 numbers were better than March, he said. 鈥淲e used the last few months to acquire key clients. So the overall demand for trucking might reduce because of reduced consumption but we have taken the opportunity to grow,鈥� he said.

How far does he think TruKKer can go in the tech-enabled haulage business? 鈥淚t would be quite naive of me to say I鈥檓 going to control this market within this year or next. It鈥檚 a very large market and no one player can dominate the Saudi transportation industry. I think we can certainly become the biggest, and that鈥檚 not very far away. I would say by next year we will be doing more transactions that anyone in the market, so we would be the biggest,鈥� he said.

TruKKer vehicles carry virtually any kind of product, from basic materials like petrochemicals, construction goods and equipment, steel, aluminum and copper, through to food and fast-moving consumer goods, paper and packaging products.

It has plans to get involved in the oil tanker business, but has so far steered clear of pharmaceuticals, which Biswas said was a 鈥渃onscious decision鈥� because of the special requirements of that sector.

He has also avoided the transportation of dangerous materials like explosives, although this is only a small part of the haulage market.

Egypt 鈥� the key to a broader expansion in Africa 鈥� is a focus of expansion at the moment, with eight TruKKer offices in the country and a presence in all the major Egyptian ports. He is also looking north, with operations in Jordan and other countries in the Levant that do business with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

An IPO in the Saudi markets in the next few years would be delightful for TruKKer.

Gaurav Biswas, CEO, TruKKer

And then, there is Iraq. 鈥淲e鈥檙e quite serous about the opportunities involved with the rebuilding and reconstruction of Iraq, that is something which is quite close to our ambitions in the short term,鈥� Biswas said.

This ambitious growth strategy will present its own challenges in a region infamous for the bureaucracy and security restrictions involved in cross-border trade. 鈥淎nything that crosses borders by land or sea or air comes with a lot of bureaucracy and documentation. Cargo movement comes with he amounts of documentation because of the multiple parties involved,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he security risk is high, but I think the region ranks somewhere in the middle globally. Not quite up to the standards of Western economies, but much more secure than Asia or Southeast Asia. Law and order is a big thing in the region and people are less likely to break the law than they are in other parts of the world. But there are still things that happen,鈥� he added.

He thinks that technology, for example in the tracking of cargoes, can be used to mitigate some of those risks, but would also like to see the region insurance industry raise its game. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it has matured as fast as a few other economies,鈥� he said.

In terms of TruKKer鈥檚 next steps as a corporate entity, Biswas and his team are working on a Series B fundraising that will probably take place before the end of the year. The Saudi Telecom investment arm STV was a big backer in the first fundraising round, and Biswas highlighted the synergy between his business and telecommunications technology.

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be some very interesting times in the next few months. We鈥檙e going to add some very significant names to our shareholder list,鈥� he said.

The endgame for a technology based start-up consists of two real options. It can go for a big-ticket sale to a trade buyer, as Careem did in its $3 billion deal with Uber; or it can look for a stock market listing via an initial public offering (IPO).

Biswas said that his priorities at the moment were the next round of financing, and with expanding operations. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 spend a lot of time thinking about an exit. We鈥檙e more focused on what is happening tomorrow, or next month, or next quarter,鈥� he said.

But with a bit of coaxing he admitted that a listing on a regional stock market does have its attractions.

鈥淚 think trucking is a very localized business across the world 鈥� you don鈥檛 want a foreign company to come and own your trucking industry. So from various perspectives 鈥� security, job creation and all that 鈥� the regional economies are really proud of what they鈥檝e achieved in the past few decades.

鈥淚 think an IPO in the Saudi markets in the next few years would be a delightful outcome for a business like TruKKer,鈥� he added.