Agarwal Packers & Movers Ltd. (APML) is the “Vision-Come-True” of a visionary named Ramesh Agarwal, Chairman of the Group who always believes that a strong and positive attitude creates more miracles than any other thing. Starting his career as an Airman with the IAF in 1980, where he served till 1986 with extraordinary credentials, Mr. Agarwal in 1987 took the plunge to nurture his brainchild dream and forayed into the business of Logistics and Transportation. The idea of packing scientifically before transportation was something the industry had not heard of and in the years ahead this proved to be a success mantra and USP for relocation business.

The project was challenging but the drive and vision was un-daunting for Shri Ramesh Agarwal. To overcome all the challenges and achieve success he was ably supported all through by his younger brother Shri Rajendra Agarwal who sacrificed his medical studies and stood like a rock, fully committed and dedicated to the cause, with his elder brother to achieve what he calls “a mission of a vision” and the dream of a brother. During this long journey, they faced many problems but proper R & D over the issues at the grass root level always helped in finding an appropriate solution to each and every problem. A dedicated team of professionals provided the right impetus, confidence and inspiration to this arduous journey. He is of the view that “innovation has no time line and is an un-ending process and hence the journey is continuous” he feels.

In the year 2006, Mr. Ramesh Agarwal & Mr. Rajendra Agarwal felt that “Drivers are the key Drivers of economy” to positive ends, constantly and consistently and hence a survey was conducted, the revelations of which were shocking and alarming. For a man who had transportation business at the heart of his venture, this seemed like an unbelievably pathetic and disturbing situation. For the next few months, his thoughts only went on how to revive this class and re-establish its identity so that their work gets acknowledged by all. He was unanimously made the national president of AITWA in 2007 and that was when he pledged to work towards the upliftment of “Drivers of our nation”. It was a very appalling issue that the driver who is at responsibility for the major section of transportation was treated so shabbily and with disrespect, despite being on road in the direst situations and gets no relief as he carries the target of “safe delivery” with him. The following statistics speak of the lives and conditions of poor drivers who are available in all terrains, be it any season or weather.

• Drivers do not get to sleep for more than 2:40 hours/day (uninterrupted).

• Drivers die at least 10 years before the normal human life span.

• About 22% of drivers remain unmarried throughout their lives.

• 26% of total trucks viz. approximately 23 lacs vehicles get halted everyday due to unavailability of truck drivers.

Over the last 27 years, Agarwal packers and Movers Ltd. (APML) has become a company of national and international repute and has enormous credentials to its name getting acknowledged in Limca book of records for being the largest movers of household goods in the country. Realizing their CSR towards the driver community, Mr. Ramesh Agarwal has set the prototype by making the first “Driver Seva Kendra” in the country. Owing to the callous elements that exist in the society, a driver cannot even afford to have an undisturbed sleep of 8 hours which is of utmost importance for a normal person. Against this, a driver falls short of even 3 hours of sleep in a day sometimes. Mr. Agarwal’s idea was that the driver Seva Kendra would be a “home away from home” for the poor drivers. Not only would the Kendra preserve the ease of feeling of being at home, but, also provide all the necessary facilities in order to make the drivers’ job easier. This Driver Seva Kendra is situated at Jaipur- Kishangarh highway (NH-58) built on a sprawling 55 acres and houses a building having over 500 cots and fans for the drivers to have an uninterrupted rest. Allied facilities include barbers, large bathrooms and toilets, arrangement for parking the vehicles and all these facilities are provided free of cost. The motels/ dhabas that function there provide good and hygienic food at zero profit basis. Also available is a small retail shop where there are available commodities for needs at reasonable rates. A small “truck repair center” is also available where drivers can get their vehicles repaired at very nominal charges.

In his interview to parivahan pragati, Shri Ramesh Agarwal- Chairman and Managing worker (APML) said, “We are trying to make this profession attractive and dignified so that drivers may get back their due place in the society. It’s a great challenge and we all must start working from the ground level to alleviate their tattered souls”.

The location of the Kendra had been secured after months of meticulous research and planning. The reason behind choosing Dudu in Rajasthan was that it was found that trucks making a move from north towards south do not come across any accidents on the first day of the move till Kishangarh but the very next day i.e. after travelling around 400 kms, the accidents start as the driver is unable to sleep properly during the first night of his travel.

On the 1st day, the driver will reach the Kendra, can take rest and start rest of the journey fully refreshed. With ample rest, it would eliminate the tiredness and based on the statistics this would benefit over 15,000 drivers in a month and cause a drop in the rate of accidents; thereby we would save 46 people per month by this single “APM Driver Seva Kendra.”

The transport industry is growing at the rate of approx 11-12% per annum. Today, the biggest challenge for relocation / transportation industry is that the laws are not stringent and about 72 people get cheated everyday due to fake / duplicate companies and notorious individuals in India, as compared to none in Europe and USA. The Trade Mark Act has serious loopholes which allow the unfair percolation of business opportunities to the cheats and unscrupulous elements. When asked as to why the services of his company were always economical “ITNA BADA BRAND PHIR BHI SASTA” – Shri Ramesh Agarwal replies with a pride that whenever a company thinks “out of the box” and does new “innovations” then they are able to pass on the economic benefits to its clients thereby keeping its services always economical and customer- centric. On being asked further about launching the NATIONAL NUMBER, 6001 5001, he responded that there are so many similar name players in the market and sometimes people unknowingly choose incompetent and fraudulent companies for shifting. The new number will serve as a HALLMARK to identify the genuine AGARWAL MOVERS.

The endeavor and initiative of Shri Ramesh Agarwal is bound to catapult the Nation’s pride and “Driver Seva Kendra” is one small initiative towards larger role that Agarwal Movers Group is stewarding towards in the country. “More such initiatives are in the offing” is a statement that Agarwal Brothers enunciate with pride and gleam in their eyes.