Leyland, IOC tie up for freight services

Fleet management venture to be driven by Ashley.

Ashok Leyland and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have joined hands to offer freight management services across the country. The venture will be driven by Ashok Leyland's newly floated subsidiary, Ashley.

A tripartite agreement among Ashok Leyland, Ashley and IOC is to be signed for the purpose. The venture will offer its services to small fleet owners.

The estimated Rs 100,000 crore road freight market is largely unorganised. A major chunk of this market consists of fleet owners with two or three trucks.

"We have entered into a memorandum of understanding with two Hinduja group companies, Ashok Leyland and the newly floated Ashley, to look into the business of freight management across the country," said T L Jain, executive director (retail) at IOC. When contacted, an Ashok Leyland spokesperson refused to divulge details but said, "We explore various possibilities with different partners who share a common customer base with us."

Ashley is expected to create a database of truckers or fleet owners in India, drawing on Ashok Leyland's information pool.

The database will help Ashley to identify freight that needs to be transported and spot the nearest truck available for transporting the cargo.

The company will then help coordinate the activities of the company that wants freight transported and the truck owner to ensure better freight and time management.

IOC will utilise its network of 8,820 retail outlets to spread Ashley's services countrywide. It will help Ashley track the movements of its fleet members by registering them every time they refuel at an IOC retail centre, constantly updating the freight management company's database. IOC will open special counters at its retail outlets for truckers who use its fleet card.

Ashok Leyland is following in Tata Motors' tracks. The commercial vehicle manufacturer recently began taking on fleet and logistics management projects for large steel and cement manufacturers, though it did not set up a separate company for this.