The government has reportedly made it mandatory for trucks to have air-conditioned cabins for drivers from April 1, 2017. To a casual observer, it may appear to be a trivial matter but it is not. At the moment, only a handful of the hundreds of thousands of trucks that ply on the country’s roads have air-conditioned cabins. In all others, the drivers have to rough it out. Their seat in the cabin is invariably on top of the engine, which impacts their reproductive organs. One seldom finds a driver with glasses; truck owners don’t bother to get their eyesight tested. The truth is, the very act of getting on the driver’s seat, especially in a heavy commercial vehicle, requires quite an effort. In the past several years, little has been done to improve their working conditions. As such, this directive will bring much-needed relief to truck drivers.
But since fitting an air-conditioner involves higher costs, the makers of commercial vehicles are unlikely to be happy about the new provision. Most companies are in the process of upgrading their models to meet the new emission norms, which will come into force from April 1. They fear that the new order will send them back to the drawing board. Some have also said that since a majority of the cabins are made outside their factories, by small-time coach-builders, retrofit air-conditioners may cause a safety hazard. But this can hardly be an argument for denying drivers their due. Most of them are poorly paid and work long hours. They get little by way of social security. On top of that, they have to put up with heat, cold and dust. Unfortunately, the automobile makers have focused too much on keeping their costs low. While the profit margins on automobiles are kept slim, which help draw in buyers, they more than make up for it in service and spares. Therefore, there has been little investment in making life comfortable for the driver, especially because a large number of owners don’t drive the trucks but hire drivers instead.
That this change required the government to intervene, instead of being initiated by truck makers and fleet owners fits a pitiable pattern and the automobile makers have a lot to answer for. For instance, till a few years ago when low-floor buses were introduced, Indian buses were simply bodies mounted on truck chassis. It is the same with car safety. A few months ago, Global New Car Assessment Programme, which carries out tests on the safety of motor vehicles, found that five Indian cars were unsafe for passengers: Maruti Suzuki’s Celerio and Eeco, Hyundai’s Eon, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio and Renault’s Kwid. Apart from faulty body structure, most of these cars didn’t have airbags, which made them unsafe for the occupants. Though the findings were dissed as scaremongering by car makers, it exposed their unwillingness to invest in making the car safer. The argument that air-conditioning will make trucks unaffordable doesn’t hold ground. Most trucks, it so happens, are bought on instalments. So the cost of air-conditioning the cabin will be spread over a few years and will not hurt the buyer acutely. At the same time, it will lead to improved productivity and fewer accidents – most of these happen because of fatigue suffered by drivers.