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The India tipper truck market is thriving on the back of if increasing opportunities generated by the rising coal mining in the country and the economy bounce back after the downfall due to Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the growing trends in the change in GST implementation and the growing transition in the BS (Bharat Stage) standards. Equipment Times looks into the market dynamics, technological trends, emission norms, after-sales support, possible new avenues in the HD Trucks and Tippers market.

Heavy Duty (HD) Truck, Tipper truck or dumper truck or tipper lorry is a commercial vehicle used for the transportation of materials in bulk, including garbage for solid waste management and clay and fuel ash materials in cement industry. The market is being driven by increased demand for logistics services. Higher budgetary allocation towards infrastructure and rural sectors coupled with strict regulatory norms related to vehicle length are anticipated to positively impact the country’s tipper truck market in coming years.

The government of India is planning to increase its coal mining in the country, which will create direct demand for tipper trucks in the coming year. In 2018, around 15-20% of tipper trucks were used in coal mining only, making it one of the most important customer segments for the market. This increased domestic output of coal will reduce the dependency on imports. Moreover, as coal mining is increasing, the demand for tipper trucks will increase as it is responsible for transporting the coal to nearby destinations from mines. Coal India is planning to transport coal by road as a matter of fact that various mines are located in the remote areas of the states and cannot be connected via railways.

Outlook…

The India tipper truck market has been segmented on the basis of truck type into semi-trailer end dump truck, standard dump truck, side tipper dump truck, bottom dump truck and others. Standard dump trucks hold the largest share of the market owing to the fact that it operates on hydraulic systems. These types of dump trucks employ fluid pressure to generate power which helps in the lifting process. On account of its power capacity, standard tipper trucks can vary in payloads from the standard 10-15 tonne to 35 to 40 tonne which makes it more maneuverable than the higher capacity semi-trailer dump trucks. The hydraulic system of the dump truck helps the bed to raise by a vertical hydraulic ram which is mounted under the front body or horizontal ram and lever arrangement between the frame rails. Further, the back of the bed is hinged at the back of the truck.

Increasing Industrial Activity in Construction Sector…

The increasing number of infrastructure and major construction projects which are in ongoing developmental phase have resulted in increased demand for tipper trucks. Road construction projects such as Golden Quadrilateral and Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana along with irrigation and quarry are fueling the growth of tipper truck market. Additionally, increasing need for transporting high volumes of aggregates, along with the significant demand for multi-axle trucks, backed by the rise in hauling and tipping more output per day are some of the major factors driving the growth of the India tipper truck market. The market is also driven by the rising government expenditure on urban infrastructure projects along with the emergence of fuel-efficient tipper trucks to prevent growing pollution level.

Expanding Mining Sector…

Mining activity demands off-site and far-away operations which requires heavy commercial vehicles such as tipper trucks to handle the material transportation needs. Rising mining projects especially for coal production, generates a huge demand for medium or heavy tipper trucks in India. Tipper trucks are technologically most advanced and the safest trucks to operate in high demanding and tough mining conditions. Additionally, the demand for power and cement industries has resulted in the growth of mining sector.

Golden Quadrilateral and Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana boosting demand…

West India is witnessing high demand for the  HD Trucks and tipper trucks. Growing mining activities in states such as Odisha, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expected to increase the demand for tipper trucks. Moreover, road construction projects are boosting the demand for dump trucks in Rajasthan. The Indian tipper or dump truck market caters to various end-user industries such as construction, mining and Others. Construction and mining are the major segments of the dump truck market. Road construction projects such as Golden Quadrilateral and Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana are further aiding the market growth. Earlier, tipper trucks, Shaktimaan trucks, were used in the Indian military, however, with technological advancements in the automotive industry, tipper trucks have been phased out and replaced by Ashok Leyland Stallion in the country’s armed forces.

Leaders Speak…

According to V Seethapathi, Vice President, Product Line – M&HCV, Tata Motors, “In response to the BS6 transition, Tata Motors designed and developed its range of BS6 range of tipper trucks in line with customer demand while integrating class-leading features and attributes to ensure the highest business profitability. The BS6 transition was not merely an upgradation to comply the regulatory requirements but an opportunity to enhance the truck’s overall experience as Tata Motors adopted a ‘Power of 6’ philosophy, a theme on which new features and attributes have been integrated into the trucks to increase their business prospects. These include a host of features from Tata Motors to ensure industry-leading TCO, driving comfort and state-of-the-art technology. One of the key design elements is the vertical exhaust system on all tippers. This not only ensures enhanced safety for the exhaust system components but by releasing the exhaust gases away from the ground ensure dust-free working environment.”

He added, “Tata Motors BS6 range of tippers is fitted with an array of features and attributes which are immensely enhance their performance and profitability. Advanced technology features that are integrated into Tata Motors trucks include a multi-mode fuel economy switch that ensures appropriate power torque combination as per terrain-load requirement to ensure higher fuel efficiency and enhanced performance, engine brake for superior downhill control, Hill Start Assist for enhanced uphill driveability and iCGT/NGT brakes – for enhanced braking and longer brake life.  To ensure a fatigue-free driving experience, especially on long routes and off-road conditions, the trucks are offered with best-in-class Prima and Signa cabins fitted with tilt & telescopic steering, comfortable and adjustable seats, ergonomic pedal control and lower gear shift efforts and wide all-round visibility.”

Jalaj Gupta, Business Head – Commercial Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “As the CV industry is directly linked with the economy, the unexpected fall in GDP growth to -23.9% indicates that a full-fledged recovery in M&HCV sales is unlikely in the short-run. In general, the downcycle of M&HCV stretches for nine to ten quarters. With the coinciding of the COVID-19 outbreak and the disrupted supply chains, experts reckon that the downcycle phase might expand to 12-18 quarters this time.

At present, the recovery is predicted on an expected pick-up in construction activities, fleet utilisation and private consumption. The industry is expecting to see some offtake in volumes in the post monsoon period led by the release of government contracts and catching up of mining and construction activities.

Covid-19 management in crucial since 2nd wave has put brakes on revival of industry and it will certainly impact road to recovery of economy.”

He added, “In FY’21 total Heavy Commercial Vehicle industry volume stood around 87,000 Units and it de-grew by 21% wrt FY’20. However, tipper industry volume grew by 1% to touch around 40,000 units. Tipper industry has shown resilience and we expect this to remain it that way since in budget for FY’22 GoI has planned aggressive expenditure on Infrastructure development with capital allocation to around INR 1 Lakh Cr to MoRTH. Apart from this, there are several projects expected with Public Private Partnership mode.”

Rajaram Krishnamurthy, Vice President – Marketing, Sales and Customer Service, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), said, “We strongly believe the challenges we are seeing lately are short to medium-term challenges and India offers huge growth potential. The supply chain continues to be a challenge and from here on matching, demand with supply would be the main purpose.”

He further said, “Telematics is one technology that is certainly reshaping the trucking industry and BharatBenz’s ‘Truckonnect’ is an excellent example of this. A telematics solution based on Daimler’s global platform ‘Truckonnect’ is provided as a standard feature in all BharatBenz trucks. Truckonnect lets customers remotely monitor all key performance indicators including utilization, fuel and Adblue consumption, fleet health, and driver behavior. With this, fleet managers can optimize driver performance, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce downtime. We will continue to introduce customer-centric technology features to elevate the experience of our customers. An example of our customer-centric service is the very popular ‘Proserv’ app, which is a digital platform for providing customer service. The Proserv application, enabled with 65+ features such as advanced booking, parts ordering, renewal of contracts, extended warranty, insurance, fleet maintenance, 24x 7 RSA, and integration with all types of online payment options, brings all customers’ needs at their fingertips. We have also equipped our sales staff with ‘Empower 2.0’, a digital tool that gives them important product and sales information they need at their fingertips via a tablet. This helps in quickly answer customer enquiries as well as calculates quotes and TCO.”

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