How a startup cracked the formula to bring Uber-like efficiency to India’s trucks

Photo credit: Ishan Manjrekar.

Whether it’s because of ecommerce or an increase in inter-city trade in India, moving things across the country is getting to be a big deal. The country has over 4.86 million km of roads, making it the second largest road network in the world.

There are plenty of freight trucks transporting goods on these roads, but there are few affordable, transparent options. “It’s a really fragmented industry,” says Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder of BlackBuck. “This is a place where there are many people who each own less than five trucks.”

Truck owners are a highly unorganized and diverse group of people with nothing but the fact that they possess a truck in common.

BlackBuck is an online marketplace where people can request trucks based on the size, timing, and need of their shipments. It’s not the only startup to attempt this sort of thing, but it’s the only one to gain the confidence of Accel Partners, Tiger Global, Apoletto Asia, and India’s ecommerce unicorn, Flipkart.

While funding and reputable investors are not necessarily the sign of a good startup, money is important in the expansive logistics industry. “We needed that money to scale up operations,” says Rajesh.

See: 10 top funded logistics startups in India this year

The right type of app

BlackBuck’s crown jewel is its app, a smooth interface that takes you from deciding how to ship your goods to getting your order completed.

Photo credit: Brando.n

Once the app is downloaded, a user is prompted to enter their mobile number to start using it. Those are the only credentials that they’ll ever need to access their account. The home screen allows them to place a request, check out the status of their enquiry, track pending and completed orders, and process payments.

The app provides you with a simple form to indicate the starting and ending points of your goods, the type of material you’ll be shipping, the model of the truck and how many you’d like, and when you’d like it to reach its destination. Then, you press submit and wait for a truck owner to pick up your order. Before confirmation, an employee from the BlackBuck call center will call to check whether your request is accurate.

I decided to make a very large shipment of batteries.

Enough elbow room