Which Truck to choose? Solving the biggest issue in Commercial Cargo Logistics
Business
Over the past 5+ years of operating an inter & intra city logistics business nationwide, we at GOGOX have come across numerous issues, that are faults of not one single person, resulting in our inability to optimize the logistics industry in India. This made us realize cargo movements across the country is crippled not just due to infrastructure challenges but also human negligence.
One common pattern that emerges when looking at a holistic view is customers’ inability to arrive at an exact vehicle requirement that fits the goods they want transported. This applies both for businesses and individuals.
The reason behind this issue is a simple one. Regulators allow a wide range of options for fabricating the cargo space for the same vehicle type. And it’s left to the discretion of the vehicle owner. So while one transporter might have a 8-ft high loading area, another one might just have it only for 4-ft.
Let’s look at our available options and try to understand what works best in each scenario.
1 Tonne Small Commercial mini-truck
With a payload capacity ranging from 700kg to 1000kg based on the variant, vehicles like Tata Ace have redefined the small scale goods movement in the last mile delivery space. Typically they come with a 6ft length and 5ft width. As per transport department regulations, the load shouldn’t extend beyond 5ft in height.
| User Type | Item description | Ideal for |
| Consumers | Moving 3-5 pieces of furniture or household items | Typical studio or 1-bhk apartment |
| Businesses | Small scale retailers, distributors, and wholesalers | Typically for last-mile delivery |
2 Tonne Small Commercial mini-truck
The sub 2-tonne capacity vehicles hold a strong market due to their ability to navigate the last mile needs and at the same time pack a lot more volume of goods efficiently. With a payload capacity ranging from 1.8 to 2.4 tonnes, and with a greater engine capacity, they are used on both intracity and intercity trips. Ideally the cargo space has dimensions of 8 ft in length, 5.5 ft in width, and height running upto 7 ft in some cases.
| User Type | Item description | Ideal for |
| Consumers | Furniture’s and appliances | 2-bhk apartment volume of items |
| Businesses | City-wide retailers, Multi-warehouse distribution | Ecommerce delivery, appliance and furniture delivery |
3 Tonne Light Commercial Truck
The most popular category in the previous decade, Tata 407, is slowly heading to oblivion due to better options at the 4-tonne category without much difference in price. The 407s have a payload capacity of 2.25 to 3.1 tons with dimensions of 9 ft in length, 6 ft in width and and upto 9 ft in height.
| User type | Item description | Ideal for |
| Consumers | Inter-city movement of household items | Full 2-bhk apartment or minimal 3-bhk apartment |
| Businesses | Industrial machinery, importers and exporters, C&F agents | Ecommerce delivery, port-to-warehouse and port-to-door cargo movement for short distances |
4 Tonne Medium Commercial Truck
The 4 tonne commercial truck stands between the mini/light commercial vehicles and 6+ tonne heavy duty trucks, as an entry level truck in the medium to heavy duty category. Based on the body fabrication they can handle loads ranging from 3 to 4 tons with dimensions of 14 ft in length, 6 ft in width and height going up to 9 ft. Eicher has a series of trucks for this category.
| User type | Item description | Ideal for |
| Consumers | Large families with multiple household items | Both inter-city and intra-city house shifting for 3+ bhk housholds |
| Businesses | Industrial goods, heavy machinery, import and export | Inter-city and intra-city movement upto 4 tonnage capacity |
6 Tonne Heavy Commercial Vehicle
The 6 tonne HCVs come in 19-ft or 20-ft variants and last one in the medium to heavy category. Beyond this the options are lorries (i.e. Taurus truck) and trailers that are used to transport 20-ft to 40-ft containers. The 6 tonne vehicles can handle payload capacity anywhere from 5 to 8 tons although they are categorized under 6 tonne.
| User type | Item description | Ideal for |
| Consumers | Moving multiple household items in a single truck | Usually this is too big for consumers |
| Businesses | Manufacturing, Exporters, industrial machinery, raw materials etc | Nation-wide movement of goods, and for less-than-truckload shipments |
For most common purposes in the last-mile transportation scenario, a 1-tonne Tata Ace or a 2-tonne Mahindra Bolero or Ashok Leyland Dost is highly enough. When the size of the apartment or house is big, then maybe it can extend upto 4-tonne vehicle types. The 6 tonne vehicles are commonly used by relocation service providers who typically move multiple customer’s items in one single go and that’s economical for their customers as well.
GOGOX, one of India’s premier on-demand truck booking startup, could fulfill movement of your goods with any of the above vehicle options. We work with hundreds of individual customers helping them seamlessly move household goods as well as businesses of all sizes delivering their goods to their customers. Click Here to know more.