Tricycles - the last mile link in Madurai’s supply chain

MADURAI: Criss-crossing the narrow bustling streets of Madurai, they are seen often in the city roads with loads such as flour, grains, vegetables, fruits name it. Over the years, tricycles have rolled their small tyres into the transport arena and developed as one of the major means of logistics of goods and associated services in Madurai that has put restrictions on heavy trucks and mini trucks to use the city roads.

Madurai, with major markets located within the city, has hundreds of trucks ferrying goods to and from the city. But the restrictions on trucks come in handy for the tricycles, which take the role of filling that last link of supply. They are the preferred mode of short distance transportation for traders as the men with the vehicle do the loading and unloading, which is included in the service.

Goods like food grains, pulses, fruits, onion and infrastructure materials like steel and cement are being transported in tricycles, which can easily carry around half tonne, round the clock. They are spread across various pockets in the city, including congested commercial areas like Marret and Masi Streets. They transport 1,500 tonnes of goods on any given day.

While over 10,000 tri-cycles were ruling the city roads a decade back, the emergence of mechanised mini load vehicles scaled the numbers down to 4,000 at present. However, their earnings are not affected much. “We earn anywhere between Rs300 to Rs1,000 a day. If luck is on our side we can earn up to Rs2,000 on certain days,” said

K Muruganandam

, a tricycle puller. Most of the men were from drought-prone Ramanathapuram and parts of

Sivaganga

districts, who had shifted to Madurai at least couple of decades ago. They mostly stay in congested places like Sellur, Avaniyapuram, Jaihindpuram and Perungudi.

According to M S Murugan, AITUC Madurai district general secretary, the load men and the vehicles have evolved over the years. While those who have the education to apply for a driving license graduated into mini load vehicle drivers, the illiterate stuck to the physically demanding job. It is not an easy job for a novice to take it up on a fine morning and earn like the veterans. “While most of the load men own a tri-cycle, which costs Rs18,000, some take it for a rent of Rs25 a day,” he said.

The wages are being fixed after talks with Madurai District Load Men, Van Auto and Unorganised Workers’ Welfare Association and Tamil Nadu Food Grains Merchant Association. Association secretary

S V S S Velshankar

says, “We prefer tricycles for short trips, since the charge for motorised vehicle would be higher. Mini trucks are given a thought only if the distance is more than 15 km.

President of Madurai Groceries and

Retail Dealers Association G Palraj

said that it is a crucial mode of transportation for grocery shops in the city, since most of them require only a few bags of stocks on day-to-day basis. The trucks are useful only if the goods weigh more than half tonne.

Since the vehicles cause traffic congestion in the city, police banned tricycles 17 years ago. The load men protested, which led the police to change their stand and instead streamlined them, says Murugan. “The tricycle pullers were issued licenses and specific parking places were allocated to them so that it did not affect the parking of other vehicles,” he said.


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