Attaching a truck sounds simple. Someone offers regular work on a fixed lane, your vehicle runs every day instead of waiting for loads, and a payment comes at month end.
The trouble is that most terms are spoken, not written, and the parts that decide whether the month is profitable are the parts nobody discusses on the first call. Below is what to settle before the vehicle goes out — and, where money is involved, the questions to put to any vendor. Ask them of everybody: a vendor who answers plainly is telling you how the rest of the arrangement will go.
Start with the papers
Nothing else matters if the papers are not in order: the vehicle is stopped at a gate and the day is lost.
- Registration certificate (RC) — valid, and in the name of the person signing the agreement. If the vehicle is financed or was bought recently, check that the transfer is complete on paper.
- Insurance — current, and valid for goods-carriage use.
- Fitness certificate — with enough time left not to expire mid-month.
- Permit — for the route the vehicle will actually run. A state permit will not do for a lane that crosses a border.
- PUC — current.
- Driving licence — valid for the class of vehicle, held by the person who will drive.
Keep clear photos of all of these on your phone, and ask the vendor whether anyone there tracks expiry dates or only notices when a vehicle is stopped.
Be exact about what is being agreed
Write down, before the first day: the lane, point to point; the reporting time and where the vehicle reports; the vehicle size, open or closed body; whether the placement is regular or ad-hoc; and who the driver is, with who replaces him if he is unwell.
A regular placement and an ad-hoc one are different businesses. Do not accept one and find you are getting the other.
How the day is counted — ask, do not assume
This is where most disagreements begin, and it is worth asking in these words:
- What counts as a running day? Is it the day the vehicle reports, the day it departs, or the day it returns? On an overnight lane, which date does the trip belong to?
- If the vehicle reports and is then not loaded, is that a day?
- What happens on a day the vehicle does not run at all — no load, hub shut, festival, strike? Is it counted, part-counted, or not counted?
- And if it does not run because of a breakdown at your end — what is the position then?
- Is there a minimum number of days in a month, and what happens above or below it?
- How is detention handled if the vehicle is held at a centre for hours beyond the loading time?
Ask each of these separately. “It will be adjusted” is not an answer; ask what the adjustment is in rupees or in days.
Diesel, tolls and the running costs
- Diesel — yours or the vendor’s? If yours, is the rate fixed for the month or does it move with the pump price? If theirs, how is it issued, and what happens to the balance at month end?
- Tolls, entry taxes and parking — who pays, and against what proof?
- Loading and unloading labour — is the driver expected to help, and paid for it?
- The driver’s own expenses — food, night halt, mobile recharge. Who bears them?
- Maintenance, tyres and repairs — almost always the owner’s, but say so out loud, and ask who pays for a breakdown away from your city.
- Fines and challans — who pays which kind, and what happens to an overloading fine when the load was not yours to control.
The payment cycle — the questions to put
Again, questions to ask — not terms to expect from anyone:
- What is the billing period — calendar month, or something else?
- By which date is the bill raised, and against what document: your record, theirs, or the network’s gate record?
- How many days after that does payment come?
- Is anything held back — a deposit, a retention, a first-month hold? If yes, when does it come back?
- Who deducts what — TDS, a penalty for a missed day, damage claims?
- If the network pays the vendor late, does your payment wait for it? Ask directly.
- Will you get a day-wise statement with the bill, showing each date the vehicle ran?
That last one matters most. If you can see the days, you can check the month in ten minutes. If you cannot, you are trusting a total.
Put it in writing, and keep your own record
Ask for a simple written agreement covering the lane, the rate, what counts as a running day, who bears which cost, and the notice either side must give to end it. It does not need to be long. It needs to exist.
Then keep your own record from day one — the date, the lane and the trip sheet number. When a month is questioned, the owner with a record is in a very different position from the owner without.
Signs worth slowing down for
Be careful if a vendor quotes a rate before seeing the vehicle, refuses to put the day-counting rule in writing, will not name the lane, asks you for money to get the attachment, or is vague about diesel. None of these prove bad faith. All are worth a second conversation before the vehicle leaves your yard.