VST coreB Trailers is one of the biggest brands of trailers and truck bodies in India. With a present production capacity of 400 trailers per month and more than 4150 happy clients, the company is fairly optimistic about its future growth potential in India and globally. In this exclusive interview with Vikas Yadav, CEO & MD, VST coreB, Rajesh Rajgor gathers more information.
Can you give us a brief history of VST coreB – when did the company come into existence, who founded it and how many people are currently working with you?
VST coreB Trailers, was founded in 2018 by Sitaram Yadav, Chairman of the VST United Group, Vikas Yadav, CEO & MD and Vijay Yadav, COO & MD, under the name of VST Moter India Company. The manufacturing of several articulated and rigid category trailers, tipping trailers, cement bulkers, containers, tankers, etc. is our main business that began in 2019. Our headquarters in Kotputli, Rajasthan, has a monthly production capacity of 400 trailers. Currently we are producing 310 -380 units per month and delivering across India. We have a production area of more than 4 lac square feet, 720 on-site engineers, and 905 people overall in India. More than 4150 satisfied customers use VST coreB’s B2B and B2C products and services in the Indian market.
By 2023, we expect to sell and produce across the entire country of India; thanks to additional production facilities in four new states.
Please give us a run-down of the existing products and the value it adds in each of its applications.
Currently, we are manufacturing Trailers, Tipping Trailers, Cement Bulkers, Container Trailers, Containers, Tankers, etc. All trailers are widely used for the manifold purpose. Our trailers are expertly engineered to reduce fuel consumption and tyre wear. According to the function and operation of the transporter, we have a wide variety of designs for the trailers. A wide variety of products are available in the trailer category, including side wall trailers, flatbed trailers, skeleton trailers, tipping trailers, and many more. Our more than 8,200 trailers are currently operating on Indian roadways in numerous businesses, mines, and sea ports around the country. To enhance product quality, our devoted R&D team conducts the greatest research possible on product development. We are the first trailer maker in India to use Hardox, Corten steel, and other types of material to extend the life and lighten the trailers. We analyse the operative area of the customer and the duty cycle. Accordingly, we suggest the material to ensure long life of our trailers. With customisation and use of right material, our trailers can have a long life of 8-10 years. As we know product cost is also a crucial thing, so we started fabricating tipping trailers in Corten steels for coal mines industries to protect from rusting and increase product life without increasing too much product cost. Trailer and driver’s safety is a big issue and we are bringing various technologies to solve these issues like a tire pressure monitor system, rear-view camera, and align meter where tip trailer cannot be unloaded unless it is placed on a plane surface.
Cement Bulkers – Customer’s are always concerned about bulker design when the material does not unload easily and is stuck in the chamber. Many transporters have this complaint and we are designing the best quality and designed bulkers where the material does not stick into the chamber and can be easily unloaded at proper timing.
Container Trailers – Containers give a more secure transport environment during the transport process. Many companies are looking for solutions for the rapid load and unloading of material. So, we are providing better solutions, and recently we manufactured container trailers for TCI (Transport Corporation of India) Trans system Logistics where they had a special requirement of 3 side opening containers. We are manufacturing rigid body containers and articulated container trailers too, and special purpose refrigerator containers as well.
Who are your major clients and how do you cater to their varied requirements? Could you provide a few examples where you have added value by solving an existing problem or challenge for a customer?
We have our clients all over India. As an example, for our Gujarat and Nagpur customers, we have manufactured tipping trailers in Corten steel to enhance trailer life and protect it from rusting, because their tipping trailers are mostly used in coal mines and sea salt loading, but mild steel is not a great option in coal and salt purpose. We have our clients Adani Logistics as well where we manufactured 20ft and 40ft skeletal trailers in fabricated chassis beams in a large quantity for ICD-to-end customer transportation purposes, and we have manufactured three sides opening 43ft long containers for TCI express and Trans System Logistics. Making a 43-feet three-side opening container is not an easy feat because many trailers struggle to lock the doors when loaded with large items and pallets. However, we made a sturdy chassis with strong flanges and webs so that the chassis would never bend. In addition to these organisations, we have served a large number of consumers throughout India with our products tailored to their needs. This brought down loading unloading time from 3 hours to 40 minutes. We have also catered to a client requiring specialise edible bulker so that the refined fine flour can be transported in the bulker and directly unloaded in cylos. If we talk about our frequent clientele, Voltas Limited (A TATA Enterprise) as a distributor in North-East India, Lauls Limited, GNR Transport, Start Tech Terminals (Maersk Group), Mahesh Transport, Vagheshwari Roadways, JR Logistics, Gujarat Logistics, Kadian Builders & Developers and many more. We currently have over 8,200 trailers of excellent construction on Indian highways, ranging from light-loading trailers to heavy-duty trailers.
What are your USPs that you believe will take you to the No.1 spot in the Indian trailer market in India? Please elaborate on the manufacturing nuances that are unique to your products.
We firmly believe in high-quality goods, and we never skimp on them. Our goal is to produce the highest-quality trailers available, which is why we dominate the market with our superb goods. We have a team of highly skilled engineers who use the greatest contemporary CNC machines in all operations, from material cutting and bending to complete fabrications, since we believe that having a great engineering staff is crucial for production, but so is having outstanding machinery. The major component of a trailer is its chassis because it is the base that supports all of the heavy loads; most producers instead purchase an ‘I’ beam and use it as a chassis. We always prefer to fabricate ‘I’ beam at our production plant where we use graded quality material and even after that our quality engineer tests the material component and then approves it for further process. We use Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) for flange and web fabrication because it has a very good quality welding rate and structure, and for all trailer body parts, we prefer Argon welding which has great welding quality in comparison to CO2 welding. We use hydraulic bending machines and cutting machines for precise bending and cutting and our engineers are not allowed for hammering at the assembly unit because they have already the proper size material for fitting. Later our trailer comes to the paint shop where we use shot blasting to clean the surface and after the primer and paint process happens. We have our paint supervisors and engineers to control paint quality and check the proper ratio of paint on a trailer and check the quality of paint with a Glos meter. Our trailer passes through a quality checkpoint at every stage but in the end, it is again inspected by our Quality team where they check all the functions and quality points with professional instruments, and later PDI team checks all the functions like electric connections, pressure, paint and all things with a proper checklist and then it goes for dispatch.
How do you help customers to use your products? Do you conduct training programs with the fleet operators and is there a life cycle for the aftersales support you offer your customers?
We manufacture trailers in custom sizes according to the transporter’s purpose and uses. Like some transporters want to transport only heavyweight Iron coils that are more than 30tonn so we manufacture special coil load purpose flatbed trailers where it has heavy Chassis and chassis supports so they can carry heavy coils without any problem. Trailer operations and uses totally depend on the fleet owners, and our sales team always helps a transporter to choose the right product according to their use so it can solve their purpose. Our sales & service team always do many activities with fleet owners like a product introduction and service camps where they guide and provide some knowledge to drivers about the trailer so a transporter can save operational cost in the future. We have tie-ups with all Axle, Suspension, and Hydraulic brands and in collaborations, we have training and service camps at fleet owner’s premises. We provide 24X7 service support at our Tollfree number and our Service Center exists all over India because we want to save a transporter’s cost so we always provide the service at their nearest location so they do not need to bring their vehicle at our production plant and that will save their time and fuel cost.
Would you be able to share the market share that you enjoy in India? And the regions and segments you are strong in and those you would like to grow further?
As we started only 3 years ago initially in Rajasthan and Haryana only but now we can proudly say that we are selling more than 320 trailers every month in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, NCR, UP, Gujarat, Uttrakhand, Mumbai, Maharashtra and North-East region of India. By 2025 we are planning to establish our new production plants in East and South India where we are planning more than 1000 trailers sales in India and abroad. If we read market statics then we can have an idea that in upcoming years; articulated trailer vehicles will be in more demand and these days containers are also the main mode of transport. Now we are planning to increase our product range and start new customized trailers too.
Please elaborate on your company’s medium- to long-term plans, current CAGR, revenues and product growth plans
In 2018, we set out with the goal of dominating the Indian trailer market with cutting-edge vehicles. Since then, we’ve continued to focus on providing value and finding solutions to transporters’ challenges. When we first started, we were only selling 50-60 trailers per month and had an annual turnover of 60R. However, we have since grown by more than 300%, and today are at 400 crore turnovers. By 2023, we hope to have a turnover of 1800 CR. And by 2025, we intend to be the market leader both in India and internationally. By 2025, we hope to establish a global business with operations in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with a monthly production capacity of 1300-1400 trailers. Quality is a major concern for Indian as well international transporters, because they are currently implementing a new ecosystem and prefer to cut operational costs over one-time charges. To produce high-quality, cutting-edge trailers with all necessary safety features for the Indian, Bangladesh, Nepal, African, and South American markets. We intend to work with a few multinational companies.
