Apollo Tyres opens training centre for CV drivers

June 27: Apollo Tyres has inaugurated its first formal training centre for heavy and light Commercial Vehicle (CV) drivers in Ujjain city, Madhya Pradesh. In partnership with B-ABLE, a not-for-profit organisation, the focus of this, and future driver training centres, will be on the dual areas of imparting complete education to equip young aspirants with all aspects of road and vehicle safety and maintenance along with promoting a holistic approach to health and well-being.

Apollo says it has taken up this project because there is a growing need to address employability and skill development of young people, along with a gap in the number of on-road commercial vehicles and capable drivers to pilot them. The focus on safety and health stems for the fact that India has the second highest CV accident rate in the world, because drivers push themselves to spend long hours on the road, neglecting basic rest and health needs.

The Ujjain Centre will train 200 drivers every year. To qualify for a certificate, each individual will have to undergo a 45-day training module, which would include complete driving and road management, safe driving, fuel conservation, repairs and maintenance, tyre care and life, troubleshooting and first aid. Individuals will also have to complete a minimum of 20 hours of practical on-road driving under varying conditions with an instructor.

Inaugurating the Centre, Rajesh Dahiya, Group Head, sales and marketing, Apollo Tyres, said: “Our aim in setting up these Centres is two-pronged: To generate employment and increase road safety, and secondly to create a new crop of CV drivers who are aware and know how to take care of their own health and that of their vehicles. Initiatives like this will go a long way in promoting profitability in the CV sector, given that there is a dearth of trained drivers and fuel and tyres are the two biggest costs the sector is faced with.” Apollo Tyres would also impart education on sexual health and HIV-AIDS, connecting drivers to the 21 Apollo Health Care Centres across the country. The Driver Training Institutes are being undertaken by Apollo Tyres Foundation, which already runs ‘Project U’, a skill upgradation and job placement programme for youth in the vicinity of the company’s manufacturing facilities.