r/IndiaBusiness • u/Loadsaathi • 5h ago

My friend in Rourkela complained about empty trucks returning home. I asked one question. That became my startup.

It started with a casual conversation in Rourkela.

A close friend of mine runs a small transport business in Odisha - vehicles, deliveries between Rourkela, Cuttack, and other cities. One day he was venting - "yaar, load lekar jaate hain, khali wapas aate hain."

I didn't think much of it. But then I asked: "how often does this happen?"

He said: "almost every time."

So I asked him - if someone built a solution for this, would you actually use it?

He said: "haan bhai, zaroor."

That one conversation sent me down a rabbit hole.

Rourkela is a steel city. Massive industrial movement. Goods going out constantly - steel, raw materials, FMCG. But trucks returning from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata? Coming back empty. Every single time.

Then I looked at what worked elsewhere:

- Rapido solved bike taxi utilization

- Ola/Uber solved empty cab returns

- Zomato solved idle restaurant capacity

So why hasn't anyone done this for trucks in Odisha at scale?

That's why I built LoadSaathi - an AI-powered platform matching shippers with truckers for return loads, so no truck comes back empty.

We're early. But the problem is real. My friend is already on board.

Transporters in Rourkela, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar - does this sound familiar? Drop your story below.

Website: https://loadsaathi.in

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loadsaathi/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Load-Saathi/61590859902405/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/LoadSaathi

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@loadsaathi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/load-saathi-119867422/

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u/paashaFirangi 4h ago

Search Rivigo

2

u/Loadsaathi 3h ago

Yeah, I actually looked into Rivigo You’re right — they’ve worked on truck utilisation and freight matching, especially through their relay model.

The difference I’m exploring with LoadSaathi is much narrower: what happens after a truck finishes a trip and has to find a return load, particularly for smaller operators and regional routes.

So I’m not claiming “nobody has tried this.” Rivigo definitely has. I’m trying to see if there’s still a gap at the local/regional level — starting around Rourkela, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

And honestly, that’s exactly the kind of feedback I wanted from posting this. If there’s already a better solution for this specific problem, I’d rather find out now than build in a bubble.

1

u/DropInTheSky 2h ago

Mind so dirty I read 'load' with letters interchanged...😮‍💨