[5 Aug 23] JCB: Behind the Scenes

Photo by: Manzil Joshi on pexels.com

I went for a morning walk today after a long time, and it felt wonderful. I covered a distance of about 3 kilometers. Even though it was drizzling, I found myself sweating. What made the walk even better was the interesting conversation I had with Umesh, the former owner and driver of a JCB excavator.

During our talk, I quizzed him about the JCB business: How does the owner earn money? How do they secure contracts? What is the driver’s salary? What does one need to enter this business? What precautions are essential? How much profit does the owner typically make? I was also curious to learn about Umesh’s personal journey from being a JCB owner to becoming a driver.

Get Turing Machine’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

He had initially started with a used JCB that cost around 15 lakhs. However, it didn’t perform as expected, so he sold it to buy a brand new JCB from a showroom for 25 lakhs, around 8 years ago. He used this JCB for sand mining in a river. Unfortunately, his JCB was seized by the police during an operation. Yet, due to his courage and experience, he managed to retrieve it from the police impound and sold it for 18 lakhs on the same night. Remarkably, he mentioned that within just three months of sand mining, he had generated a profit of approximately 35 lakhs. Quite astonishing, isn’t it?

As I delved further into the business, Umesh explained that someone new entering this field should first establish contact with contractors. If there is a demand for a JCB, the contractor will let them know. Once they have this information, they can proceed to purchase a JCB.

Umesh even shared some rough calculations with me. If there’s a contractor job for the JCB, it earns 850 rupees per hour, and the diesel cost is around 400 rupees. The JCB operates for 16 hours daily, which translates to 480 hours per month, resulting in an earning of 408,000 rupees. After deducting the diesel expenses, it becomes roughly 204,000 rupees per month. When I inquired about the driver’s payment (two drivers in this case, earning 18,000 rupees each per month), the owner is left with a profit of 168,000 rupees. Quite intriguing and exciting, right? But is it really as simple as it seems? I’m not sure.

I discussed this entire conversation with my mother, who has always been supportive of my endeavors. However, whenever I broached the subject with my father, he expressed reservations. Perhaps it’s because he’s more in touch with the practical realities of such ventures. Despite this, my mother believes that unless I try, I won’t truly know what’s feasible or not. She emphasizes that even if I were to fail, the experience gained would be invaluable.

In the end, I find myself pondering over whether I should take the leap and give it a shot.