The Apollo Way: The Blanket Distribution Drive

Living life on the road is difficult, with the truck drivers of our nation being left without access to basic necessities like food, health, water, sanitation and shelter.

With 750 drivers per 1000 trucks, our heroes on wheels can drive between 18-20 hours as part of their daily routine, getting only 4-5 hours of sleep each time, sometimes with no hours left in the day to eat or bathe. The pandemic worsened the conditions that truckers deal with day-in-day-out. When Covid-19 hit, it had a detrimental impact not only on the health of our heroes but on their mental well-being as well. Water supplies were restricted, leaving truck drivers in danger of dehydration as restaurants, fuel stations and rest areas stopped them from refilling their containers at risk of contamination, and shelter from the cold was taken away. In 2020, the India Meteorological Department recorded cold waves to claim 76 times more lives as heatwaves, causing as many as 152 deaths. Although this was a significant drop in deaths from the previous year's number of 287, without protection from the cold, we still see the needless endangerment to life.

Life is precious, yet on the freezing January nights in Delhi, when the entire city wraps itself up in cosy jackets and scarfs, our everyday truck drivers put themselves at risk to deliver supplies as the lifeline of our nation. When the long winter months arrive and temperatures drop below freezing in the North, the unsung heroes of the road are left facing the dangers that the harsh weather brings. And if the cold weather conditions aren't enough, they now have Covid-19 to battle.

We want to support our trucking community and elevate them in any way possible. Under our philanthropic initiatives and as an extension of our Healthcare Programme, we are spreading warmth amongst our society through the Apollo Tyres blanket distribution drive. Walking through the streets of Delhi and across the National Capital Region, the Apollo Tyres Foundation team have distributed blankets to the trucking community, a basic but crucial gift of warmth and protection from the cold. This is only the beginning of what we hope will be a long and successful initiative as the Apollo Tyres Foundation remains committed to the well-being of the unsung heroes of the road.

Apollo Tyres is Going the Distance in helping spread warmth to our heroes on wheels, supporting them on their journeys across the country.