FTL · PTL · DIGITAL FREIGHT · FLEET-AS-A-SERVICE
Road Trucking & Transportation Executive Search
Executive Search
42+ Road Transport Leadership Placements — with an average 86 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
42+
Road Transport Leadership Placements
86 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
87%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Specialisation withinLogistics & Supply Chain·Moving the World Forward
Road transport moves 66%+ of India’s freight tonnage across a fragmented operator base (70% of fleets < 5 trucks) that is rapidly consolidating around organised FTL, PTL and digital-freight platforms. TCI, VRL Logistics, Safexpress, Gati, Transport Corporation of India, Mahindra Logistics, Rivigo-legacy, BlackBuck, Rivigo, Delhivery Road, Shadowfax, Porter, FreightFox, Trukky and electric-truck pilots (Tata Ace EV, Switch, Euler) are redefining the category around digitised freight matching, GPS-tracked fleets, BS-VI / EV transition and driver-welfare.
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→A listed trucking operator needed a CEO to scale PTL and drive EBITDA margin expansion; our placement added 300 bps in 18 months
→A digital-freight unicorn needed a Head of Supply; our candidate scaled carriers from 200k to 900k trucks on platform
→A cement major needed a Head of In-house Transport; our candidate cut logistics cost-per-tonne by 14%
→An EV-truck fleet startup needed a Head of Fleet; our placement scaled to 4,000 EV trucks across 18 cities
Our Road Trucking & Transportation Track Record
Situation:
A listed PTL operator needed a CEO to drive margin expansion and investor re-rating.
Outcome:
Placed a leader from Safexpress in 78 days; EBITDA margin expanded 300 bps in 18 months; market cap doubled.
Situation:
A digital-freight unicorn needed a Head of Supply to grow carrier network and improve utilisation.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate from BlackBuck; platform carriers grew from 200k to 900k trucks in 24 months; utilisation lifted 18 points.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Road Trucking & Transportation Practice
Road transport moves 66%+ of India’s freight tonnage across a fragmented operator base (70% of fleets < 5 trucks) that is rapidly consolidating around organised FTL, PTL and digital-freight platforms. TCI, VRL Logistics, Safexpress, Gati, Transport Corporation of India, Mahindra Logistics, Rivigo-legacy, BlackBuck, Rivigo, Delhivery Road, Shadowfax, Porter, FreightFox, Trukky and electric-truck pilots (Tata Ace EV, Switch, Euler) are redefining the category around digitised freight matching, GPS-tracked fleets, BS-VI / EV transition and driver-welfare.
Gladwin’s Road Trucking & Transportation practice places CEOs, Heads of FTL / PTL networks, Heads of Fleet, Digital-Freight Platform leaders and EV-Fleet heads for organised carriers, digital-freight unicorns and in-house transport verticals of cement / steel / FMCG / auto majors.
As a specialist CEO mandates in road transport, our practice also covers COO placements in trucking operators, our practice also covers Logistics & Supply Chain practice overview, and as a source for Professional Services — management consulting.
The Road Trucking & Transportation Landscape Today
National Logistics Policy 2022, PM Gati-Shakti, GST and e-way bill digitisation are driving formalisation. BS-VI, CNG / LNG and EV truck pilots are reshaping fleet economics. Digital-freight platforms are compressing spot-rate volatility and lifting utilisation from 60% to 75%. Driver shortages and social-security formalisation (Code on Social Security 2020) are rising boardroom topics.
Key Leadership Challenges in Road Trucking & Transportation
Scaling organised FTL / PTL networks against fragmented unorganised operators
BS-VI / CNG / LNG / EV transition and fleet refinancing cycles
Driver welfare, retention and Code-on-Social-Security gig-worker compliance
Building digital-freight platforms with shipper-carrier network effects and unit economics
Managing spot-rate volatility, diesel-pass-through and IRR protection
E-way bill, FASTag, Vahan, GST and RTO multi-state compliance
What We Look For in Road Trucking & Transportation Leaders
Across mandates, road trucking & transportation leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The Organised Trucking CEO
Veterans who have run 5k+ truck organised fleets across FTL / PTL with depot-and-hub network stewardship, asset-refresh cycles and EBITDA-margin discipline at listed or PE-backed carrier scale.
The Digital-Freight Platform Leader
Digital-freight platform leaders from BlackBuck, Rivigo, FreightFox, Porter with carrier-and-shipper network-effect architecture, unit-economics discipline and tech-product stewardship across spot-and-contract freight.
The EV-Fleet Operator
EV-fleet operators from Euler, Switch, Lohum, GreenLine with battery-swap / charging-infra credentials, total-cost-of-ownership modelling discipline and city-fleet deployment track record.
The In-House Transport Head
In-house transport heads from cement, steel, FMCG, auto majors with cost-per-tonne delivery record, carrier-contracting discipline and route-optimisation stewardship across pan-India primary-and-secondary freight.
The Fleet Finance Leader
Fleet finance leaders with NBFC / truck-finance / operating-lease expertise, credit-underwriting discipline and portfolio-yield stewardship across CV financing and fleet-as-a-service platforms.
The Driver Ops & Safety Leader
Driver operations & safety leaders with Code-on-Social-Security and telematics deployment track record, AIS-140 GPS governance and driver-welfare / retention architecture across long-haul fleets.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
Motor Vehicles Act 1988, Carriage by Road Act 2007, National Logistics Policy 2022, PM Gati-Shakti, GST & e-way bill, FASTag & Vahan digitisation, Code on Social Security 2020 (gig-worker framework), BS-VI / CAFE norms, AIS-140 GPS mandate, RTO multi-state permits, Inter-State Goods Carriage permit regime, and MSP (Minimum Sales Price) enforcement under draft freight-rate regulations.
Compensation Architecture
Trucking CEO roles: ₹3–7 Cr fixed + STI + ESOPs; FTL / PTL heads: ₹2–4 Cr; Fleet heads: ₹1.5–3 Cr; Digital-freight platform heads: ₹2.5–4.5 Cr + significant ESOP upside; EV-fleet heads: ₹2–4 Cr; In-house transport heads: ₹1.8–3.5 Cr.
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Road Trucking & Transportation
CEO / MD mandates at organised trucking and digital-freight platforms
Head of FTL / PTL Network operations
Head of Fleet Management and Asset Ownership
Head of Digital-Freight Platform (Tech + Supply + Demand)
Head of EV Fleet & Sustainability
Head of Driver Operations and Safety
Head of In-house Transport for shipper conglomerates
Organisations We Serve
Organised carriers (TCI, VRL, Safexpress, Gati, Mahindra Logistics, Transport Corporation of India)
Digital-freight platforms (BlackBuck, FreightFox, Trukky, Porter, Rivigo-legacy, Shadowfax long-haul)
EV-truck and fleet-as-a-service startups (Euler, Switch, Lohum, GreenLine)
In-house transport verticals of cement / steel / FMCG / auto majors (UltraTech, JSW, HUL, Maruti)
3PL / 4PL transport arms of global logistics majors
PE / VC funds backing trucking and mobility platforms
Road Trucking & Transportation leaders assessed on the Logistics “VELOCITY” framework
Seven dimensions calibrated for logistics and supply chain leadership. Dimensions are calibrated for road trucking & transportation mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
Return to Logistics & Supply Chain
Discuss a Road Trucking & Transportation Mandate
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