Kuwait Times

Published Date: February 05, 2010
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer

For Babu Islam, a Bangladeshi driver, the delivery truck has transported him into his real dream, his dream house and a happy family because, as he says, there will always be a time when people need 'big help'.
This is the need which cannot be fulfilled by a big brother or even the closest friends and relatives. The type of service only a truck or a vehicle that is known to many in Kuwait as a half lorry (delivery truck) can provide.

Everyone in some point of life has depended on a delivery truck to help transport furniture purchased from the Friday Market, for example. Sometimes you need help to transport your satellite dish, your cooking gas range, your refrigerators or even carpets. These vehicles prove to be especially useful when people are caught up in the process of moving out into other flats. A delivery truck is commonly seen in Kuwait and for many, it is a partner in big business and success.

Most of the delivery trucks are stationed at Shuwaikh Industrial area where all the heavy household tools and equipments are sold. Most are owned by individual hardware shop owners to help transport heavy objects. During spare time, drivers usually render transportation services to the public. Babu's Kuwaiti sponsor handed the delivery truck over to him. He works as a full-time delivery truck driver for six times a week and earns KD 15 to 20 per day. A half of this amount is paid to the Kuwaiti boss.

Getting customers is not difficult, Babu says. While driving from his place of residence in Murgab to Shuwaikh, he is sometimes approached by prospective customers. If they agree on the transportation fee amount, he accepts the work. Most of the time, he waits for the right customer to approach, at his own terminal.

I start my day at exactly 8 am. Most of the shops in Shuwaikh are already open during that time. I come and park my truck here as always," said a visibly elated Babu who agreed to be interviewed for the Friday Times. He usually serves his first customer between 9 am and 11 am. "The lowest I charge is KD 5 for my service. The highest is KD 50 for an entire day," he said. Babu seeks help from friends when laborious tasks are involved, "If the object is enormous, of course I will not do it alone. So, I usual
ly ask some of my friends to help me. So I charge them(customers) an extra amount to pay my helpers. That way, I also help my compatriots earn extra money," he said.

The road to better future
Babu has been doing substantially better by driving the delivery truck when compared to the previous job he held in Sulaibiya. After working there for two years, he entered into a partnership with a Kuwaiti shop owner in Shuwaikh. "My present job is better. At least I am my own boss. If I want to rest, I can rest without having to heed to anybody's opinion. I can do whatever I want to do," he explained. Compared to his previous job where he earned a monthly income of KD 60, he now pockets KD 250 to 350 eve
r month. "I am lucky, yes. Thanks to this job, I was able to buy my own house in Dhaka. I have my own car too (in Dhaka). So I am really thankful to my boss for entrusting the vehicle with me. I have never cheated my boss and he has trusted me with this truck for many years now. My family and I have been surviving because of this truck," he added.

Babu's family lives in Dhaka. He has a six-year old son and a six-month old daughter. If not for the chaotic political situation there, Babu says wouldn't have ended up in Kuwait. He reminds his arrival in Kuwait in 1992 saying, "I had a good job, working for politicians in Dhaka. I was also earning well there, but because of some political experience there, my brother asked me to leave the city. I had never heard of Kuwait before. But my relatives here helped me and I have been here since.