HYDERABAD: The delay in securing employment visas causing an uncertainty over their prospects did not deter them.

Almost half of the 217 truck drivers who opted for the training course conducted by the Overseas Manpower Company of Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP) are testing their luck in the international market.

Eligible for licence

Of these, 79 had been cleared by the trainers of the United States as eligible for obtaining Commercial Driving Licence in the US.

Giving a boost to their efforts, OMCAP which is now exploring opportunities for them in Canada and some countries in Europe where there is demand for long-haul drivers, is hopeful of achieving a breakthrough shortly.

"The experiences we had after tying up with Gagan Global LLC made us ultra-cautious and we are exploring suitable markets for them," OMCAP manager K.V. Swami said.

The training provided by experts from the Indian transport industry as well as those from the United States had certainly given an edge to the drivers over others.

They were, however, averse to taking up jobs in the Gulf as the experiences their friends had there were bitter. OMCAP initiated the entire programme with an aim to provide overseas employment to the truck drivers of the State and signed in Gagan Global, a New York-based consultancy, for the purpose.

`Cheap labour'

However, it was after the training programme came to an end that the OMCAP became aware of the stiff resistance within the US from truckers' bodies like the Teamsters' Union which are opposed to recruitment of "cheap Indian labour."

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