Omprakash Karamchandani and his business partner Demarco Thomas co-founded MetroMax Group in 2018. The idea for the company came from the gaps and inefficiencies in the transportation industry they witnessed firsthand while running their own separate trucking companies.
“It became apparent to me that many transportation companies fail because of three main reasons,” Karamchandani said. “These companies need greater operational cost controls, they need to own their own trailer to increase revenue, and they need tools to keep up with strict safety and compliance rules.
“We thought that we could not only be a transportation company but also provide back-office support to other transportation companies to help them be more efficient, manage their costs, increase their profits, stay on top of compliance issues and ultimately, stay in business. So that was the beginning of MetroMax.”
Karamchandani went to India and set up an offshore trucking dispatch center, helping bring down costs for clients by 20% to 25%. That operation started with four people and now has more than 300. The company also introduced truck leasing, and in 2022, it introduced automated compliance software. In the next five years, the goal is to grow the valuation of the company from $10 million to $100 million. Karamchandani has plans to open new offices in India, the Philippines and Latin America.
“Historically, the transportation and logistics industry has been technology adverse. That is changing,” Karamchandani said. “Self-driven trucks and electric vehicles will change the landscape. MetroMax wants to be a leader in these changes, both from a growth perspective and to be ahead of the curve in the overall industry.”
Today, the MetroMax Group is a conglomerate of companies and joint ventures working in logistics. Its offerings include trucking, dispatch, delivery, factoring, compliance, insurance, business process management, digital marketing, technology services and software products. “Our mission is to collaborate with companies that need operational support, be it a financial investment and/or … to reduce their current overhead costs while maintaining business growth [and] quality and (learning) to grow their business with our expertise,” the company said.
Karamchandani has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA in information technology and international business. Before starting his own trucking company, Karamchandani had experience setting up offshore centers for Fortune 500 companies. He also has 19 years of experience in the application of advanced analytics, cloud, big data, business intelligence, data mining and information management in multiple industries.
“My goal is to use my technology background to continue to raise the needle of technology usage in the transportation and logistics industry,” Karamchandani said. “This will continue to allow MetroMax to grow, but more importantly, (it will) set more transportation and logistics companies up for success, allowing owners to focus on their business and passions rather than on paperwork and day-to-day operations.”
