Truck owners seek government intervention to save the sector

Owners of goods transporters want government intervention to save the transportation sector as they claimed their business fall drastically following fuel price hike and a downtrend in import-export.   

Following the latest fuel price hike, owners have hiked the fare of truck, covered van, prime movers, but still they are facing losses. Besides, due to a downtrend in import, owners claim, goods transports are not getting enough trips. 

In this situation, different associations of owners related to truck and freight transport will sit with the government to inform it about their sector. They may also demand that the government introduce a fare structure for goods carriers like the buses have.

“We will sit with the Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division at the secretariat tomorrow morning (Wednesday). We don’t know if the ministry can solve our problems. But we want to keep them informed,” Hossain Ahmed Majumder, General Secretary of Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association, told The Business Post last night.

A leader at the Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van, Tank, Lorry and prime Mover Owners and Workers’ Coordination Council seeking anonymity said they will also talk about the introduction of a fare structure for trucks.

Hossain Ahmed Majumder said, “The price of diesel is now Tk 109 per litre which was Tk 65 in 2021. This is ruining the sector.”

For example, a big truck is incurring loss of Tk 5-6 thousand for a round trip from Dhaka EPZ to Chittagong port. “At Tejgaon truck terminal, hundreds of trucks are sitting idle and gathering dust as the number of trips has drastically dropped. The owners are not operating trips,” he said.

He also blamed the recent government decision on hiking the documentation fees—registration, fitness—for all kinds of vehicles for their financial losses. “This sector is bleeding,” he added.

Asked, the owners have already increased the fare after the fuel price hike, he said, “If the market is dull and your truck is not hired, there is no solution in increasing the fare.”

He also said currently, the fare of trucks depend on the market situation. “A uniform fare structure can benefit all.”