CHENNAI: About Rs 10 crore worth goods have stagnated across Chennai city as lorry agents stopped booking of inter-State goods transportation in view of a definite strike called by All India Motor Transport Congress from July 20.
According to K Kannan, vice president of Chennai Walltax Road Parcel Booking Lorry Owners Welfare Association, about 80 lorry agents have not made bookings for transporting goods which has to be delivered on July 20. “Bookings for up to 150 km has been accepted. But, the goods which is to be delivered above 250 km has been stopped since Wednesday. We operate about 300 lorries a day, each has a capacity to transport goods worth Rs 40 lakh per trip,” he said.
Chennai city has 150 lorry booking agents on Walltax road and Broadway. The agents transport iron, steel, textile, paint, firecrackers, flour, rice, vegetables and fruits across Tamil Nadu, including Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli and Sivakasi.
According to official records, about 4.5 lakhs lorries are registered in TN, out of which, 3.2 lakhs trucks have State permit while 1.3 lakhs trucks have a national permit. Industry sources say that over 90 per cent lorries in Tamil Nadu are reportedly affiliated to TN State Lorry owners Federation (SLOF - TN).