ONGOLE: As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the public transport system effectively, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has faced serious financial troubles as its operations were paralysed and daily income decreased in the Prakasam district. After the State government increased relaxation hours, the APSRTC has resumed its bus services in a phased manner. Now, the authorities are focusing on increasing the cargo services to get more income.
Currently, the APSRTC is utilising depot goods transport (DGT) vehicles along with ‘Palle Velugu’ buses for the cargo services. A total 80 new DGT cargo container vehicles were allotted to all 13 regions to start exclusive bulk cargo transport services.
To earn more income, the corporation is going to provide bulk cargo services to the big commercial organisations as each DGT cargo container has a load capacity of 10 tonne. The APSRTC depot managers and marketing executives will contact all major industrial establishments, gazetted officers, public offices and PUCs to request them to utilise its bulk cargo services.The APSRTC has allocated three DGT bulk cargo container vehicles for the Ongole region. Initially, these three vehicles will be stationed at Giddalur, Kanigiri and Ongole Depots.
“We are using DGT vehicles for cargo transportation and now, we have demand for bulk cargo container vehicles from Chirala, Ulavapadu, Gundlapalli District Industrial Growth Centre, Kanigiri and other locations to transport handloom, granite tiles, lemons, mangoes and sapodilla. We hope that this will get us good revenue,” chief traffic manager (cargo services) Y Vijaykumar Reddy told TNIE on Monday.