NAMAKKAL: Owing to the rising fuel prices, the State Lorry Owners Federation (SLOF) has also announced plans to increase lorry freight charges. This comes days after the Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation announced a hike of 30 per cent in freight charges.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, SLOF treasurer C Dhanraj said that many small transport companies in the district were forced to shut shop following the fuel price hike. “The federation will announce the hike soon to help lakhs of workers in the industry,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Tiruppur Lorry Owners’ Association (TLOA) also hiked the freight charges by up to 30 percent from Friday. TLOA president P Ramasamy said that in addition to the fuel price hike, the new vehicle scrappage policy also created difficulty for truckers. “The government’s decision to scrap commercial vehicles (CVs) older than 15 years will greatly affect the business. We request the government to increase the limit to 20 years,” he said.
A section of lorry owners have also raised the issue of rising insurance premiums for CVs. K Subbaraman, a 70-year-old lorry owner in Namakkal, said the third-party premiums for all types of commercial vehicles were hiked by 5 to 10 percent by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India last year, creating an additional burden.
“For example, the premium for CVs in the range of 12 to 20 tonnes is currently around Rs 35,000, compared to Rs 33,000 in the past. A small transport company cannot afford to pay a high premium, especially as most lorry owners are also drivers,” he said.
(With inputs from Saravanan MP, Tirupur)