Truck rentals have surged six-eight per cent, while retail freight is up by 12-15 per cent after a hike in diesel prices by Rs 2.58 (ex Delhi) and Rs 3 per litre (ex Mumbai and Chennai) was announced in the Budget proposal last week. According to a compilation made by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training, a non-government organisation associated with the transport sector, the rise of six-eight per cent in truck rentals is at a higher side compared with the weighted impact of the diesel hike of 3.5-4.5 per cent.
SP Singh, senior fellow and coordination of the foundation, said, “This disproportionate and concerted hike across the country has come against the backdrop of the booming transport freight market, as manufacturing and import-export trade is growing at double digits and it has improved the cargo offering by 10-12 per cent in last four to five months.”
For a nine-tonne payload between Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi, rentals rose to Rs 46,000 per trip (as on March 3) from Rs 42,700 per trip (as on February 4), a rise of 7.73 per cent, for Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi Rs 43,400 from Rs 40,200, a rise of 7.96 per cent, for Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi Rs 44,800 from Rs 41,500, a rise of 7.95 per cent, Delhi-Guwahati-Delhi Rs 82,000 from Rs 77,200, a rise of 6.22 per cent, Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi Rs 58,000 from Rs 54,600, a rise of 6.23 per cent, Delhi-Chennai-Delhi Rs 71,900 from Rs 66,500, a rise of 6.52 per cent, Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi Rs 71,000 from Rs 66,500, a rise of 6.77 per cent, Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi Rs 44,000 from Rs 41,300, a rise of 6.54 per cent, Delhi-Raipur-Delhi Rs 42,000 from Rs 39,300, a rise of 6.87 per cent, Delhi-Kandla-Delhi Rs 30,200 from Rs 28,000, a rise of 7.86 per cent and Delhi-Bilaspur-Delhi Rs 40,000 from Rs 37,500, a rise of 6.67 per cent.
Singh said truck rentals had already gone up cumulatively by 14-16 per cent during October 2009-January 2010, even without the rise in diesel price. “This hike was a cushion to absorb the diesel price rise of Rs 2.58 per litre (ex Delhi) and Rs 3 per litre (ex Mumbai and Chennai). However, the market forces are in favour of the truck transport industry due to oversupply of cargo and the manufacturing sector willing to pay higher freight due to increased prices of their products,” he added.
Moreover, the retail parcel booking firms have increased the retail freight rates by 12-15 per cent for different destinations as against 2-3 per cent weighted impact on their gross freight cost. “The data shows that in case of logistic firms, the truck freight is just around 25-30 per cent of their gross charges and hence diesel hike causes marginal impact of 1-1.5 per cent only. But these firms have indicated an increase of 8-10 per cent on their freight charges to the consignors,” Singh said.
