 "truck, vegetables, vendors, transport, trucks, farmers, fruits, food, road")
In a positive sign for the trucking sector, freight rates on trunk routes remained flat in March 2024, with the majority of the routes seeing no increase at all except for the Guwahati-Mumbai round trip. This route saw a 1.1 per cent increase in rates, said Shriram Mobility Bulletin, a monthly logistics research report by Shriram Finance.
On the other hand, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Bengaluru, and Mumbai-Kolkata round trips saw rates declining marginally. Delhi-Kolkata route saw the maximum dip of 1.4 per cent in rates.
The Shriram report indicated that all India vehicle retail sales saw an overall growth of 4.81 per cent month-on-month in March 2024 to 21.27 million units in March compared to 20.29 million units in February, with the largest growth in three-wheeler vehicles followed by two-wheelers. This was a year-on-year rise of 3.14 per cent, compared to 20.62 million in March 2023.
The Shriram report indicated that all India vehicle retail sales saw an overall growth of 4.81 per cent month-on-month in March 2024 to 21.27 million units in March compared to 20.29 million units in February, with the largest growth in three-wheeler vehicles followed by two-wheelers. This was a year-on-year rise of 3.14 per cent, compared to 20.62 million in March 2023.
According to industry sources, truck rentals were stable as corporates were seen rushing in March year-end to fulfil their targets. Other reasons may be the static performance of cargo offerings from the manufacturing sector, including small enterprises, export-import businesses, and merchandise transportation.
Fuel prices came down between February end and March end. Diesel prices were seen at Rs 89.62 per litre in Delhi on February 28 and it dipped to Rs 87.62 per litre on March 31. State-run oil marketing companies have cut fuel prices by Rs 2 per litre on March 15.
Commercial vehicle registrations surged 3.31 per cent in March 2024 to 91,289 units, compared to 88,367 units in February 2024. This was down by 5.87 per cent compared to 96,984 units in March 2023. Three-wheeler registrations saw an increase of 10.86 per cent in March 2024 on a monthly basis to 105,222 units. There was a slight decrease in the number of registrations of passenger vehicles by 2.35 per cent, the report said.
