Truck rentals surged 1.5-2% in May on trunk routes

Despatches from summer fruit, vegetables to APMCs, rise in despatches from manufacturing industry lead to rise in rentals

Truck rentals grew 1.5-2 per cent on trunk routes in May due to despatches of summer fruit and vegetables to the agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) and rise in despatches from the manufacturing industry. The rise was above the three-four per cent in rentals in April.

Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTRT), in its research, said the surge in rentals in May was also because of the Rs 1 rise in diesel price carried out in April and May.

“Ever since the government has decided to go for diesel price decontrol, the under-recoveries of OMCs are duly recovered. A monthly 50 paise a litre rise has been introduced since January 2013. The impact of the latest Rs 1 a litre diesel price rise has got translated into the increase in rentals by 1.5 per cent-2 per cent on trunk routes during May,” said S P Singh, senior fellow and coordinator.

However, Singh said the 50 paise per litre diesel price rise by OMCs from June 1 will take a few days to get reflected in the revision in rentals on trunk routes.

Singh said the recovery in rentals in the last two months has largely come from increased cargo from summer fruit and vegetables and peak wheat harvesting in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan.

“However, the wheat procurement this season has been 24.9 million tonnes against 33.5 million tonnes last. This is resulting in the foreclosure of procurement in May against the routine June-end. This is going to impact lower availability of cargo to the truck operators and the surplus truck fleet will go back to medium- and long-haul national permit routes. This might put stress on rentals. Already, the recovery in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector is checkered and is creating nervousness among the fleet operators about cargo in next couple of months,” he said.

Singh said despite the peak arrival of mango fruit due in June and July, the despatches from summer fruits and vegetables may remain stable at the present level.

FULL TRUCK LOAD (16.2 TON G.V.W.) Rental (Rs per round trip)

Truck Route	Rental Movement (per Round Trip)
Round Trip/ 9 ton pay load 1	Rental as on 2nd May 2013 2	Rental as on 1st Jun 2013, % increase 3	Monthly Rental Average for Apr'11-Mar'12 5	Monthly Rental Average for Apr'12-Mar'13 6
Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi	56,500	57,350 (+1.5%)	55,900	52,900 (-5.4%)
Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi	53,000	54,000 (+1.9%)	54,100	51,000 (-5.7%)
Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi	58,000	59,100 (+1.9%)	57,100	54,500 (-4.6%)
Delhi-Gawahati-Delhi	99,300	101,000 (+1.7%)	100,800	95,500 (-5.2%)
Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi	78,000	79,400 (+1.8%)	75,800	73,500 (-3.0%)
Delhi-Chennai-Delhi	86,500	88,000 (+1.7%)	88,100	82,000 (-6.9%)
Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi	86,000	87,500 (+1.7%)	86,200	82,000 (-4.9%)
Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi	56,200	57,300 (+2.0%)	55,500	53,000 (-4.5%)
Delhi-Raipur-Delhi	53,000	54,000 (+1.9%)	53,600	51,000 (-4.9%)
Delhi-Kandla-Delhi	43,600	44,500 (+2.0)	41,300	39,500 (-4.4%)
Delhi-Bilaspur-Delhi	53,400	54,500 (+2.0%)	53,300	50,300 (-5.6%)

Source: IFTRT