Lorry Owners face loss Threaten state-wide Agitation if Demands not met
Mangaluru: The Karavali Karnataka Lorry Malakara Sangha (KKLMS) held a press meet at Hotel Janatha Delux, Pathumudi here, on May 6.
Addressing the mediapersons, KKMS member Varun Chauta said that lorry owners are facing a tough time running a business in the state. “The income we generate barely covers our expenses and our business seems like a work of charity.”
Trucks with national permits from other states are being used by transport agencies to deliver goods within Karnataka. This has incurred losses to the truck owners who carry only a state permit. Due to high expenses, the truck owners are forced to carry excess tonnage in order to make a decent profit. “This is illegal and the per tonnage rates need to be revised from the existing Rs 950 per ton,” Varun said.
Some trucks weigh their load outside the Mangaluru Bunder and get illegal bills from Bunder. Some truck owners carry goods without carrying a certificate for TDS paid on the goods. Charges of loading and unloading are also levied on the lorry owners. The Pet-Coke from MRPL contains moisture and weighs heavier at the loading point. “But when we reach the unloading point, the load weighs less due to loss of moisture. The cost of this difference is pinned on the truck owner. We incur huge expenses on toll gates as well,” he added.
Transport agencies act as middlemen and charge exorbitant rates on each contract. Many ports let the trucks load goods for 24 hours, but the Panambur port does not let the trucks enter the port after 3:30 pm. This has resulted in heavy losses.
“Carrying and Forwarding (C&F) agencies take a lot of time to load and unload the goods from the truck, which results in losses. These losses should be made good to the lorry owners by the C&F companies. The transport agencies must be headed by a person who has at least owned a total of ten trucks. If the transport agencies are headed by a person without any experience in this field then they can never understand our problems. The per ton rate should be fixed and should not be allowed to fluctuate. One of our members should be appointed as officer bearer in the association of the transport agencies,” said Varun, listing a few demands to make the business viable for truckers.
“If our demands are not met, then in the future we will intensify our protest and a state-wide strike will be called,” he added.
President of KKLMS, Vasanth Bangera, Secretary, Sachin Kulai, Treasurer, Dhanvan Rithik and others were also present.