Sales of trucks ranging between 5 tonne and 49 tonne reported a decline in growth of 21.20% in July due to poor factory output coupled with slowdown in infrastructure projects.
Ongoing discounts in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment, too, failed to lift truck sales during the month. In July 2013, the total sales of 5-49 tonne truck and trailer sales was pegged at 17,38 units, compared with 22,014 units in July 2012.
The Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), the nodal agency for tracking truck industry in India, said the multi-axle tractor trailers, which received boost during 2005-06 after the Supreme Court judgment to curb overloading of goods carriages, have lost steam in last five quarters as the employment of these tractor trailers has been largely on infrastructure projects and movement of high density cargo across the country.
Further, the extreme slackness in expansion and multi-laneing of highways in last two years has aggravated the fleet utilisation of tractor trailers.
Meanwhile, truck rentals across all major trunk routes dropped by 3% in July. Heavy rains restricted production and dispatches of fresh vegetables, while a significant drop in factory output resulted in further shrinkage in truck fleet utilisation by around 10% and 3% drop in truck rentals during July.