Truck rentals in May have gone up by 1.5%-2% across routes in India following a R1 hike in diesel, said the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), which tracks the sector in India.
Diversion of 20% of the truck fleet from trunk routes to peak wheat harvesting regions and improved fleet utilisation by around 5-10% on the trunk routes ? due to increased dispatches from the manufacturing industry ? have also helped the truck owners to increase rentals.
However, the overall scenario for coming months remains jittery across the country, said IFTRT in its monthly report.
The recovery in truck rentals in the last two months has largely come from increased cargo arrivals from summer fruits and vegetables and peak wheat harvesting in Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan.
However, the wheat procurement in this season has been 24.9 million tonne (mt) as against 33.5 mt last year. This is resulting in foreclosure of wheat procurement in May 2013 itself as against the routine June-end, which is going to impact lower availability of cargo to truck operators, and the surplus truck fleet will go back to medium and long haulage national permit routes, thus putting stress on truck rentals.
According to IFTRT, the recovery in the manufacturing sector and infrastructure sector is already checkered, creating nervousness among truck fleet operators about the cargo offerings in the next couple of months.