Truck rentals on various routes rose 1% in March, the third consecutive month-on-month increase, which comes on the back of an uptick in demand for fruit and vegetables, higher factory output, increased spending in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections and continued shrinkage of the total fleet size.
According to data from Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTR&T), truck rental for Delhi-Nagpur-Delhi round- trip for 9-tonne payload was up 1% to R61,600 in March. In February, the rental on the same route went up 4%. Similarly, routes such as Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi, Delhi-
Rajpur-Delhi and Delhi-Kandla-Delhi and others rose 1% during March.
?Increased despatches from factories in March, the last month of FY14, provided visible stability alongwith 18-20% uptick in demand led by fruit and vegetables,? said SP Singh, convener, Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.
?Truck rentals went up by 6% and 3% in the months of January and February this year after remaining mute in CY13. However, fleet operators have shown maturity and stayed away from new purchases despite deep discounts. There is continued exit of national permit trucks from the freight market on to local routes,? said Singh.
?Further, increased spending due to Lok Sabha Elections is keeping demand buoyant for essential items and general merchandise in the country and as a result wholesalers and distributors have increased their inventory levels in the key markets covering Metro cities and tier-I and tier-II cities as well,? he said.
According to IFTR&T there has been a shrinkage of 15-20% in fleet size over the last one year. The total fleet size is about 6 million trucks and there are 75 trunk routes on which 18-20 lakh trucks currently hold national permits.