The Hindu Business Line : Average speed of trucks on Indian roads is 20 km/hr: Study

Owing to poor road conditions and check-post delays, trucks in India travel for 20 days a month on an average compared to 25 days in developing countries. This is according to a joint study by Transport Corporation of India (TCI) and IIM-Calcutta.

The delays could range from five per cent of time taken in a journey to a high of 25 per cent (details in table).

Daily coverage

The average speed of trucks on Indian roads is about 20 km/ hour, it says. So, a truck in India can cover only 250-300 km a day compared to 700-800 km in developed countries such as the US and Europe.

The study, based on a survey carried in 2008, took into account 50 trips on 10 routes. This includes 30 trips on the Delhi-Bangalore route, three trips on Delhi-Mumbai route and two on the remaining routes.

According to Mr D.P. Agarwal, Vice-Chairman, TCI, “Between 2001 and 2009, vehicular fleet in India has increased at 9.4 per cent, whereas the National Highways network has grown by 2.4 per cent only. Due to inadequate road infrastructure, which results in lower average trucking speed, commercial vehicles in India average 250-300 km a day, whereas the counterparts in developed nations travel more than double the distance.

“Construction of more transportation hubs and logistics SEZs should be initiated to create more common, shared facilities for transporters.”

Truck drivers face delays at check-posts and on-road for filling in forms required by various government departments, checking of documents and physical checking of the vehicles, drivers and consignments by Regional Transport Offices and traffic police, and collecting highway toll and taxes.

On top of this, the study said, there are police harassment and soliciting unofficial payments from drivers. “Survey data show that on-road stoppage expenses (such as toll/RTO/ST/octroi) including unofficial payments made to Government officials and traffic police, amount to, on an average, 15 per cent of total trip expenses,” said Prof. Subrata Mitra of IIM-Calcutta, who has authored the report. However, Prof. Mitra declined to share the data on “unofficial payments.”

safety

Mr Brahm Dutt, Secretary, Department of Road Transport and Highways, pointed out that the safety on Indian highways is infamous.

“The working conditions for the truck drivers have to be improved…They work for long hours, resulting in high stress and fatigue, which leads to accidents,” Mr Dutt.