Transporters Meet, an event for the transporter sector, organised by BusinessLine in association with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Mahindra Small Commercial Vehicles, will be held in Guwahati on Friday.

Assam’s capital, a major riverine port city, is the largest metropolis in the North-East.

The busy Inland Waterways transport on the Brahmaputra makes Guwahati one of the key logistics hubs in the region with the truck industry providing the critical last-mile connectivity.

The second edition of the highly-successful Transporters Meet commenced in Navi Mumbai on January 10 with nearly 200 fleet-owners in attendance. The next was held at Bengaluru on January 30.

This one-of-its-kind event brings together various stakeholders involved in the transport sector to discuss issues, share best practices and suggest solutions to the problems faced by them. Nearly one crore trucks criss-cross the country carrying goods. Their operation is critical for keeping India’s economic engine running. Transporters, in the past, have braved issues such as fluctuating fuel prices, lower freight rates and limited availability of drivers.

Challenges ahead

Today, the challenge is more of demand and regulation. As part of the meet, panellists will discuss ‘The Road Ahead’ on aspects such as the shift to BS-VI fuels, cargo demand and local issues.

The discussion assumes significance considering the slowdown in the market, and truckers are finding it difficult to find cargo. This, in turn, has forced many trucks to remain idle.

At the Mumbai event, panellists strongly advocated freight rates on per km, per tonne basis, and also for more educated people to enter the business. In Bengaluru, the discussion was on the new mechanism for revising fuel prices.

The panellists for the Guwahati meet are Pulak Goswami, President of North-East LPG (Bulk) Tank Truck Owners Association and Guwahati Transport Association; Pradip Das, Secretary-General of All Assam Motor Transport Association; Anjit Bora, General Secretary of Agents and Luxury Bus Owners Association of Assam; and R Nagarajan, Chief Manager, Retail Sales (HO), Indian Oil Corporation.

Last year, the first edition of the Transporter Meet was held in 10 cities across the country. This year, it is being held in five cities — Mumbai, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Visakhatpanam and New Delhi.

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