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King of fruits, mango, failed to cheer the truck industry this season. Poor mango cultivation has led to a 40 per cent drop in truck movement of the most sought after fruit from Chennai to various destinations, according to officials of large transport companies.
Mr M.K. Janardanan of Okay Transport said that if the mango crop was good, it does not affect the truck industry as there would be regular flow of vehicles during this season.
The Railways used to supplement some of the movement.
Unlike in the past, most of the mangoes are today loaded directly from the farms.
In the past, the produce used to come to warehouses in and around Chennai.
From here, it used to be transported to various parts of the country, he said. “There has been at least 40 per cent drop in mango transport from Chennai,” said Mr Sanjay Nagpal, Secretary, Chennai Goods Transport Association.
On freight rate, Mr Nagpal said that there was 20-30 per cent increase due to unavailability of vehicles. This is because not many vehicles are coming to Chennai from other parts of the country. Also, not many vehicles from south would like to go to these regions due to poor load factor in the return direction, he said.
Mr N. Nagarajan of Sarath Logistics Pvt Ltd said that only 20 per cent of vehicles that go from Chennai to other regions come back with return load. This has created a huge demand for vehicles. Mr Anwar Ibrahim, a part time driver, at the truck terminal located in Madhavaram, in Chennai outskirts, has been waiting for the last two days for a vehicle to drive.
Not many vehicles have come to the terminal this season, which is from March to June, he said.
From Chennai, mostly from the truck terminal located in Madhavaram, 300-500 vehicles go to Hyderabad and Visakapatnam; about 300 to north and 500 to West (including Bangalore), he said.
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