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Stranded with their vehicles and employees in at least one state in northern India coupled with a lack of confidence in the successful transportation of goods to the national capital – truck drivers and city transport workers find themselves caught in a vicious circle as they stare into financial straits.
Safety of employees and vehicles, damages that continuous rain can cause to cargo and expenses ranging from salaries, maintenance and EMIs are among the concerns of medium business owners of cargo transport companies in Delhi that have continued to fester with the rains battering the city since the weekend.
“One of my vehicles which set off from Ludhiana the day before yesterday and normally would have reached Delhi after an overnight flight is still stuck in Punjab. Carriers from other states are refusing to take goods to the flooded capital and surrounding areas or make reservations from Delhi.”
During the period 2021-2222, Delhi had more than 2.45 thousand vehicles registered as cargo carriers and tractors engaged in cargo transportation operations according to Delhi Statistical Manual.
According to those who are part of the industry, while not all cargo carried to the city is destined for it, Delhi serves as a hub for cargo carried not only to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh but across the country.
“Business has been going down every day since the weekend; we just aren’t getting any bookings. If things continue like this, how will we be able to pay our employees or EMIs for our vehicles?” asked Kirti Nagar-based transporter Arun Sharma .
The number of daily floating vehicles of various makes and sizes engaged in NCR’s truck business, according to carriers, is estimated to be between 80,000 and 90,000. But the conditions prevailing in Delhi in the past few days due to rain – also in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand – have translated into an impact on northern India’s connectivity to the national supply chain.
“If the situation does not change for the better, the inventories and stocks that companies are currently holding – which have already shrunk over the past days – will start to run out. This will be followed by a sudden surge in demand that will take Several more days until it becomes synchronized and finally allows the industry to stabilize.”
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