Australia lockdown truckers8/8/2023 Meanwhile, China’s highway tolls are among the highest in the world. Trucking giant Manbang Group, formed by a contentious merger in 2017, now controls more than 90 percent of the market and forces drivers to underbid each other for contracts. However, the apps have proved almost as exploitative to drivers as the previous system. The arrival of mobile apps that connected firms with truckers and large amounts of venture capital in the late 2010s undercut the middlemen and disrupted the old business. According to truckers I interviewed in the 2010s, middlemen also threatened drivers who tried to band together in larger groups and even discouraged companies from forming their own fleets. Until relatively recently, an informal group of connected operators arranged contracts between businesses and truckers, taking a substantial cut. The cold chain issues have worsened food shortages, with drivers often forced to dump unrefrigerated goods if they are delayed.įurthermore, truckers are subject both to predatory middlemen and arbitrary fees and tolls, as well as shakedowns by traffic police. The rate of damage to fresh cargo is estimated at 20 to 30 percent, much higher than in developed countries, which has fostered food safety concerns among the public. Vehicle upgrades are often out of financial reach, so China’s trucks are largely unrefrigerated, causing problems for the cold storage chain. Many truckers are still paying off significant loans on their vehicles. However, they are also subject to arbitrary and uncertain costs as independent operators, they have no safety cushion. Today, average gross income for truckers is around $20,000 a year-nearly twice the national average, making them relatively highly compensated. (In the United States, that figure is about 9 percent.) Moreover, major vendors in China don’t have their own fleets instead, even major supermarkets move their goods on a contract basis with independent truckers.Ĭhina’s 28 million truckers have fallen down the status ladder in the last few decades. Almost all Chinese truckers are owner-operators: Around 90 percent own their own vehicles. In China, 76 percent of freight travels by road, but the industry is fragmented. And the COVID-19 lockdowns are striking at its weakest points. ![]() The industry is fragmented and economically marginalized, making it highly vulnerable to disruptions. Trucking, which underpins China’s economic order, is under enormous strain. While the restrictions will continue disrupting global supply chains, they will hit logistics within China the hardest. The strategy that kept the virus out of mainland China for two years has proved ineffective against a far more contagious variant. If China sticks to what the government calls a dynamic zero-COVID-19 policy, lockdowns like Shanghai’s will remain common. ![]() Although new cases have fallen slightly, citizens see little end to their frustration in sight. Supermarkets in some areas have reopened, but some residential compounds have still been locked down for more than a month-and any nearby positive case resets the clock. The chaos caused by the coronavirus outbreak in Shanghai continues, despite authorities releasing several million people from lockdown. Some experts say reduction of fuel prices may help the state revive its ailing economy.Lockdowns Strain China’s Trucking Industry However, it doesn’t seem to have helped the government as fuel consumption has come down by 70% due to the lockdown. ![]() The cash-starved Karnataka government in its budget proposal had hiked sales tax on petrol and diesel by 3% it came into effect from April 1. The state government has no say in the matter,” said a senior official from the Karnataka finance department. “This has to be decided by the Union government and oil marketing companies (OMCs). ![]() Various trade bodies too have petitioned the Centre and the state government seeking reduction in fuel prices but the latter has no such plans. Relaxation of the shutdown will not make any sense unless fuel prices are decreased,” said GR Shanmugappa, president, AIMTC. “Despite decent production, food prices continue to remain high due to high fuel rates. All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) had recently petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding fuel prices be reduced and highway toll collection done away with as truckers are facing acute problems amid the lockdown. But neither seems to be in a mood to slash rates. BENGALURU: With global crude oil prices on a downward spiral, many stakeholders like truckers, traders and consumers were hoping the Central and state governments will reduce fuel prices to help them deal with fiscal pressures coupled with the collateral damage caused by Covid-19.
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