Click to play videoBangalore: Forty-year-old Gurmeet Singh has been transporting goods between Mysore and Jalandar for 20 years now. Smooth highways have helped him earn a living to educate his two children and also get his sister married.
But now the road ahead looks uncertain. With the economic recession slowly gripping India, Gurmeet is having a tough time finding work and it's been two days since he last carried any consignment.
"There is no more money for both the truck owner and the driver. I have a family to support and it's getting really difficult," says he.
The global recssion has hit exports badly and garment and leather factories in Karnataka have had to cut down their production drastically leaving Gurmeet and thousands of drivers like him with less goods to transport.
The State Goods Transport Association say that almost 5,000 vehicles are lying idle because of this. Some truck owners say they have no money to even pay the monthly installments for their trucks and finance companies are seizing their vehicles.
What's worrying the industry further is that freight rates have also drastically come down.
In 2007, transporting a tonne of iron ore would cost around Rs 6,000 but this year its at come to down Rs 1,500. The State Truck Association says that business has shrunk by 40 per cent and truck drivers and owners are hitting the panic button.
President Karnataka State Federation of Lorry Owners and Agents Association, GR Shanmugappa says, "There is no business and thus there is no movement of trucks. There is only movement of food grains. We are stuck and we have no clue what to do."
A year ago, Gurmeet used to send almost Rs 5,000 every month to his family. It's been six months since they received any money now.
"I can't do anything else. And there is no other job that I can do besides this. The Government is also not doing anything to help me," says he.
The state truck association is hoping that the current slump is short term. They believe that if the Government reduces fuel costs and asks finance companies to waive of the interest on truck loans, they would be able to tide over this crisis. But for Gurmeet, surviving those next six months could be the toughest journey yet.
(With inputs from Parikshit Luthra in New Delhi)
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