• Road freight hit hard?

The nation-wide lockdown as part of the fight against Covid-19 has badly crippled the road freight (transport), mentioned a CV industry observer. He mentioned that the utilisation level of CVs fell to under 10 per cent as many businesses shut down temporarily and factories stopped production. With CVs left to ferry essential goods only, much of the CV parc in the country were stranded. In the absence of dhabas or shops being operational (read the cover story in this issue), drivers of CVs and the other crew were left nowhere to look at. With no place to safely park their vehicles or have food and lodging facilities, many drivers chose to abandon their vehicles and flee to their villages. Many chose not to report to work. With the lockdown in highly industrialised and developed states like Maharashtra being extended to May 02, 2020, the road freight (transport) could as well collapse completely, said the observer. He, under the condition of not mentioning his name, said that unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles added further to the difficulties faced by the industry.