He said that a well-developed industrial infrastructure supplemented with an efficient transport and communication system plays a key role in the economic growth of any country. Importance of road transport industry in the economic landscape of Pakistan is also undeniable.
It is an undeniable fact that Pakistan road transport sector has a major economic impact and this sector is responsible for almost 96% of the total ton/kms and dominates the market owing to weak and unreliable railways and non-existence of inland water transport.
The ministry of communications recently issued a statement to strictly enforce axle load limit from 1st June 2019. The business community strongly believes that this decision could not have come at a worst time, it will do more damage than good under the current situation.
They do welcome such initiatives but they believe that the government should implement the policy in different phases after due consultation with all stakeholders.
As we speak our economy is struggling and with the depreciating value of PKR against the USD, the cost of doing business is already going up. With the implementation of this load policy the cost of doing business will further increase due to various factors such as: There is already a shortage of transport in the country.
Increase in local transportation cost, since now it will take twice the number of trucks to deliver the same amount of cargo to ports and other key destinations.
Loading /Unloading of trucks at various weigh bridges for managing the axle load.
In transit loss due to multiple handling of cargo in most cases.
The increase in cost will not only affect our exports but will also contribute to higher inflation rates as it will affect the overall supplies ranging from raw material to finished goods, which are consumed by more than 18 crore Pakistanis.
Furthermore this initiative has already started to cause congestion not only at the port but the metropolitan city of Karachi is also suffering as heavy traffic can be seen during the day time on the roads since the same volume of cargo / goods now needs about 180 trucks instead of 100 trucks.
As a result of this initiative shortage of transport has already started with increase in freight rates whereas currently the Pakistan railways is not equipped to handle the extra volume due to limited wagons and engines.
The shortage of trucks combined with 100% increase in withholding tax on truck freight & imminent increase in diesel prices due to the depreciating rupee will further increase the transportation rates and it can be estimated that over all the transportation cost can increase by 80-100%.
The additional diesel consumption will also increase fuel imports and will result in unnecessary strain on our import bill and increase trade deficit.
Reputable business houses are predicting overall approximate loss of Rs 500 billion plus annually to the economy due to this sudden restriction on axle load.
Way Forward / Solution: Tariq Haleem said that the competitiveness of Pakistan's trade needs better Road Transport Facilities with efficiently functioning and integrated system of institutions.