Members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) have warned that unless something drastic is promptly done to increase the freight rate, they will be left with no choice than to park their trucks as they cannot continue to run at a loss.
The National President of NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman who made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday noted that the current freight rate payable was not only inadequate but unsustainable for their continued operation adding that there was no doubt that transporters would find it difficult to operate under this condition.
Othman informed that the current PMS scarcity was partly caused by lack of funds to run the trucks profitably saying that many transporters had decided to park their trucks even as he assured that many more would park theirs in due course if something drastic about increasing the freight rate was not promptly done.
Giving the background to their current agitation, Alhaji Othman recalled that for more than a year now, his members were groaning under intense and harsh operating conditions occasioned by acute shortage of working capital for the efficient running of their operations.
He observed that one of their critical segment, transportation of petroleum products was carried out under a regulated environment noting that the payment of freight was regulated by the Downstream, Midstream Regulatory Authority (DSMSRA) based on the overall PMS pricing template.
According to him, “Most often without due regard to prevailing economic and market conditions, worse still, these payments are received by transporters in arrears, usually 3-5 months after the products were delivered.
“In 2020, there was an approval by the defunct Board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to increase the freight rate by 26% for which the endorsement of the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources was needed for implementation. However, the Hon. Minister of State could not endorse the approval due to the obvious implication of its implementation that would result into either an outright increase in the pump price of PMS or lead to an increase in the subsidy on the product, neither of which the government was ready to do at the time.
“This situation generated a lot of tension in the downstream petroleum industry with strong possibility of industrial action from both NARTO and PTD/NUPENG. To douse this tension, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC intervened by suggesting two alternatives viz. PPPRA to look into the possibility of accommodating an increase on the existing pricing template by reducing the share of government agencies on the template such as (a) PPPRA Funding, (b) NIMASA Charges and (c) NPA Fees.
“Revert to National Economic Council to inform it of the changes and the financial implication of the decision on the finances of the nation.
“Based on Presidential approval, the first option was adopted by approving 10% to be implemented immediately while the balance of 16% was to be implemented based on the second option. To date, this 16% is yet to be implemented”, explained.
While stating that the economic circumstance in the country had not been better since then, he, however, lamented that their operational costs kept growing exponentially even as he gave a comparison to underscore the point that their trucks replacement costs and operational costs were now unbearable.
The NARTO President disclosed that truck replacement costs involved the use of foreign exchange to acquire which, according to him, transporters must source by themselves since they were not beneficiaries of the government official FOREX allocations insisting that the data presented did not include cost of maintenance, such as spare parts, gear oil, lubricants, overheads, among others.
He further revealed that another serious problem affecting their operations was the condition of the roads, many of which were in precarious condition.
“Although we commend the federal government for the NNPC Tax Credit intervention of N621 billion for the repair of 21 roads, they should speed up with the awards of the contracts and exercise extreme care in the supervision, monitoring and payment so as to ensure value for money in contract execution. This becomes imperative to avoid substandard or poor work execution. In fact, we recommend that a committee comprising of stakeholders should be set up to help in the supervision and monitoring exercise to ensure speedy completion of the work before the rainy season.
“Gentlemen and ladies of the press, from these facts I just gave you, it should be clear that the current freight rate payable is not only inadequate but unsustainable for our continued operation. There is no doubt that transporters would find it difficult to operate under this condition.
“For the records, I should emphasize the positive contribution of trucks to the efficient distribution of petroleum products across the country, despite the occasional problems associated with them. It is on record that over 98% of petroleum products are transported by road today. The pipelines have not been operational for years while the railways, despite their rehabilitation, are yet to commence.
“The current PMS scarcity is partly, caused by lack of funds to run the trucks profitably. Many transporters have decided to park their trucks, and I am sure that many more will park theirs in due course if something drastic about increasing the freight rate is not promptly done.
“Consequently, we would like to notify the members of the public that while we sympathize with them over the inconveniences that PMS scarcity might be causing them, we are constrained to inform them that if the situation remains unattended we would have no choice but to park our trucks because we cannot continue to operate at a loss”, he concluded.
Photo: Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman, National President, NARTO.
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