By TANG Jun
On March 17, domestic refined oil prices rose for the sixth time since December, putting pressure on truck drivers whose living depends on it.
XIA, who has been hauling freight between Shandong and Guangdong provinces for a long time, has made only two deliveries since Spring Festival. The payment he got for the last one barely covered the 1,000 yuan (US$157.3) he spent on fuel. “The price of freight has not risen yet,” he said. Many truck drivers have given up.
“The oil price puts direct cost pressure on the transportation industry, with truck drivers being the most immediately affected,” said LIN Weizhi, general manager of a logistics and transportation company. Most truck drivers in China are self-employed. Road freight is cheap and very competitive, but as the oil price rises, drivers’ margins are squeezed out of existence.
If the price remains high indefinitely, there will be consequences for road freight. Lin believes a high oil price could be good for the market, but bad for self-employed drivers. High costs will drive logistics companies to more expensive technology to manage their fleets.
Vehicles will be low-carbon but only large logistics companies are trying to build new energy fleets. Few individual drivers are involved and there are many cost hurdles to be overcome.
