Transport costs soar as truck drivers have to abide by laws The ongoing campaign of examining the cargos of trucks rolling on the nation’s highways has forced drivers to reduce their volumes of goods for each trip, leading to a two-fold increase in transport costs.   Minh, the Director of the Hung Minh Rice Trade Private Enterprise in Tien Giang, has been put on tenterhooks these days after hearing about the transport cost increase. Previously, Minh had to pay VND120,000-130,000 for carrying a ton of rice from Tien Giang Province to HCM City. However, he was informed three days ago that he will now have to pay VND220,000 for every ton for the next load of goods. Feeling shocked by the sharp transport cost increase, Minh tried to switch to the services of other transport firms. But the firms he contacted charge even higher fees. “The trucks’ owners told me that they charged me VND130,000 per ton in the past because they could carry the volumes of goods half as much the designed loading capacity,” Minh said. However, nowadays, as they must carry volumes of goods that are within the mandated loading capacities, they have to raise their service fees, or take a loss. “They told me that with a transport fee of VND130,000 per ton, they would not make enough money to cover the costs of fuel and drivers, let alone to make a profit,” Minh added. The Ministry of Transport recently requested that local police intensify their inspections of the cargoes of trucks on the highways, to be sure that the vehicles’ loads are not heavier than allowed. VnExpress reported that after the truck load inspection campaign was launched on April 1, the average transport cost in the Mekong River Delta increased by 50 percent. Building material enterprises are suffering even greater anxiety. The general director of a steel mill in HCM City said the company’s transport expenses have increased by twofold. Instead of VND5 billion a month, the company now has to pay roughly VND10 billion. “We’d rather bear the high transport costs. If we kept our goods for many days in storage, we’d have to pay even higher storage fees. Besides, the material supply to maintain production would get stuck,” he said. Do Xuan Phu, Director of the Minh Lien Transport Service JSC, confirmed that the Transport Ministry’s edict of examining trucks’ loads has forced him to increase his transport fees. Meanwhile, many of his clients have canceled their contracts because they foresee losses. Huynh Quoc Thinh, Director of Phu My Transport JSC, also said that the transport fee increase would make import-export companies suffer, because they cannot change the provisions of their signed contracts and pass the higher charges along to their partners. However, Thinh thinks that the current difficulties are just temporary, with transport firms benefiting in long term. The risks for drivers will be reduced, while roads will have longer life expectancies. That said, Thinh warned that transportation would cost enterprises 1.5-2 times more than previously. This will lead to higher production costs and lower competitiveness of Vietnamese goods. VNE