Truck and trailer owners unite against Tata Steel vendors for better tariff

Association submits memorandum to transport minister Champai Soren, warns of agitation for hike in tariff, demonstration planned on Aug 10

Jamshedpur: The truck and trailer owners transporting goods for Tata Steel are on a war path against the registered vendors of the company. They are demanding better tariff and are alleging that the registered vendors are indulging in highhandedness and are not increasing their tariff despite the fact that Tata Steel has been paying better tariff to the vendors.

A delegation of Jamshedpur Truck & Trailer Owners’ Association met the state transport minister Champai Soren on Sunday and requested him to intervene.

They also submitted a memorandum to the minister.

The memorandum says that although Tata Steel has been paying increased goods transportation tariff to the registered vendors, the latter are paying them as per the old rate. This, it says, has been causing a lot of problems for them and their livelihood is being impacted due to this.

The memorandum says that the highhandedness of the vendors has pushed them to the brink of financial penury.

Around 5-10 thousand truck and trailer owners work through registered vendors of Tata Steel. However, they allege that the registered vendors are not paying them fair transportation charges.

They also blamed Tata Steel for this situation and said that the company should place its orders directly with the local transporters.

The Association held a press conference on Sunday and said that they will hold a demonstration in front of Tata Steel gate on August 10.

The patron of the Association Dhananjay Rai said that the DC and the SDO have been apprised with the issue. However, the issue has not been resolved yet.

He said that if the issue is not resolved as soon as possible, then the Association would be compelled to resort to agitation.

He said that the Association has decided to take it to conclusion and they would not care about how much loss they have to suffer this time.