Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has vowed to suspend operations on Monday.

Its National President, Yusuf Lawal Othman, made this known in a press statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday.

He noted that the statement is an official announcement from the association’s headquarters that the members are parking their trucks from Monday.

Reason provided for the strike action is because “what we spend on operation is more than what we get in total: both in local and bridging.”

According to him, members have been operating at a loss and it is no longer sustainable for them to endure the losses. 

The President said, “We will have to suspend operations from Monday. We cannot continue to operate at a loss. Most people have parked. A lot more are going to park.”

The President disclosed that NARTO’s efforts at soliciting the intervention of all the key stakeholders in the Federal Government and industry have not yielded positive results.

Othman revealed that the association has written letters to table the plight of unbearable cost of operation to the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu; Minister of Petroleum Resources; Director General, Department of State Services (DSS); Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Chief Executive Officer; Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Group Chief Executive Officer; and the Marketers.

He said: “We have written letters up to the level of the Chief of Staff. We have written to the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil). I will send you the copy. We have written to DG SSS. We have written to the GCEO. 

“We have written to the Authority Chief Executive. We have written to the Major Marketers.”

He stressed that despite the notification to the above stakeholders, “No response.”

Analysing the market situation, which the members have endured for several months, he recalled that the same freight rate that was in force while President Muhammadu Buhari was in government is still subsisting.

According to him, the N32 Lagos to Abuja freight rate that was implemented while the dollar was N650 is still retained now that dollar is N1,615.

He said, “Everybody is aware that all our consumables in terms of operation are not produced in the country.

“So, by virtue of the rate of dollars, every consumable has increased. But the freight they are paying us has been the same even during Buhari’s time.

“So how is that feasible? During Buhari’s time, the dollar was N650. Today, the dollar is now N1,615. The average freight from Lagos to Abuja is N32.” 

Continuing, he explained that   “What I mean by local, you load Lagos, you discharge in Lagos. And bridging, you load from Lagos, you come to Abuja. Lagos to Lagos, we are paid N120,000.

“AGO alone to distribute fuel within Lagos is N140,000 because it is N1,400 per litre. So, they give you N120,000 and you spend N140,000. So, how do you want to operate?

“Talk less about the cost of vehicles, cost of loading, driver’s allowance. That is for local. For bridging, Lagos to Abuja, they give us N32.

“If you have a truck of 40,000 litres, you are talking of N1,280,000-N1,216,000. Less 5% of the amount of N1,280,000 Withholding Tax N64,000. Less 55,000 loading expenses and 15,000 driver allowance. Total expenses N134,000 while balance is N1,146,000. AGO is N1400 for 900 litres, totalling N1, 260,000. There is a total loss of N114,000.

“Meanwhile the cost of a New truck head and tank is N95 million and used is N50 million.So imagine the amount invested on each truck?”

Daily Trust