The lorry agents across the district stopped booking consignments for the northern states from Sunday in support of the all-India strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC).
The AIMTC’s nation-wide indefinite strike was to highlight the demands of reducing fuel price, uniform national pricing with quarterly revision and removal of all toll plazas functioning on the national highways among others.
A meeting of the office-bearers of the State Lorry Owners Federation – Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Lorry Booking Agents and Anaithu Vanigargal Sangam and other associations was held in the city on Sunday to discuss about the strike.
Later addressing presspersons, V. Chennakesavan, president, Salem District Lorry Owners Association, C. Dhanaraj, general secretary of the State Lorry Owners Federation – Tamil Nadu, V. Rajavadivel, president, Tamil Nadu Lorry Booking Agents, said that the Sand Lorry Owners Federation, Small Load Lorries Association, Association of Van Owners and various other organisations have expressed their support to the strike.
The suspension of booking of consignments for the north Indian states from Sunday has affected trade to the tune of ₹3,000 crore. Booking of consignments inside Tamil Nadu will be stopped from July 18.
The petrol tankers association and the LPG tankers association too have assured to extend support to the strike from July 23. The indefinite strike will hit the trade and industry to a big extent and will lead to hike in the prices of all essential commodities. They said that the lorry operators have also requested the trading bodies to close down all business houses for a day in support of the lorry strike.
