A frontline truck owner, Abdullahi Inuwa, has said that due to the economic situation in the country, an average truck owner cannot afford a brand new truck head, being that it goes for between N30m – N35m to get one.
He made this known to Financial Street on Thursday in Lagos.
Inuwa, who was reacting to plan by the Federal Road Safety Corps to ban articulated trucks above 30 years, said such action, if implemented by the government, will drive most truckers out of business.
According to him, at least 65 per cent of dry cargo trucks operating in Nigerian seaports are substandard and rickety.
“The government has to do the needful before the implementation. As per the cost of a brand new truck, you need to have between N30m – N35m for only the head, without the body.
“That’s why many people go for Tokunbo, which costs between N13m – N15m for the head alone,” he explained.
Inuwa added, “Government should be mindful that removing one truck out of the road is like you are removing food from the mouth of more than 30 people; that is from the owner, driver, motor mates, commission agent, mechanic, labour and their families.”
The truck owner also claimed that the manufacturers and importers they service do not release funds for them to get new trucks.
“Manufacturing companies and importers that we render services to, lack long-term government policy that will create enabling environment for them to release funds to us to change some of the trucks,” he lamented.
He, however, urged the government to strategise on how transport owners can access loan with low interest in order to buy new trucks for safety sake.
