Truck owners make less profit due to rising fuel prices and set fare prices

Truck owners are making less profit since the fare prices can’t be changed while the fuel prices are rising, according to U Htaw Gyi, a truck owner from the Yangon-Pathein Freight Forwarding.
As a litre of diesel has risen to K2,500, one 200-mile way leaves around K90,000, he said. Last year, a litre of diesel was K660 in early February and K920 in April, however, the price rose to K2,500 in early June.
It takes nearly 20 gallons of diesel for a six-wheeler truck for about 200 miles from Yangon-Pathein. At the current diesel price, it costs around K60,000/70,000 for fuel, K40,000 for the driver, K20,000 for the helper, and K10,000 for each coolie, and the owner has to pay for the two of them.
Ko Thet, a truck owner, said he would still have to work for profit during the rainy season, when the business is down, despite the low profit. Most truck owners now are choosing the option of picking up on the more expensive truckloads of goods and reducing general costs. — TWA/GNLM