From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at improving road transport, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Niitn Gadkari today said Auto manufacturers will soon have to install air conditioners inside driver cabins of trucks.
“Before coming to this event Tuesday, I have signed the file that mandates air conditioning in truck driver compartments. We must ensure that people who drive the trucks are well taken of,” Nitin Gadkari said at an auto industry event here.
Sources said that the idea to make airconditioned cabins mandatory for truck drivers emanated from recent audio clips of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi travelling with a truck driver in the US earlier this month in which the Congress leader is shown in a long conversation with the truck driver discussing problems of truck driving in India. Earlier last month, Rahul Gandhi had travelled from Ambala to Chandigarh during which he had talked about problems of truck driving in the country.
Gadkari is known for accepting new ideas from any quarters and sources said that the Minister was impressed the way Rahul Gandhi had brought the problem in the public domain by personally travelling with truck drivers.
“Our drivers operate vehicles in harsh temperatures of 43…47 degrees and we must imagine the condition of drivers. I was keen to introduce the AC cabin after I became a minister. But some people opposed it saying the cost of trucks will go up. Today, I have signed the file that all truck cabins will be AC cabins,” he said addressing the event called ‘Desh Chaalak – Recognising those who move India’ organised by Mahindra Logistics.
Gadkari also noted India has a shortage of drivers, resulting in truckers operating 14-16 hours a day.
“In other countries, there is a restriction on the number of hours a trucker can be on duty,” he said.
The minister did not mention the deadline as to when people can expect those trucks fitted with AC cabins will be rolled out. Some reports suggest that the rollout will be from 2025.
The Union Minister also spoke about the reduction in logistic costs and reiterated logistics costs in India need to be brought down in order to improve export competitiveness, adding good quality roads and trucks is key to it.
