Fuel prices continue to rise but the government is yet to take a call on cutting excise duty. This has meant a double whammy for transporters. While demand for transportation of goods during the festive season is not close to pre-COVID levels, fuel prices are making running trucks prohibitively expensive for many owners. The outcome is that margins are squeezed, and the prospect of recovering losses during the festive season seems lost.

After several consecutive price hikes, diesel - the fuel that accounts for close to 70 percent of a truck's running expenditure now costs over Rs 100 a litre in at least a dozen states and union territories.

Going by the number of e-way bills generated in September and the volumes being tracked in October, it is evident that demand for freight is firming up.

But, while the festive season is prime time for business for transporters, record-high fuel prices have sent operational costs soaring so much that many vehicles are off the roads and transporters are struggling to meet their expenses.

Transporters say demand during this festive season is nothing like previous years, and as a result, close to 20 percent of the vehicles are still off the roads.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Alisha Sachdev for more details.

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)