Fuel Crisis: FG Implements 25% Freight Rate For Petrol Transporters

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has confirmed the implementation of a 25 per cent freight rate by the federal government as it called on members to resume full lifting of petrol amidst the raging scarcity.

The NARTO had decried the rising diesel cost, saying it hampered logistics for lifting petrol amidst the fuel scarcity. The minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had said although petrol was available, the high diesel rate was stopping some trucks from lifting the product.

But in a statement yesterday, the national president of the NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman, called on its members who have suspended loading to resume full operation following the approval of the increased freight rate to 25 per cent of product cost per truck.

He said, “I am calling on our members (transporters) to get back to full operation now that 25 per cent has been implemented. I can confirm that the 25 per cent rate has been approved and implemented.”

Othman urged them to resume full operation to alleviate the petrol scarcity, saying efforts are ongoing to get federal government’s palliatives on Automative Gas Oil (AGO), also called diesel.

“I am calling on members to get back to operation, with a view to reducing the sufferings of the general public. In addition, we are trying to look into how to get AGO palliatives from government,” he noted.