Distribution Business Articles

It is somewhat amazing the analysis and planning that goes into strikes today.  Strikes in India planned for early July were hatched months in advance.  In some cases they were planned based on comparable strike impact from years before, in 2004 in this situation.

NEW DELHI, June 12 (Reuters) - India's truck fleet will begin an indefinite strike early next month over rising fuel costs and taxes, a union leader said, taking 4 million vehicles off the roads, curbing diesel demand and possibly hitting goods supplies.

If the threatened stoppage takes place, Indian drivers will join a series of protests in Asia and Europe after crude oil's record run forced governments and fuel retailers to cut subsidies and raise prices. See [ID:nSP106193]

"From July 2, there will be no vehicle on the road. We have taken that decision," said Charan Singh Lohara, president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, which represents both large and small truck operations across the country.

A similar week-long strike in August 2004 pulled monthly diesel sales down 9.3 percent from a year earlier, while annual growth in industrial output slowed to 7.9 percent from 8.4 percent in the previous month as the strike disrupted shipments.

UPDATE 1-Indian truckers call strike as fuel, taxes hurt

Interesting in that this strike is looking to pull down the sales of diesel.  In concept, not driving means fewer fuel sales, but the back log of items from rice to grain to petroleum to ipods and strollers will ultimately ship and the decrease in sales is not a decrease at all but a delay instead.