The Chennai Port Authority (ChPA) on March 29 announced the operationalisation of Chennai Port Parking Plaza (CPPP) from April 10 to provide parking and associated facilities to trailers and trucks entering the port
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JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
The trailer and taurus owners associations operating at the Chennai port have deferred the strike plan, which was supposed to start at 6 am today against the proposed collection of fees for the newly constructed Chennai Port Parking Plaza (CPPP) from Thursday.
Both All India Container Trailer Association and the All Sea Ports Trailer Owners Association in a separate statement said they would defer the strike. However, both said they would protest against the ₹550 payment for the parking plaza.
The Chennai Port Authority (ChPA) on March 29 announced the operationalisation of CPPP from April 10 to provide parking and associated facilities to trailers and trucks entering the port. The facilities include restrooms, canteen and dormitory for trailer drivers.
However, the vehicle owners said with freight rates already low, the CPPP charges are set to impact their margins. The owners are operating at transport rates fixed by the National Association of Container Freight Stations in 2014 and we have been requesting for rate increase but there is still no sign of it, they said in a letter to the ChPA authorities. “We operate at a very low margin roughly around ₹1,000 per movement. In addition to this you have now introduced the CPPP service and charges payable at ₹550 per service usage will eat our already meagre profit,” they said.
In response to the strike notice, an official of ChPA said the CPPP was developed at a cost of around ₹45 crore and the managing of the yard involves a contractor who has to deploy manpower and other equipment, and for these, a parking fee is required. The CPPP can accommodate around 600 vehicles.
On Tuesday, a meeting was held between ChPA officials and the vehicles owners but no decision was taken on the strike.
These associations are formed out of self interest. A sizable number of vehicles are owned by Container Freight Station operators and Custom brokers. Then there are the private fleet owners with one or two vehicles to tens or hundreds. This category of owners form associations to increase their bargaining power to get more business. Their only common agenda is to get more business and more money per trip, he said.
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Published on April 9, 2025