Struggling under weight of COVID-19, trucking sector seeks gov’t intervention

AMMAN — The trucking sector has suffered losses amounting up to around JD200 million, according to the head of the Jordan Truck Owners Association Mohammad Kheir Al Dawood.

Dawood, in a statement issued on Monday, urged the Ministry of Transport to immediately intervene to resolve the matter.

“If the ministry continues to ignore the trucking sector”, Dawood said, “the association will resort to staging a sit-in at the ministry until the matter is resolved”.

Truck owners’ demands should be considered, he said, noting that they need help with rescheduling of their loans in light of the current exceptional circumstances.

He added that the investments of truck transport sector amount to around JD1.6 billion, “all of which has gone due to the ministry’s lack of response”.

In October 2020, Dawood said that the main challenge facing the trucking industry is the institutional quarantine of drivers, adding that the sector is part of the national production cycle, that when disrupted can affect the flow of goods and services in and out of the Kingdom.

At the time, Dawood said sector representatives were calling for revising institutional quarantine regulations, re-imposed on drivers entering the Kingdom last week. They demanded it to be replaced with home quarantine and PCR testing upon arrival to the Kingdom, in addition to drivers signing a written pledge to adhere to health measures.