In a bid to provide the much-needed comfort to drivers who often spend 11-12 hours in their sweaty confines, all truck cabins will have to be mandatorily air-conditioned from 2025.
ACs Mandatory For All Truck Cabins
As we know that the tough work conditions and long hours on the road are often cited as a key reason for driver fatigue and accidents.
So far, most of the high-end trucks manufactured by global players such as Volvo and Scania already come with air conditioned cabins.
But, several Indian players are yet to graduate despite a debate on the issue for several years.
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadakndari on Monday announced that he has approved a proposal to make ACs mandatory with officials saying that a transition period of 18 overhead months were necessary for the industry to upgrade.
Indian Truck Drivers Facing Tough Work Conditions
Further, the ministry said, “In our country, some drivers are behind the wheels for 12 or 14 hours whereas in other countries, there is a restriction on the number of hours for bus and truck drivers to be on duty. Our drivers operate vehicles in temperatures of 43 to 47 degrees and we must imagine the condition of drivers. I was keen to introduce the AC cabin after I became minister. But some people opposed it saying the cost will go up. Today (Monday), I have signed the file that all truck cabins will be AC cabins,” at an event organized by an automobile company.
First time, this move was proposed in 2016 by the road transport ministry.
Moving ahead, ministry officials said, “The industry had demanded that the provision should be optional. Some of them had even claimed that the drivers may feel sleepy in AC cabins. We always had the same notion about bus drivers and the drivers’ cabins were non- AC for years. But the introduction of Volvo buses ended that perception and now all luxury buses have AC cabins for drivers as well.”
The additional expenditure for providing AC cabins in trucks would cost in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per truck, as per an estimate.
