Mayur MohtaPetrol and diesel prices are already at punishing levels and now that pain is travelling straight to your kitchen and medicine cabinet. India’s top transporters’ body AITWA has officially announced a hike in freight charges, triggering a domino effect that will push up the price of every single item moved by truck across the country.
Freight Rates Go Up : The Cost of Everything You Buy Is About to Rise
Fuel prices were already hurting Indians hard. Now the ripple effect has reached the last mile. The All India Transporters Welfare Association, known as AITWA, has announced a formal hike in road freight charges. Every item that moves by truck vegetables, grains, medicines, daily essentials is going to get more expensive. The diesel crisis has triggered a domino effect, and the hardest blow will land on the ordinary Indian already battling rising costs at every turn.
When ground-level reporting was done to understand the real situation, the picture that emerged was deeply troubling.
AITWA Introduces Fuel Adjustment Factor Effective May 20, 2026
AITWA has decided to introduce a Fuel Adjustment Factor or FAF which came into effect on May 20, 2026. The formula is straightforward: taking the diesel price of May 15, 2026 as the base, every time diesel rises by ₹1 per litre, freight rates will automatically go up by 0.65 percent.
The association says transport costs have been rising from every direction over the past few weeks. Global tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have choked crude oil supply chains. The pressure on the rupee has made imports even more expensive adding another layer of pain for an industry already on the edge.
Tyres Up 5%, AdBlue Costs Doubled, Toll Hike Since April
AdBlue also known as DEF has nearly doubled in price over just two months. Tyre costs have climbed by five percent. Nationwide toll charges were raised from April 1, 2026. According to AITWA, diesel alone accounts for roughly 65 percent of total transport costs making this hike not a choice, but a compulsion.
Drivers spoken to on the ground were blunt about the situation.
“If freight rates don’t go up, how do we run our homes? Everyone will pass on their losses and in the end, the common person has to pay the price of inflation,” one driver said.
Diesel Shortage Hits Pumps 100-Litre Cap Creates New Chaos
Drivers are also reporting a growing diesel shortage at fuel stations. At many pumps across the country, truckers are being given no more than 100 litres per visit. For trucks running long-distance routes this is a serious operational problem. Trucks will reach destinations later costs will rise and that burden, inevitably, falls on the end buyer.
The trouble doesn’t end there. Transporters have noted that cargo orders were already declining before this crisis hit. Demand has dropped but costs have surged. That double blow is quietly hollowing out the industry from within.
Road Transport : The Backbone of India’s Supply Chain Is Under Severe Strain
Road transport is the backbone of India’s supply chain. From the farmlands of Punjab to the markets of Mumbai almost everything moves by truck. And right now that backbone is under extraordinary pressure.
The FAF mechanism, the diesel cap at pumps, rising operational costs, and falling cargo orders have created a crisis that won’t stay inside the transport sector. It will spill into every market, every household, and every plate of food on every Indian dining table.
Akshay Didwaniya
The BRICS Times
Aditya Didwaniya