China’s truck drivers see dead end ahead amid rising costs and new toll system

Long-haul truck drivers are unhappy with China’s new toll system, which has increased costs in an industry already notorious for tough working conditions

China’s extensive tollways are among the world’s most expensive for drivers because of their debt-financed construction model

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China’s truck drivers are unhappy about increased prices under a new electronic toll system. Photo: AP

Published: 3:00pm, 12 Jan 2020Updated: 8:07pm, 17 Feb 2020

Dirty, lonely and exhausted from driving hundreds of kilometres at a time on only a few hours of sleep, Wang Ping is one of China’s army of 30 million truck drivers working long hours for low pay.

Ping, who is in his early 40s, has just finished a gruelling 36-hour, 2,500km journey from the central Chinese province of Hubei to the Pearl River Delta in his 49-tonne truck. After a few days’ rest, he’ll climb back behind the wheel and do it all over again – a round trip he grinds out about four times a month.

“We truck drivers live away from our families and often eat and sleep alone in the small truck cab. The past two years I’ve been living this way, but I’m still not earning enough to support my family and make the truck [loan] repayment,” Wang said at a logistics park on the outskirts of Shenzhen in the southern Guangdong province.

Surrounded by semi-trailer trucks, Wang and his fellow drivers doze or discuss life criss-crossing the country on long-haul routes, a job that is becoming increasingly difficult amid rising fuel costs, unpredictable fines from traffic police and fierce competition as China’s economy slows to record lows.

We truck drivers live away from our families and often eat and sleep alone in the small truck cab. The past two years I’ve been living this way, but I’m still not earning enough to support my family

Wang Ping

Truck freight traffic accounts for three quarters of the transport of goods in China, an essential component in the country’s booming economy over the past few decades. But despite their contribution to China’s growth, the working and living conditions of drivers have not kept pace. The sector is still beset by long hours, limited health insurance coverage and excessive levies by local and national governments.

And at the dawn of the new year, China’s truck drivers had another worry to contend with – Beijing’s implementation of a new electronic toll collection system. The central government announced in March 2019 that it would levy tolls from 80 per cent of all vehicles using national motorways by the end of 2019. Under the system, toll stations can collect money from passing vehicles automatically, cutting down on long queues of traffic at booths.

However, the early implementation of the automatic charging system has proved chaotic, with many truck drivers complaining about a hefty rise in toll costs. Wang claimed that during his last drive from Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, to Jingzhou in Hubei, he was charged 3,166 yuan (US$455), about 600 yuan (US$86) more than under the old system.

“The toll increase will only make drivers’ lives worse,” he said. Of the 15,000 yuan (US$2,160) he earned for the 5,000km round trip, Wang was left with less than 4,000 yuan (US$575) after paying for fuel and tolls, and most of that was gobbled up paying off his truck loan. Moreover, his orders and income have shrunk to a record low over the past year, he added.