Truck Rentals Rise in May Amid Renewed Demand and Seasonal Boost: Shriram Mobility Bulletin

Mumbai, June 4, 2025: The Shriram Mobility Bulletin released today reveals an improvement in truck rentals across key routes, due to increased consumption triggered by rising disposable cash coupled with the arrival of seasonal fruits, resulting in higher fleet occupancy, particularly across horticultural hubs.

Truck rentals saw a positive momentum across most key trunk routes. The Delhi–Kolkata–Delhi corridor witnessed a month-on-month (MoM) rise of 1.9%, while the Bengaluru–Mumbai–Bengaluru route grew by 1.6% and the Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi route saw a 1.3% increase in truck rentals. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, truck rentals surged 16% on the Kolkata–Guwahati–Kolkata route and 10% on the Mumbai–Chennai–Mumbai corridor. Apart from the arrival of seasonal fruits, increase of goods movements due to pre-stocking for the monsoon season has also played a part in the improvement in truck rentals. 

While the increase in diesel consumption by 4% on a MoM basis shows the increased vehicular movement, vacation travel has led to petrol consumption increasing by 10% on a MoM basis. FASTag transaction volumes also increased by 5.7% MoM, and transaction value grew 4.2% MoM. 

Freight movement in some parts of the Indo-Pakistan border areas was disrupted due to night-time blackouts during Operation Sindoor, temporarily halting logistics operations. Vehicle sales and rentals in the border states were also impacted. While motor car sales fell by 21% MoM in Jammu & Kashmir, 18% in Rajasthan and by 13% in Gujarat, while Maxi cabs fell by 43% in Gujarat, by 50% in Jammu & Kashmir and by 20% in Rajasthan. However, following the announcement of a ceasefire both rentals and sales are expected to improve in the coming months.

However, the vehicle sales segment, the upcoming kharif harvest boosted the sales of Commercial Tractors by 21% on a MoM basis and sales of Agricultural Tractors grew by 18% on a MoM basis. The sales of all other vehicle categories followed a typical pattern of dropping as buyers avoid purchases during the monsoon period. While passenger car sales fell by 17% MoM, Goods Carrier sales fell by 12% on a MoM basis and Two-wheeler sales fell by 2%. 

The EV sales have been encouraging and has seen a steady growth with electric two-wheeler sales going up by 10% MoM and three-wheeler sales by 27% MoM. 

Y S Chakravarti, CEO and Managing Director, Shriram Finance Ltd. said, "Lower interest rates and higher disposable incomes—possibly influenced by reductions in personal income tax rates—may have contributed to an increase in disposable cash, which in turn appears to have led to a modest uptick in the consumption of goods and services in May. Operation Sindoor had a minor blip in business activities, both in terms of goods movements and vehicle sales in border states, but has since returned to normal. It is important to track monsoon activity in June"