Pakistan Goods Transporters Seek Compensation for 2,500 Seized Vehicles
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Goods transporters have demanded the immediate release of commercial vehicles and compensation for their owners, claiming that more than 2,500 trucks and other goods vehicles remain in custody across Islamabad and other Pakistani cities despite the postponement of a planned political protest.
Muhammad Owais Chaudhry Advocate, president of the All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association, said commercial vehicles taken into custody for security arrangements had still not been returned to their owners.
According to Chaudhry, another approximately 200 vehicles were seized in Lahore and transferred to Islamabad, while containers mounted on some of the vehicles were also being removed. He claimed the total number of vehicles detained across different cities had now exceeded 2,500.
The figures are claims by the transporters’ association and have not been independently confirmed by the government.
Transporters Demand Immediate Release
Chaudhry said transport operators had been asking the government for more than two weeks to immediately release vehicles carrying commercial cargo.
For empty vehicles taken into custody, the association is demanding compensation for their owners.
The transporters also want any compensation to be paid directly to individual vehicle owners, rather than through an association, contractor or third party.
The demand follows concerns that prolonged detention of commercial vehicles is causing financial losses to operators and disrupting normal freight movement.
Transporters Claim Supply Chain Is Being Hit
The association warned that the continued detention of goods vehicles was beginning to affect Pakistan’s supply chain.
Chaudhry said operators were suffering significant financial losses because trucks that would normally be moving cargo remained unavailable for commercial operations.
The scale of any nationwide supply-chain disruption has not been independently quantified, so the claim should be attributed to the transporters rather than presented as an established economic impact.
Commercial road transport plays an important role in moving food, industrial inputs, imported goods and other cargo between Pakistan’s ports, cities and industrial centres. Prolonged disruption can therefore create costs beyond individual vehicle owners if large numbers of trucks are removed from normal service.
Earlier Claim Put Islamabad Figure Above 1,000
The latest claim represents a significant increase from figures cited earlier this week.
On September 21, Chaudhry said more than 1,000 goods vehicles had been held by Islamabad police for around two weeks. He disputed suggestions that the vehicles had been formally hired by authorities and said many of them were carrying cargo when they were detained.
The vehicles reportedly included containerised cargo trucks, flatbeds, open-body trucks, 10-wheelers and Mazda commercial vehicles.
At that stage, the association demanded Rs20,000 per vehicle for each day it remained detained, while also calling for loaded vehicles to be released immediately.
The current report does not repeat a specific Rs20,000 daily compensation demand, instead calling for appropriate compensation to be paid directly to affected owners.
Government Had Assured Release and Compensation
The latest complaint comes only two days after Federal Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan met representatives of the All Pakistan Goods Transporters Alliance.
During the September 24 meeting, transporters raised the issue of vehicles detained because of protests, alongside broader concerns involving axle-load policy, tolls, taxation, route permits and trucking infrastructure.
The minister listened to the transporters’ concerns and assured them that their problems would be addressed. The meeting also covered the release of detained vehicles and compensation, according to Express reporting.
The fact that transporters are again raising the issue suggests that, according to their association, the promised release process has not yet been completed.
Demand for Audit of Past Compensation
Transporters are also seeking greater transparency over previous compensation payments.
Chaudhry called for a transparent audit and investigation of compensation reportedly paid since 2013, questioning claims made by ministers regarding previous payments to transport operators.
He argued that payments should be traceable to the actual owners whose commercial vehicles were taken into custody.
No independently verified audit findings establishing irregularities in previous compensation payments were cited in the current report. The demand is therefore an allegation and request for scrutiny from the transporters’ association, not evidence that funds were misused.
Protest Postponed but Vehicle Dispute Continues
The dispute has continued despite the postponement of the political protest for which authorities had made extensive security and road-control arrangements.
The transporters argue that once the immediate security requirement changed, their vehicles should have been returned without further delay.
Their latest statement warns the government to compensate losses and resolve the matter rather than force transport operators towards what the association described as “tough action.”
The association did not specify what form such action might take.
The central verified development is that Pakistan’s goods transporters are demanding the release of commercial vehicles and compensation for their owners, while claiming that more than 2,500 vehicles remain detained across Islamabad and other cities. The 2,500 figure remains an association claim pending independent or official confirmation.
