Road turns rough for small fleet operators

Fortunes of small fleet operators (SFOs) appear to have nosed downhill for good since the changeover to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) last fiscal, according to ratings agency Crisil

250-300 bps – dent in Ebitda margins of SFOs in fiscal 2019, according to Crisil estimate

140 bps – reduction in margins for LFOs in higher input cost is expected

67% – of road transport is comprised of SFOs in India

Rs 250 crore – turnover is raised by most road transport operators in the country barring the top 10-15 players

40-50% – overloading is being done by the SFOs

Large fleet operators (LFOs) are much less impacted, as the changes in norms and customer preference have swerved the advantage sharply their way