JEDDAH, 10 February 2005 — Saudi truckers are facing tough price war competition from non-Saudi drivers. The Saudi truckers claim the non-Saudis are lowering prices to steal customers and drive them out of business. They’re hoping the government can put the brakes on the practice.
“I’ve been working in this business for 10 years now, and we are sick of these non-Saudi drivers running their own business using Saudi names,” said Abdullah Al-Bishri, a 29-year-old trucker. “They’re forcing us into a price war knowing that we can’t afford it. We’ve asked the Makkah Governorate many time to solve this problem and put an end to this injustice.”
It’s making it hard for the gearjammers to bring home the halalas.
“We travel constantly from one city to another in search of good money and to transport goods between cities,” said Saud Al-Otaibi, another trucker. “I travel a lot between Taif, Makkah and Jeddah. Most of the time we have to stay away from home for days just to come back home with enough money to pay for food and other expenses.”
He says the foreign drivers aren’t the only ones to blame.
“The problem comes from Saudis who rent their trucks to foreigners for SR1,500 a month,” Al-Otaibi said. “These foreigners can afford to reduce their prices because they are singles, and they don’t have large families like we do. In the past, the Traffic Department used to stop them from working the trucks they didn’t own. Nowadays, they can work freely in any truck they rent.”
Can the government rescue the Saudis from the foreign drivers’ clutches?
“We want to demand that the Traffic Department enforce Saudization in the truck business,” said trucker Ahmad Al-Qahtani. “Foreign drivers don’t care if the cargo they’re transporting is stolen or not, as long as they get money at the end. We Saudi drivers care about this country, and many times we report suspicious people to police who may be transporting some furniture and other stolen items. We would not have asked to have this industry Saudized if foreigners weren’t harming us by reducing their prices.”
Al-Qahtani says maybe the truckers need an association.
“Our income and family are threatened and we may have to form an organization to protect the interests of Saudi truck drivers.”
The foreign truckers say they’re filling out the additional transport needs of the country and point out that the owners of those trucks they drive are Saudis.
“We’re trying to earn a living, too,” said Sudani trucker Muhammad Abdullah. “If there’s a price war, I’ll be its first victim because I’m sharing the daily income with the owner. If they choose to Saudize the truck industry there will be a crisis because more than 50 percent of the truck drivers aren’t Saudi. Who will take care of it if we aren’t here?”
