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SINGAPORE : The rise in Electronic Road Pricing and increase in the number of ERP gantries is worrying at least one business - the couriers.
Alpha Couriers estimates the 5 new gantries along the Singapore River area - from Clemenceau Avenue to Fullerton Road - will increase its transport costs by at least 15 percent.
Managing director of the company, Clein Luai, has been in the courier business for 13 years.
He has 10 couriers eight motorcyclists and two van drivers, making 150 to 200 deliveries a day in and out of the CBD area which accounts for at least half of his business.
Currently, in total his couriers spend about S$300 a month on ERP charges but he expects that to go up to at least S$345.
He says: "Our business requires us to go in and out of CBD very often. And this actually increase lots of our costs and it actually increase the difficulty in our operations."
Clein says the higher transport costs will put a squeeze on the company's profit margin because a total of 16 new gantries will be activated this year - in April, July and November.
What more, the gantries activated in July will be switched on in the evenings between 5pm and 8pm on weekdays and two of them will also operate on Saturdays.
Even if the flow of traffic is improved, Clein says, that is not a benefit to a courier company like his.
The benefit would be, he says, the better safety of his eight motorcyclist couriers because of the better flow of traffic. - CNA/ch
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