South Korean safe freight rates have been raised seven times since last year and are expected to continue to go up during the second half of the year as oil and commodity prices spike, exacerbating the logistics cost burden on cargo truckers.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on Sunday, the government has raised safe freight rates for cargo trucks four times last year and three times this year.

The cargo union announced that it will go on strike on Tuesday, demanding the abolition of the sunset clause and the expansion of items included in the safe freight rates system.

The safe freight rates system guarantees minimum freight rates for truckers and was implemented to prevent work-related driving accidents. According to the sunset provision, the safe freight rates system will expire at the end of this year.

Safe freight rates are currently being applied to cement and cargo trucks that import and export.

Safety freight rates were lowered at the end of 2020 compared to the beginning of the year due to Covid-19 but have been hiked since 2021 as prices soared.

Safety freight rates rose 11.6 percent from 677,500 won ($541.13) at the beginning of 2021 to 755,800 won ($603.67) at the end of last year for transporting 40-feet containers on a 600-kilometer round trip.

As of April 1, safety freight rates are 806,800 won, up 6.7 percent from 755,800 won, the rate at the end of 2021.

By Lee Jong-hyuk and Susan Lee

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]