Truck drivers and owners strike for the 5th day in a row in Assiut.

Truck drivers and owners continue their strike, protesting new traffic laws that disallow trailer use

For the fifth day in a row, a large number of truck owners and drivers in Assiut are on strike, protesting the decision to disallow trailer use and raise taxes. The car owners say they will continue to strike until their demands are met.
Khalil Samuel, owner of Auto Transport, complained about the decision, saying that, without prescribing a suitable alternative for trailer owners and drivers, the new law would bring on a crisis. Before the new traffic law was adopted, the cost of trailers was about LE150,000, but now motorists will not be able to either use them or sell them at value. Instead, they will have to sell their trailers as scrap for no more than LE10,000.
Moreover, lorry drivers and owners argue that the trailers are not the cause of traffic accidents, but rather the roads themselves, which are in need of resurfacing.
Head of the union road transport in Assiut, Fathy Abdel-Wehab, stated that the main demand is that the new law's grace period be extend by five more years so that, at the very least, bank loans can be met and people may avoid imprisonment for defaulting on them.