Cuttack: The Odisha State Truck Owners' Federation (Ostof) will not join the indefinite strike across the country against rising fuel prices called by the All-India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners' Association (Acogoa) from June 18.

Ostof, however, has decided to join the nationwide call given by the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) for strike from July 20.

Ostof general secretary Rabi Satpathy on Wednesday said: "We will not extend any support to the proposed nationwide indefinite strike called by Acogoa from June 18 as we do not owe allegiance to it."

The federation's clarification was given to allay apprehensions that the supplies of commodities to the state would be disrupted in the latter half of this month if Ostof lent its support to Acogoa's strike call. "No trucks in the state will be kept off the roads from June 18. However, about two lakh trucks and nearly 1,300 transporters across the state will stay off the roads from July 20 as our transporters will join the AIMTC's call for indefinite strike," the Ostof general secretary said.

"The AIMTC has given the nationwide strike call taking into consideration the resentment among its members on issues that the central government has failed to address," Satpathy said. He said the major issues were - "third-party premium hike, abnormal and continual fuel price hike, and arbitrary toll collection policy".

Ostof said if the government failed to address the issues, the AIMTC would launch the nationwide strike by truckers from July 20.