Total truck ban in Metro opposed

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) could face a bumpy ride should it insist on imposing a total daytime truck ban on major thoroughfares.

In a consultation meeting at the MMDA headquarters in Makati City on Wednesday, representatives of trucking organizations expressed their opposition to MMDA’s plan to allow cargo trucks on main roads only from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino announced two weeks ago that the agency was considering a total daytime truck ban after the “modified” version of the measure expires on July 6.

Under the modified ban, cargo trucks are not allowed from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.; and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., except on Sundays and holidays. A 24-hour total truck ban is also currently in force on Edsa, from Magallanes Interchange to North Avenue, from Monday to Sunday.

Past success

Tolentino said the new regulation could be patterned after the one implemented in New York City’s Manhattan area.

The MMDA chief earlier cited the success of the daytime truck ban that was imposed when the capital hosted the meeting of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Governors at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City in 2012.

During the ADB meet, the MMDA allowed trucks on the roads only from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

In Wednesday’s meeting, Alberto Suansing, former Land Transportation Office chief and executive director of the Philippine Global Road Safety Partnership, warned that a stricter ban being pushed by the MMDA would result in a “logistical nightmare” for economic sectors dependent on trucking.

Wrong target

Suansing said trucking companies which collectively make 20,000 trips in Metro Manila a day, for example, would be forced to make all those deliveries in just seven hours.

If the MMDA wants to alleviate heavy traffic, Suansing said, it should turn its attention to private vehicles illegally parked on the roadside and not to the trucks plying the main roads.

Rodolfo de Ocampo of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines also warned the MMDA of heavy losses to be incurred by businesses.

“Most of the truckers don’t want to make deliveries at night because of the rampant highjacking incidents… And the management of warehouses won’t operate at night because of the additional expenses,” De Ocampo said.