‘Consumers will bear brunt of truck ban’

In two months’ time, consumers will be feeling the effect of Manila’s truck ban after truckers groups raised their rates by 50 percent, an official of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) said on Tuesday.

“[Right now, manufacturers] still have an inventory but within two months, the increase in cost will be felt,” said CTAP director Bert Suansing.

Members of CTAP—composed of the biggest local trucking firms which boast 5,000 trucks—had agreed on the 50-percent hike in hauling rates in a regular meeting on March 12.

Truckers went on an indefinite strike when the Manila City government implemented its own truck ban on Feb. 24. The truck holiday was lifted after three days partly because truckers agreed to examine their losses as a result of shorter operating hours and decided to raise their rates, Suansing said.

From one day, it now takes about three days for truckers to complete one turnaround, he added.

Suansing said truckers were amenable to a modified truck ban wherein even empty trucks would be allowed on Manila roads during the window hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Asked if truckers would roll back rates should this was allowed by the city government, Suansing said: “Of course, the period of engagement will become shorter so it follows that we will lower the rates.”

At the same time, it was also workable to open a 24-hour truck corridor from the Manila port area to North Luzon Expressway as, within the city, it would affect only A. Bonifacio Drive and Road 10, he added.

As of now, however, they have yet to get the city government’s reaction to their suggestions, Suansing said.

Mayor Joseph Estrada was not available for comment yesterday but he had maintained in previous interviews that the truck ban would remain in effect.

In an earlier interview, Teddy Gervacio, president of Integrated North Harbor Truckers Association, said their members have also started charging higher hauling rates.

Suansing said the increase in trucking rates was just one item cargo owners would factor in when they compute their expenses, including the cost of operating at night to accommodate nighttime delivery. Ultimately, consumers will be the ones to suffer as the additional costs will just be passed on to them, he stressed.

From P7,000, the fee for transporting a 20-footer from the Manila International Container Terminal or South Harbor to destinations in the city such as Binondo and Tondo is now P10,500, according to the CTAP guideline. A 40-foot container would now cost P12,450, up from P8,300.

Under Manila’s struck ban, eight-wheel trucks and vehicles with a gross weight above 4,500 kilos cannot go out in the city’s streets from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Estrada, however, allowed a two-week trial for a window period, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., for trucks with loaded containers.