Credit window denied truckers
GROUP FAILS TO COMPLY WITH LAW ON OVERLOADING

By VG CABUAG
Reporter

AN umbrella of group of trucking firms has not been able to access a credit window allotted by a state-owned bank for them to modernize their fleets and comply with the implementation of the No Overloading Act.
           
According to Albert H. Suansing, consultant from the private sector of the Road Board, most of the 6,000-member Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) cannot qualify for the bank’s requirements.
           
“Some of them do not even have TINs [Tax Identification Number of the Bureau of Internal Revenue],” Suansing said in a telephone interview.
           
“CTAP cannot ascertain if they have members that already accessed the (credit) window.”
           
Suansing, however, said only a handful of trucking firms that operate refrigerated trucks have accessed the funds.
           
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines has provided a credit window, or a low-interest loan, for the truckers since they are one of major component of the bank’s Domestic Shipping Development Plan phase 2.
           
The credit window, funded by the official development assistance of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), has more than P4 billion in available funds, which will expire by January next year.
           
JBIC gave the Philippines a total of P9.61 billion to develop the country’s shipping industry.
           
The loan has been coursed through the Postal Bank, another state-owned institution.
           
CTAP was the first trucking group to agree on the Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) proposal that firms should modernize their fleet to comply with the law.
           
This was done at a time when most of the truckers’ position was to go against the implementation of the No Overloading Act.
           
Earlier, DOTC pinpointed that the use of old types of trucks for the trucking business is one of the reasons why the vehicles were overloaded when it hit the streets, and the only solution was to purchase new tractor trailers and flatbeds.
           
A brand-new tractor trailer costs about P700,000, while the flatbeds are estimated to cost P200,000 or P900,000 for a single trucking vehicle.
           
The tractor trailers usually have locking systems where the flatbed is attached and towed.
           
DOTC said these types are efficient load carriers since its configurations allow the truckers to carry the maximum rated load of 27 tons and evenly distributed it at the flatbeds’ two axle.
           
Many truckers, on the other hand, prefer to purchase the much cheaper “straight trucks,” which costs about P400,000 to P500,000  per unit.
           
The government is against this as, according to the Road Board, these types are not efficient cargo carriers since most of the weight of the load is concentrated on the rear axle of the vehicle as the cab of the truck is normally mounted on the front axle.