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The moratorium on enforcement of the anti-overloading policy for trucks under codes 12-2 and 12-3 extended for another six months to June 30
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The moratorium gives truckers more time to acquire additional transport equipment to conform with the gross vehicle weight requirement under Republic Act 8794
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The moratorium has been continuously extended since 2013 on repeated request from truckers
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The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines, Inc. has for years requested the permanent suspension of the policy prohibiting overloading of trucks with codes 12-2 and 12-3
Cargo trucks with codes 12-2 and 12-3 have been given another six-month reprieve from the enforcement of the anti-overloading policy.
Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade signed the public advisory extending the moratorium to June 30, 2021 “to give haulers/truckers more time to acquire additional transport equipment to conform with the latest GVW [gross vehicle weight].”
The moratorium covers enforcement of the anti-overloading policy for trucks categorized under codes 12-2 and 12-3; it took effect on January 1, 2021 after the last moratorium expired on December 31, 2020.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has applied the moratorium since January 1 despite late publication of the official notice.
The moratorium relating to trucks coded 12-2 and 12-3 has been continuously extended since 2013 upon repeated request of truckers. Code 12-2 trucks are semi-trailers with three axles on the towing trucks and two axles on the trailers; code 12-3 trucks are semi-trailers with three axles on the towing trucks and three axles on the trailer. These truck types are commonly used to deliver container cargoes.
Other truck/trailer codes must follow the current maximum allowable gross vehicle weight (MAGVW) under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 8794 (An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of all Types of Motor Vehicles and for Other Purposes), or Anti-Overloading Act.
CTAP’s call
The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP), however, has for years requested the DPWH to permanently suspend enforcement of the MAGVW for trucks with codes 12-2 and 12-3.
Not getting a permanent suspension, CTAP has also asked DPWH to extend the moratorium, or to amend revised implementing rules and regulations of RA 8794 to increase the MAGVW of codes 12-2 and 12-3, the two most commonly used trucks for carrying cargoes in the Philippines.
RELATED READ: DPWH open to new extension of anti-overloading moratorium
In a letter to DPWH’s Villar in June 2019, CTAP said that even if an indefinite period to comply with the prescribed MAGVW under the law’s revised IRR was given to truckers, “there would not be any transport equipment anywhere in the world that will satisfy the gross vehicle weight of 41,500 kilograms for 12-2 and 42,000 kg for 12-3.”
In a position paper submitted to DPWH in 2017, CTAP explained that the average weight of containers arriving in the Philippines is around 30,000 kg to 36,000 kg, which means that if the minimum weight is added to the tare weight of the tractor head and trailer (15,000 kg on average), the total weight would be 43,500 kg, already an automatic violation of the law.
CTAP also explained that to comply with the MAGVW, “we would need a truck and trailer with a tare weight of around 10,000 kg to 11,500 kg, which would be impossible since the average tare weight of such is 15,000 kg for code 12-2 and 16,000 kg for code 12-3.”
Instead of enforcing the MAGVW, CTAP proposes that DPWH use the requirement of 13.5 tons per axle as sole basis for weight limit of trucks as this is “the norm among compliant truckers.”
CTAP noted that the 13.5 tons per axle basis “will not cripple the economy” unlike the MAGVW “that will prevent most truckers [from pulling] out containers from the ports because they will be automatically cited for overloading.”
Truckers earlier said they are being apprehended for overloading based on two reasons: MAGVW, as per the revised IRR, and the 13.5 tons per axle, which is stated under RA 8794.
Truckers said they prefer the basis of 13.5 tons per axle, which is already part of the law, and which they can comply with.
Under Section 6 (Penalty for Overloading) of RA 8794, “An amount equivalent to twenty five percent (25%) of the MVUC [Motor Vehicle User’s Charge] shall be imposed on trucks and trailers for loading beyond their prescribed gross vehicle weight: provided, that no axle load shall exceed thirteen thousand five hundred kilograms (13,500 kg).” – Roumina Pablo
