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The Land Transportation Office ordered a crackdown on overloaded trucks and trailers in the regions
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In 2023, LTO recorded around P42.7 million in penalties from overloading of motor vehicles, especially trucks and trailers
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LTO said strict enforcement of anti-overloading rules since August 2023 resulted in a 12.8% decrease in violations year-on-year
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) ordered strict implementation of the crackdown on overloaded trucks and trailers.
In a statement, LTO chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza II directed all regional directors to strictly enforce the crackdown in their respective regions.
Mendoza said overloaded trucks and trailers threaten road safety and sometimes result in fatal road accidents. He noted several cases of multiple vehicle damage and multiple fatalities have been recorded in the past due to overloaded trucks and trailers along national highways.
In 2023, LTO recorded around P42.7 million in penalties from overloading of motor vehicles, especially trucks and trailers.
“Based on the complaints that we have been receiving, overloaded trucks also contribute to road and bridge damage which eventually result in additional expenses for the national government for repairs,” Mendoza said.
“We need to seriously run after them because more than the damage to roads and bridges, they also threaten the safety of all road users,” he added.
LTO’s parent agency, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are the implementing agencies of Republic Act (RA) 8794 or the Anti-Overloading Act of 2000.
LTO noted that upon his assumption as chief of the LTO in July last year, Mendoza immediately ordered all agency officials to run after overloaded trucks and trailers amid several cases of fatal road accidents.
The agency claimed strict enforcement since August last year resulted in a 12.8% decrease in violations year-on-year.
“The guidance of our DOTr Secretary Jaime J. Bautista is very clear: to ensure the safety of road users at all times. Our strict implementation of laws on overloading is one of the measures that we could do to ensure safety of road users,” said Mendoza.
Truckers for years have been asking DPWH to amend the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 8794 issued in 2013 and increase the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight (MAGVW) for codes 12-2 and 12-3, two truck types most commonly used for carrying cargoes in the Philippines.
The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (CTAP), in particular, has been requesting DPWH to permanently suspend the enforcement of the MAGVW for these truck codes.
CTAP earlier reiterated that even if truckers were given an indefinite period to comply with the prescribed MAGVW under the law’s revised IRR, “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.”
Last year, an inter-agency meeting led by the Board of Investments (BOI) agreed to push for the revision of the RA 8794 IRR and include new types of trucks and an updated computation of gross vehicle weight to include truck dimensions. BOI said DPWH has already formed a special committee to review the IRR of the law.
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, which averages 15,000 kg, the total weight would be 43,500 kg, an automatic violation of the law.
The confederation noted 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.”
CTAP is proposing that instead of enforcing the MGVW, DPWH should use the requirement of 13.5 tons per axle as the sole basis for the weight limit of trucks “as this is already 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.”
There is also a proposal for the mandatory weighing of cargoes inside port premises, and the honoring or recognizing of the results “in order that overloaded container cargo that exceeds the maximum weight shall not be permitted to exit the port premises.”
