LTO oks private truck inspection centers, paving way for roadworthiness as criteria for truck franchise grant

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  • Land Transportation Office Memorandum Circular 2022-2322 authorizes the establishment of private motor vehicle inspection centers for heavy-duty vehicles
  • The centers will cater to heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks for hire
  • The LTO ruling paves the way for roadworthiness, instead of truck age, as basis for grant of franchises to trucks for hire
  • A notice will be issued inviting applicants to set up PMVICs for heavy-duty vehicles

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has authorized the opening of private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVIC) for heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks for hire.

LTO Memorandum Circular No. 2022-2322 dated February 28 effectively paves the way for the application of roadworthiness, instead of truck age, as basis for granting franchise to trucks for hire, Transportation road sector senior consultant Alberto Suansing told PortCalls.

The order authorizes PMVICs for heavy-duty vehicles, which are motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 4,501 kilograms and above.

PMVICs are privately-owned automated vehicle inspection facilities that will check a vehicle’s compliance with emission standards and roadworthiness prior to registration.

Trucking groups Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners & Organizations and Confederation of Truckers Associations of the Philippines (CTAP) last year reiterated their call to apply roadworthiness as basis for granting franchises to trucks for hire, as well as the speedy establishment of the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) for heavy vehicles.

READ: Truckers insist vehicle roadworthiness, not age, as basis for franchise

CTAP said it supports the MVIS as it “will institutionalize a technology-driven vehicle inspection service to determine the roadworthiness of TH trucks in the proper issuance of franchise.”

After it was given authority to engage the private sector in conducting MVIS facility expansion, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued Department Order No. 2018-019, which provides guidelines for authorizing motor vehicle inspection centers. DO 2018-019 was revised in 2019 through DO 2019-002 to expand the coverage of motor vehicles subject to MVIC.

In 2019 then DOTr Undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure Mark Richmund de Leon said that with the privately run MVICs, the government “will be veering away from the maximum age policy” for trucks.

READ: DOTr looking to accredit private MVICs by 2020

Instead of enforcing the current policy of a maximum age of 15 years for trucks, he said MVICs will “dictate if that vehicle is indeed roadworthy.”

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Martin Delgra III had also said earlier that once the government establishes the MVIS, roadworthiness will become the basis for granting a Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or franchise to public utility vehicles, including trucks.

Truckers have long argued that roadworthiness, not truck age, should be the basis for granting a franchise.

Under LTO MC 2022-2322, a total of 111 inspection lanes will be authorized to operate in accordance with the projected nationwide lane requirements.

Site locations will be based on accessibility, strategic location, catchment areas, and number of registered heavy-duty vehicles.

The PMVICs should be fully automated and its equipment capable of being interconnected or interfaced with the existing LTO IT system.

The results of all visual inspections and tests should be recorded/uploaded automatically (no human intervention) by direct input to the lane computer via touch screen monitor and/or keyboard.

The pass/fail judgment is indicated at every stage of inspection and displayed on an overhead TV monitor.

Upon completion of all stages of inspection, the results are to be transferred to the main database server. The Motor Vehicle Inspection Report will provide the overall pass/fail status of a vehicle.

A Certificate of MVIS Compliance will be issued to a vehicle that has completely passed the inspection. An indestructible sticker, which cannot be removed from the license plate, will also be issued by LTO and physically attached by an authorized representative of the PMVIC.

The government started implementing the PMVIC program in 2020 but suspended its mandatory enforcement in August 2021 amid public clamor and until the issue on the geographic areas of responsibility is fully resolved.

Motor vehicle owners still retain the option to have their vehicles tested for roadworthiness and compliance with the Clean Air Act either at a PMVIC or a private emission testing center with the required LTO visual inspection. – Roumina Pablo