TRUCKING operators see reduced fuel bills with the sector’s recent inclusion in the fuel discount program.
The discounts, which apply only to franchise holders and not to private trucks, will take effect after the Department of Transportation and Communications issues implementing guidelines.
“This is a welcome development for the trucking industry as we will be able to reduce our fuel expenses which have already eaten up more than a third of our overall expenditures,” Col. Rodolfo De Ocampo, president of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines, the main advocate for the discount, told PortCalls.
The effect of the measure may be small but will nonetheless help reduce the rate hike being planned by truck operators, he said.
Specifi-cally, it will mean savings of about P50 per truck traveling within a 40km radius from Manila, and P200 to P400 per one-way trip or 10% savings in fuel expenses per truck for trips beyond the 40km radius.
Diesel, the most common fuel used by trucks, has increased more than P10 per liter since January and is now at the P44 per liter level.
Prices are expected to remain volatile due to recent attacks in oil fields in Nigeria.
