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Updating of the anti-overloading law IRR is being mulled to consider new truck configurations
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The Department of Public Works and Highways is also looking to allow higher maximum gross vehicle weight limits via an update of the distribution factor corresponding to inter-axle spacing
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For consideration, too, is the expansion of DPWH’s weighbridge and mobile truck weighing stations
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is looking to update the anti-overloading law implementing rules and regulations to accommodate new truck configurations and higher maximum gross vehicle weight (MGVW) limits.
An update would be part of DPWH’s strategic directions toward implementation of Republic Act No. 8794 or “An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of All Types of Motor Vehicles and for Other Purposes,” or the Anti-Overloading Act, DPWH Bureau of Quality and Safety assistant bureau director Jonathan Araullo said in a presentation during the National Truckers Assembly on July 7.
Araullo said in a 2021 traffic survey covering seven days in 16 locations, DPWH counted 177,346 trucks, 8.2% or 14,621 had configurations that do not fall under categories prescribed in the current IRR of RA 8794.
He said DPWH is studying the recognition of these new truck configurations in any updated IRR.
In addition, the agency is looking at allowing higher MGVW limits via a revised distribution factor corresponding to inter-axle spacing. “If we adjust the axle spacing of the trailers, we might be able to have a configuration that is relatively higher than the maximum” in the current IRR, Araullo said.
Expanding DPWH’s weighbridge and mobile truck weighing stations is likewise being considered. DPWH has 17 permanent weighbridge stations along national roads and 23 anti-truck overloading weighing stations nationwide.
The posting of load ratings of bridges to avoid further and rapid deterioration of bridges in poor condition, and intensifying coordination with the Land Transportation Office to strengthen the apprehension mechanism for violators are also eyed.
Truckers for years have been asking DPWH to amend the revised IRR of RA 8794 issued in 2013 to increase the MGVW of codes 12-2 and 12-3, truck types most commonly used in the Philippines.
The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines Inc. (CTAP), in particular, has been requesting the DPWH to permanently suspend the enforcement of the MAGVW for these two truck codes.
READ: CTAP suggests ways to make anti-overloading law viable
READ: PH trucks face apprehension with anti-overloading law now in full effect
In a position paper submitted to DPWH in 2017, CTAP explained that the average weight of containers arriving in the Philippines is 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.
In order to comply with the MAGVW, CTAP noted its members “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 MAGVW, DPWH should use the requirement of 13.5 tons per axle as the sole basis for the weight limit of trucks, “already the norm among compliant truckers.”
CTAP noted that the 13.5 tons per axle basis “will not cripple the economy” unlike the MAGVW, “[which] 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.”
Under Section 6 (Penalty for Overloading) of RA 8794, “An amount equivalent to 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 13,500 kgs.”
Following repeated requests from truckers, DPWH had enforced from 2013 to June 2021 a moratorium on the implementation of the IRR on trucks coded 12-2 and 12-3.
Araullo said DPWH has not renewed the moratorium since last year after DPWH found that overloading cases have been increasing since 2018.
He said the highest incidence of overloading cases was recorded in 2007 with a 48% rate nationwide, but those cases had fallen to 11-13% from 2012 to 2017. In 2021, overloading cases increased again to 34% nationwide.
He explained that overloading reduces the lifespan of roads and bridges by as much as five to 12 years. Bridge overstress is also computed at between 20.2% and 144.6%, greater than the 20% overstress considered in the design of bridges nationwide.
He said the most direct solution is to upgrade the design of roads affected by overloading, but this will require high investment costs. Based on DPWH computations, P363 billion is needed to upgrade 11-inch roads to 12 inches, and an estimated P4.5 billion to replace the superstructures of affected bridges.
Araullo assured truckers that, while the DPWH did not renew the moratorium on enforcement of RA 8794 IRR on codes 12-2 and 12-3, it is studying compromise solutions, such as those in the strategic directions, acceptable to both the trucking industry and national agencies regulating the transport sector.
He promised the trucking industry it will be included in future consultations on the revision of the IRR. – Roumina Pablo
