Members of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) are enjoying a 10% rise in cargo handled in the first four months of the year from the same period last year.
CTAP president Ruperto Bayocot said the volume of both local and foreign cargo shipments has exceeded expectations. “Ports are really swelling with cargo now and truckers are happy with it,” he told PortCalls in a phone interview.
“Right now, volume passing through our ports is about 10% higher than last year and hopefully this would continue until the end of the year,” Bayocot added.
“We are also hoping that the drop in the prices of fuel, particularly diesel, would further continue for us to sustain our recovery.”
As of this writing, the price of diesel is around P43 per liter, P3 less than at the start of the year.
If the price continues to go down, Bayocot said CTAP may defer a planned higher fuel surcharge and/or general rate increase.
Bayocot noted that for January to April, import cargoes continue to dominate total throughput although export cargoes have also gone up compared to last year when volume was way down.
For the past few years, trucking operators have seen flat to low single-digit increase in annual volume due to the slowdown in the global economy.
The price of diesel and truck spare parts have gone up, cornering up to 50% of total expenses compared to the last decade’s 30%, Bayocot said.
Meanwhile, CTAP is negotiating a compromise agreement with the Department of Public Works and Highways on the tolerance level for overloaded trucks.
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