Benguet
Truckers Buckle Under NLEX Fee
As a result of the 80%
hike in toll fees at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Benguet truckers
and traders warned that they may soon be forced to increase their prices
to cope with the increased delivery costs.
BY Kim Quitasol
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY— Benguet traders delivering
fruits and vegetables to Metro Manila decreased by almost 50% due to the
hike in toll fees at the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex).
Benguet farmers produce most of the
vegetables and fruits sold in Metro Manila. To get the products from the
province (246 kms north of Manila) to the capital, traders have to hire
trucks which pass through NLEX during delivery.
According to Benguet Truckers and Traders
Association (BTTA), only 208 out of their 400 members are still delivering
products to Metro Manila.
BTTA President Benito Hipolito said the
80% increase in toll fees at the NLEX is too expensive for vegetable
dealers. He added that the allowable weight load, which is 13.5 metric
tons per axle load for delivery trucks, is low. At such weight limit, he
said, there would be minimal return of investment for traders.
Hipolito asked the Manila North Tollways
Corporation (MNTC), concessionaire of the NLEX, during the Benguet Forum
last week to grant BTTA a higher toll fee discount, if not a higher load
capacity. However, an MNTC representative refused BTTA’s request.
MNTC Marketing Director Renato Ticzon said
that his company can no longer afford to give higher discounts. He added
that MNTC actually suggested a higher toll fee rate but the Toll
Regulatory Board (TRB) reduced it to the present rate.
Ticzon also said that if they increase the
per axle load limit at the NLEX, the road will not live up to its
seven-year maximum life. This would mean premature repair and
rehabilitation of the road, which would cost more, he said. He added that
MNTC does not have any other source of income aside from its road users.
BTTA said that for one-way use, the P80
($1.47, based on an exchange rate of P54.42 per US dollar) that
six-wheeler trucks used to pay is now P507 ($9.32); the P120 ($2.20) for
10-wheeler trucks is now P609 ($11.19). This means six-wheelers pay a
total of P1,014 ($18.63) and 10-wheelers pay P1,218 ($22.38) for toll fees
for a single trip to Manila alone.
BTTA
Treasurer Sharmaine Hora said that with the present toll fee rate, dealers
earn a little over P1,000 ($18.38) per trip. She added that dealers using
10-wheelers spend P10,000 ($183.76) for truck fuel, P1,500 ($27.56) for
driver’s salary, P500 ($9.19) for the helper, P1,500 ($27.56) for food and
the P1,218 ($22.38) toll fee, for a total of P14,700 ($270.12) per trip.
She said that with the 13.5 MT per axle load limit, the average gross sale
of the goods is a little over P16,000 ($294.01).
Hora added that the implementation of the
expanded value added tax (E-VAT) means an additional P1,000 ($18.38) for
fuel despite the recent rollback in prices of petroleum products. She said
that truckers, in order to cope, would soon be forced to increase the
prices of their goods which end consumers would eventually shoulder.
Northern Dispatch/Posted by Bulatlat
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