The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has started implementing the phaseout of trucks that are 15 years old and above based on the Non-Confirmation Year (NCY) policy as part of the plan to reduce congestion in the Port of Manila.

As per the policy, the agency will no longer confirm the franchise validity of trucks that were made 15 years ago and beyond and the Land Transportation Office for their part will not renew the truck’s registration.

A protest was held early this week by the Integrated North Harbor Truckers’ Association (NHTA) arguing that road worthiness should be given more consideration rather than the age of the truck.

“Just because a truck is old doesn’t mean it’s dangerous on the road. In a recent meeting, even LTFRB Chairperson agreed that road worthiness should be the basis of the phaseout. The LTFRB should suspend their current phaseout policy now,” said Teddy Gervacio, President of the (NHTA).

Despite its continuous implementation of the policy, the LTFRB has said that they are open to dialogues with the NHTA and even amendments to the policy to avoid any problems that may arise from the shortage of trucks.

According to the NHTA, since the implementation of the policy, 2,000 to 3,000 trucks have already been phased out and it changes aren’t made to the policy, 80% of the trucks will be removed from the streets, which may have an impact on the “continuous flow of products to factories and stores.”

Gervacio noted that a policy-compliant truck would cost Php 2.7 million each.