SBMA to use ‘roadtrain’ for transportation

A trucking system known as "roadtrain" or triples will soon be used to efficiently transport bulky loads between Subic and Clark special economic zones.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza said the use of trailer truck dollies via the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) will translate to big savings and provide more efficient means of transporting goods between Clark and Subic.

“We’re sure that the trailer dollies will attract not only more investors and port users in Subic and Clark Freeport zones, but also other importers and exporters from Central and Northern Luzon,” Arreza said.

He explained that the introduction of the trailer dolly would also lower freight cost because two or three more trailers can now be connected behind the main trailer.

The roadtrain, which is popularly used in Argentina, Australia, Mexico, United States, and Western Canada will be introduced by the International Heavy Trucks Center (IHTC), a Subic-registered enterprise.

IHTC said the use of the roadtrain at the SCTEx was arranged through continuous coordination with Philippine National Construction Corporation.

The roadtrain consists of a conventional tractor pulling not just one trailer, but two or three using a trailer truck dolly. A trailer dolly is a single-axled articulated fifth wheel that connects two or three trailers pulled by a tractor head.

Arthur delos Reyes, SBMA consultant for special projects and economic development, said the IHTC will initially be using two trailer dollies that are about 90-feet long each.

The trailer dollies are “very safe and road worthy,” he added.

“Being the first in the Philippines, this cost-saving mechanism is expected to encourage heavy port users in Central Luzon to use Subic, thus increasing shipments in the Freeport,” Reyes said.

Reyes also said that the new transport concept will be used only in the SCTEx, which connects the free ports of Clark and Subic, because the roads leading to the ports of Subic and Clark are wider and hardly have any traffic problem.

The truck dollies, however, cannot be used presently in the North Luzon Expressway or South Luzon Expressway, he added. By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT - Manila Bulletin