Mary Zapata has a number she wants every shipper and liner to remember: 40. That's how many days some Philippine truckers wait to drop an empty box back at the yard — a detention cycle the Confederation of Truckers Associations of the Philippines (CTAP) says is choking the country's drayage market and forcing a one-day "truck holiday" on October 6, 2026.

What does the truck holiday entail?

CTAP, the country's largest truckers' group, directed operators to suspend pickups and deliveries at port facilities for the day, citing empty-container return delays of one to six weeks, chassis rental accruals and what president Mary Zapata described as compounding charges from shipping lines, port operators, customs and brokers.

"Sometimes it takes one week, two weeks, and sometimes even 40 days before we can return the empty container," Zapata said. "If the movement of our cargo were faster, the prices of goods would not be this high."

Where is the pressure point?

The bottleneck sits at the container yard-to-truck handoff. Trucks arriving with imports sit idle while terminal operators and shipping lines process releases. The same chassis, once unloaded, must queue again to drop the empty back at the depot. Each extra day burns:

• Chassis rental fees, billed daily
• Driver and helper wages, paid even when wheels are not turning
• Diesel and tolls for repositioning moves
• Demurrage and detention charges that cascade back to importers

Trucks remain tied up with empty containers during these delays, preventing operators from taking new deliveries while continuing to pay chassis rentals and support drivers and helpers, Zapata said.

Who's on the hook?

CTAP pointed at five parties it says share responsibility for the congestion:

• Shipping lines, through detention and demurrage practices
• Bureau of Customs, through clearance processing delays
• Port operators, through gate and yard throughput
• Container yards, through return cycle times
• Brokers, through documentation backlogs

A coordinated response among those agencies and industry stakeholders, the group said, is the only path to shorter turn times and lower transport costs.

Has the government responded?

Zapata confirmed CTAP held recent talks with government officials and welcomed signals that authorities are willing to discuss remedies. Operators remain prepared to resume full service if those consultations convert into concrete measures addressing the industry's concerns.

The trucking sector acknowledged, however, that a prolonged suspension would eventually disrupt delivery of essential goods and supplies — a warning that puts a clock on the consultations.

What comes next?

CTAP framed the October 6 stoppage as a one-day signal rather than an open-ended strike, leaving the door open for government action on port and customs throughput. Whether authorities can compress container return cycles — and absorb the chassis, detention and yard-queuing costs now bleeding into import prices — will determine whether the truck holiday stays a one-off or becomes a recurring lever for operators.