More than 50 truck drivers from Ilan County protested outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning, asking the government to exempt them from paying fuel and license plate taxes.
They said the continual rise in gasoline prices had caused their operational costs to jump as much as 60 percent, making it difficult for them to survive.
They warned that if the government did nothing to alleviate their plight, they would mobilize thousands of trucks to protest in the city.
PHOTO: CNA
Commenting on the truck drivers’ protest, the Truck Cargo Transportation Association said yesterday it respected the right of each member to appeal as they also have the right to speak for themselves.
The association said it had already sent an official application to the Directorate General of Highways (DGH) last week asking for an increase in the base charge for transportation in response to rising gasoline prices.
The association asked for a rate increase from NT$7.19 per tonne-km to NT$7.82 per tonne-km, or an increase of 8.8 percent.
The association said, however, that it had decided to temporarily withdraw the application as the Executive Yuan is scheduled to increase retail gasoline prices again next Tuesday, and the base transportation charge would have to be recalculated.
Nonetheless, the association had stated in its application the urgency of raising the base charge. It said that the DGH last year allowed cargo truck service operators to raise their base charge when retail diesel prices exceeded NT$27.23 per liter.
The diesel price has already risen to NT$31.9 per liter, the association said.
Earlier this month, the association also asked for government subsidies on fuel, as it argued that cargo truck transportation should also be categorized as public transportation service.
DHG Director-General James Chen (陳晉源) said that current regulations on tax breaks and subsidies do not apply to trucking services.
“But they are entitled to raise their charges, and the review process should be completed really quickly,” he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about