Senator Flores (RN) welcomes the end of the truck drivers' strike in San Antonio and warns that "companies must fulfill what they promised"

After seven days of mobilization, this Friday the government confirmed the lifting of the stoppage by the extraport truckers who had been maintaining blockades at the port of San Antonio. The information was confirmed by the presidential regional delegate of Valparaíso, Manuel Millones, who stated that the agreement includes three measures and declared the truckers' demands resolved. The first is an 8% adjustment to the rates currently received by the transporters. The second establishes that they will be able to organize and apply as bidders for the contracts that companies maintain with various transporters in the province of San Antonio. The third point provides that the mechanism for adjusting rates will be determined based on the ICT diesel polynomial, which, as Millones explained, is an objective indicator published daily by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The Association of Independent Truckers of San Antonio (Agreporsai) stated that up to 150 trucks had been stopped, blocking access to the port warehouses, and, as reported, this resulted in 2,500 containers piling up. In this regard, the president of the Senate Transport Committee, Senator Camila Flores (RN), highlighted the agreement reached with the transporters. "It is good news for San Antonio that an agreement has been reached to end the strike by the independent truckers, with better rates and an adjustment mechanism that takes into account the cost of diesel," the senator emphasized. Along those lines, she revealed that the lifting of the strike was due to the government's efforts, which "brought positions closer together, and now the companies have to fulfill what they committed to. Small truckers cannot keep putting up the money, assuming all the risks, and watching their income be eaten up by fuel and tolls." Flores also highlighted the bill she introduced together with her colleague Paulina Núñez to address the cost problems faced by cargo transporters. "As president of the Transport Committee, I am clear that we cannot wait for another stoppage to address these problems. That is why we introduced a bill so that the rate per kilometer is agreed in writing before the trip, invoices are paid within a maximum of 30 days, and waits of more than two hours are compensated when they are the responsibility of the contracting party or of the facility it designates," Flores said about the initiative. All in all, the representative of the Valparaíso Region demanded that "there must be an end to the small trucker ending up financing much larger companies. If he fulfills his duty of carrying the cargo, the minimum is that the price is respected and he is paid on time." Truckers' association of San Antonio begins stoppage over diesel price increase RN senators introduce bill to unblock the strike On Thursday, the President of the Senate, Paulina Núñez, together with her colleague Camila Flores, introduced a bill that seeks to respond to some of the sector's main demands, mainly by establishing new conditions for land cargo transport contracts. This initiative aims to resolve the demand regarding the adjustment sought by transporters on the payments made by cargo-generating companies. The bill seeks to amend the Commercial Code, which contains part of the content claimed by the truckers. "The one who makes the trip advances the fuel and tolls, but many times receives the assignment verbally and, once the cargo is delivered, has to argue about how many kilometers they are paid for, who is responsible for the wait, or when they will be able to collect," Núñez stated. For this reason, Núñez maintained that the TAG toll discount and access to diesel discounts "are complementary demands that require different measures." Regarding her bill, she recalled that Title V of Book II already regulates land transport, the bill of lading, subcontracting, and freight payment. "That is why we incorporated there rights that the transporter will be able to demand directly from whoever hired them," she stated. For this reason, the bill seeks to have the parties agree in advance on the value per kilometer traveled, including contracted empty-leg segments, as well as the separate payment of tolls, unless there is an express agreement to include them in the rate. Likewise, it establishes compensation for waiting times of more than two hours at a single point, when the delay is attributable to the client or the facility designated by them. In those cases, a payment of 0.5 UF per additional hour is proposed, with a limit of 10 UF for each 24-hour period. Finally, it addresses the payment terms for services, establishing a maximum of 30 consecutive days from receipt of the invoice. It also provides that the transporter may demand payment from whoever hired them, even when the latter has not yet received the funds from their own client, along with mechanisms to legally claim against the final recipient of the cargo in certain circumstances.