MANILA, Philippines ? International Heavy Trucks Center, a company currently registered with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, will introduce this quarter a new means to transport goods between the Clark and Subic Bay free ports, in a bid to reduce freight costs and make the transportation of goods more efficient.

According to SBMA administrator Armand Arreza, the ?roadtrain,? a trucking system commonly used in Argentina, Australia, Mexico, the United States and Western Canada, would ?mean big savings and provide a more efficient means of transporting goods between Clark and Subic.?

A roadtrain is composed of a conventional tractor and two or three trailers carrying goods that need to be transported between the two free ports.

Instead of the usual one trailer being pulled by a tractor, the tractor in a roadtrain setup will pull two or three trailers with the use of a trailer truck dolly.

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

He said the use of the roadtrain would also redound to lower freight costs since two or three trailers could be transported by a single tractor, instead of the usual one trailer.

?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 free port,? SBMA consultant for special projects and economic development Arthur delos Reyes said.

Initially, Delos Reyes related that IHTC would be using two ?very safe and road-worthy? 90-foot trailer dollies for the roadtrain.