Truck builder Centro provides COVID-19 solutions in mass transport

Leading truck body builder Centro Manufacturing Corporation announced that they will offer options of anti-Covid 19 dividers for the utility vehicles and modern public utility vehicles. 

According to Centro, the dividers can be installed at any of its three production facilities in Novaliches, Cavite and Marilao. 

The anti-COVID 19 dividers are ready-to-install or may be retrofitted easily on any existing UV or PUV. 

They said that it is easy to be put in place as clamps are used and no drillings are required.

Centro Senior Sales Manager Vic Belisario said that the dividers are fully compliant to the requirements of the Land Transportation Office for UVs and PUVs to operate during the quarantine period. 

“The divider material is non-permeable, transparent plastic and the dividers are installed conforming to physical distancing. They may be installed one seat apart or even at less than one meter apart. The LTO guidelines allow PUJ operators to install impermeable barriers between rows of seats that are less than one meter apart if they wish to maximize the 50 percent passenger load”, Belisario explained. 

The dividers will separate the driver from the passenger at his right side and those passengers behind him. At the rear, the dividers will separate the passengers from each other in conformance to social distancing requirements. 

“As the pandemic situation improves and more and more UVs and PUVs are allowed to operate, we see the need for these UVs and PUVs to have dividers. This makes them perfect as the vehicle solution to mass transport and the shuttle requirements of offices and factories”, Belisario added.

Belisario claimed that the design of the divider is simple enough to allow for regular disinfecting. “Its simple design and easy installation also allow the dividers to be easily disassembled when the UV is to be used for cargo loading. Thus, the UV can be used as a cargo and passenger vehicle on weekdays and family transporter on weekends.”

“We are happy that the anti-COVID-19 dividers that we developed will help ensure the safety and health not only of the driver but the commuting public as well. We intend to protect our intellectual property rights over this innovative product so we will have it patented”.

Earlier, Metro Manila mayors has unanimously agreed that the National Capital Region would transcend to transition from Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) by June 1—more than two months since President Rodrigo Duterte announced a 30-day lockdown. 

The GCQ will result to the resumption of most businesses, which in turn, returning of workforce in their respective workplaces. 

In preparation for this, the LTO has issued guidelines on the operation of land transport in quarantine areas. This specified the use of anti-COVID 19 dividers in public transport, among others.

During the lockdown, Filipino ingenuity has been seen around and PUV owners have shown similar efforts. 

Currently, there are vehicle owners that use polyethylene sheets in their bid to maintain distance to commuters as soon as they resume into operations. 

Below are some that we have seen in Facebook Marketplace. 

Photos from Centro and Facebook Marketplace

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