The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) on Friday unilaterally passed a bill through a parliamentary subcommittee extending the safe trucking freight rates system for three years.

The revised bill, which passed out of a subcommittee under the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, aims to extend the system through December 31, 2025.

The safe trucking freight rates system, applied to container and cement trucks, is designed to encourage safe driving by guaranteeing minimum freight rates.

Striking truckers have demanded the system's extension as well as expansion into other areas such as steel and automobile shipping as well as tanker trucking, which the government and the ruling party oppose on the basis that increased logistics costs would be borne by the public.

The ruling People Power Party(PPP), which had previously agreed with the government to the three-year extension, boycotted Friday's subcommittee while demanding that truckers return to work first.

The DP plans to put the bill to a vote by the full committee, but the PPP may decide to send the bill to a maximum 90-day review by the parliamentary mediation panel.