Lesson 1: White night across the highway

(Baonghean) - It can be said that the problem of oversized and overloaded vehicles in Nghe An has been significantly reduced. To achieve this result, in addition to the attention of all levels, sectors and functional forces, is the remarkable contribution of the traffic inspectorate. Nghe An Newspaper reporters spent two sleepless nights with the traffic inspectorate across national highways to "understand" the difficulties in handling oversized and overloaded vehicles...

Highway 7 Journey

The appointment finally came, we had sleepless nights with the traffic inspection force - Nghe An Department of Transport and Communications, crossing the national highways in the province. At 9am on July 21, Mr. Phan Huy Chuong, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Transport and Communications called by phone: "Be at Dien Chau Intersection at 8pm!" - Which direction are you going? "Not sure yet. You'll know when you get there!" - he said. Knowing that the patrol had to be secret, at exactly 8am, we were at the meeting point. At the same time, a Jolie with the words Traffic Inspectorate also drove by. Waiting for us to get in the car, Mr. Chuong whispered: "Go against National Highway 7. There is news that tonight there will be about 30 trucks carrying Lao timber going downstream...". Then he said to Truong Chi Cong - a young inspector, driving for the group: Remember to avoid densely populated areas so as not to expose the work!

Weighing the vehicle with Lao license plate U2 - 6921 (exceeding 69% of the prescribed load).

Because we were avoiding residential areas and crowded areas, we left at 9pm but it was not until 11pm that we arrived at the intersection between National Highway 7 and Ho Chi Minh Road. Here, the group loaded a box of mineral water and several bags of dry food onto the vehicle. "Working all night long. We have to "equip" these things to prevent hunger..." - Tran Viet Ha, Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Team at Sang Le Intersection, solemnly carried the box of water and dry food onto the vehicle and said. Whispering to someone on the phone, Mr. Chuong said: The Lao timber trucks are in Khe Nan (Tuong Duong). They might have to wait a few more hours before they get here. And he decided to stop and wait when he reached Dinh Son Commune (Anh Son). After about 20 minutes of driving into a small hamlet, a patrolling commune policeman stopped to chat and advised: "There are a few young people who know the car is stopping here. Maybe it's better to move to another place!" Continuing to move, at nearly 1am on July 22, our car arrived at Tuong Duong district. From a hidden corner, we began to see trucks carrying Lao timber coming down. Every 15-20 minutes, there was a group of about 3-4 trucks, all 5-6 axle tractors carrying two types of round timber and square sawn timber, neatly arranged in the box and transported in small quantities.

Let's stop a few vehicles for inspection - we suggested. At 2:25, we selected a few vehicles carrying round timber with a few logs about 30cm longer than the container. Inspector Dau Thanh Linh signaled to stop for inspection. The vehicles were put on an electronic scale, then the inspectors invited the drivers to come and check the weighing slip. "Exceeding the regulation by 7-10%. This time, just a reminder. Next time, remember to load according to the regulations" - Mr. Chuong told the driver. Then he told us: "We have been continuously checking for the past few months, so now they have complied with the unloading right at Nam Can Border Gate. So there are a total of 28 timber vehicles going down, the report is correct. That's also good. Our most important task is to create awareness for vehicle owners and drivers. Now, when we go down, we will check the vehicles going up, at this time, there are starting to be vehicles going up".

The vehicles carrying Lao timber down the hill strictly complied, but the vehicles going up the hill were not. At exactly 3am, at km 135 + 200, the team discovered a tractor with license plate 37C - 04509 pulling a trailer carrying a cement tank, wobbling up the hill. Waiting for the vehicle to reach the top of the hill, the inspector signaled to stop. The driver quickly got out of the cab. "Please check the papers and prepare to weigh the vehicle" - inspector Dau Dinh Linh said. He quietly went to a hidden corner, took out his phone and called someone, then drove back and asked Linh to answer the phone. "I'm on duty. Please comply, present your driver's license and vehicle papers to weigh the vehicle." Hearing that, the driver approached Mr. Chuong and asked to be let go. “You should comply. Otherwise, we will force you to take the car back to the station!” Mr. Chuong advised. At this point, the driver had to show his papers and let the car run through the electronic scale. The index showed that the car was 48% over the prescribed load. The driver, Phan Van Hong (residing in Dien Thai commune, Dien Chau), was transporting cement from Nghi Son to Laos and was forced to sign a record of violation for overloading...

Moving on National Highway 7, the delegation continued to handle overload violations with the Hyundai vehicle with license plate 37C - 10880 driven by Nguyen Van Dung (residing in Vinh City) transporting goods from Vinh City to Muong Xen for exceeding the load by 103%; and the meter-carrying vehicle with license plate 07009 driven by Pham Van Tung (residing in Tuong Son Commune, Anh Son) for violating the error of overloading the vehicle's cargo bed by nearly 1m and exceeding the vehicle's cargo bed length by 1.6m. After being pointed out the violations, these drivers all complied by signing the minutes and finding a place to unload. At this time, the sky was bright and people's faces were clear.

On Ho Chi Minh road

Leaving National Highway 7, we had a 3-hour break at Con Cuong Forestry Farm. Then, we crossed Ho Chi Minh Road to return to the "barracks" near Dinh Bridge (Quy Hop). After a sleepless night, everyone was tired and took a break. At 11:45 p.m. the same day, Mr. Chuong woke everyone up: "The car is here. Let's go around National Highway 48 and Ho Chi Minh Road!" National Highway 48 was quite peaceful. The Howo trucks (called "tiger pounces") of Hai Ha, An Son, Trung Hai, Long Anh... enterprises, which used to be the demons of the roads, now travel on National Highway 48, all cut down to 60cm, white rocks piled up a few centimeters above the surface and covered with tarpaulin to prevent them from falling onto the road. "Since the inspection station at Sang Le Intersection (Tam Hop Commune, Quy Hop), mineral exploitation enterprises in Quy Hop have strictly complied. There are some trucks that have not had their containers cut off, so they only dare to travel in the mine. Occasionally, we see trucks that recklessly pile up the containers. Those trucks almost cannot pass Sang Le Intersection..." - Deputy Team Leader Tran Viet Ha said.

A truck carrying oversized loads was discovered.

At 2:00 a.m. on the 23rd, we left Highway 48 and entered Ho Chi Minh Road, heading towards Thanh Hoa because Mr. Chuong received information that there were many trucks carrying acacia wood for businesses in the North. "There must be a truck owner taking advantage of the late night to overload the vehicle," said Mr. Chuong. It was true, after passing Nghe An, when returning to the area near the TH Milk Factory (Nghia Dan), the group discovered 3 trucks carrying acacia wood and 1 truck carrying firewood going back to the North, all of which showed signs of overloading and exceeding the length of the truck bed. After stopping the vehicles and asking for documents, the drivers did not comply. Most of them, citing the reason of running a trip, had their documents temporarily confiscated by the police. Pointing out the violations and explaining the legal aspects to request strict compliance with the regulations, the drivers still refused to comply. Only when Deputy Chief Inspector Phan Huy Chuong requested to take the vehicle to the station to temporarily impound it because the vehicle had no papers and the driver had no driver's license, did all four drivers agree to present their papers and sign the violation report. Driver Trinh Tuan Dat (residing in Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop), driving the vehicle with license plate 37C - 13044, made the mistake of arbitrarily changing the size of the vehicle's trunk, then signed the report explaining his behavior of avoiding inspection: "Hopefully by doing so, they will... ignore it!".

At 3:00 a.m. on the 23rd, at km 635 + 600, the team discovered a 5-axle tractor with license plate U2 - 6921 (Lao license plate) carrying an overload. When moving on the road, the tires were continuously watered to reduce friction. Stop this vehicle to check the load. In fact, the vehicle after being weighed weighed up to 57.6 tons while the permitted load was only 34 tons; exceeding 23.6 tons, exactly 69% of the regulation. Like the drivers transporting glue, the driver of U2 - 6921, Ngo Tri Giao (residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau) also had "tricks" to persuade the traffic inspectors to "hope" to be ignored, but in the end had to sign the violation in the minutes and move the vehicle back to the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (headquartered near the intersection between National Highway 48 and Ho Chi Minh Road) to unload the load. It was 4:55 a.m. when the work of making a violation report and bringing the U2-6921 vehicle back to the unloading point was completed. Tired, but everyone still laughed and encouraged each other: another sleepless night, but the work was effective...

(continued)

Nhat Lan