The Ministry of Transport has just issued a document to strengthen the management of sleeper buses and night buses.

(Illustration photo: Tran Le Lam/VNA)Accordingly, for vehicles with continuous trips of 4 hours or more, transport businesses must arrange to ensure that each driver only drives continuously for a maximum of 4 hours and then must change shifts with another driver (night driving time is calculated from 8:00 p.m. the previous night to 8:00 a.m. the next morning).

According to document No. 12098/BGTVT-VT sent to the Vietnam Road Administration; Vietnam Register; Departments of Science - Technology, Traffic Safety; Departments of Transport of provinces and centrally-run cities, passenger transport business units by car must carefully survey the infrastructure conditions on the route, research and develop an operational plan, including a plan to use sleeper buses suitable for the conditions of each route, especially steep, winding mountain passes with limited visibility...

Units use journey monitoring devices to check and handle the implementation of driver shift arrangements according to regulations; at the same time, propagate and remind passenger transport businesses and drivers to implement.

Units synthesize the implementation status, problems, difficulties and propose measures to strengthen management of this type of vehicle to report to the Ministry of Transport before November 30, 2013 (through the Vietnam Road Administration).

The Ministry of Transport requests the Vietnam Road Administration to study and propose regulations on the management of sleeper buses and night buses and include them in the draft Decree of the Government replacing Decree 91/2009/ND-CP on business conditions for automobile transportation; Synthesize the number of sleeper buses, passenger transport units with sleeper buses in operation and the implementation status, difficulties, problems and recommendations from the Departments of Transport to report to the Ministry of Transport (through the Department of Transport) before December 15, 2013.

The Ministry of Transport assigned the Traffic Safety Department to coordinate with the Transport Department and relevant units to study and adjust regulations on speed limits for sleeper buses and other vehicles when running at night; to implement before November 30, 2013.

In November 2013, the Department of Science and Technology presided over and coordinated with the Vietnam Register to analyze, test, and evaluate the technical safety conditions of sleeper buses in actual operation; research and propose stricter regulations in inspection work, regulations on technical safety conditions when participating in traffic for sleeper buses, especially for vehicles converted from seat buses to sleeper buses./.

According to Vietnam+