Handling of oversized and overloaded vehicles - need to be thorough and synchronous

(Baonghean) -Most of the key national highways in our province have been calling for help for a long time because of the rapid deterioration caused by oversized and overloaded vehicles. The provincial police have also organized peak periods to strictly and resolutely handle these types of vehicles, initially restoring discipline. However, to effectively handle oversized and overloaded vehicles, it is necessary to handle them thoroughly and synchronously.

Highway 1 has long been heavily trafficked with “oversized” and “overweight” vehicles. Many sections, despite being upgraded, are still structurally damaged, sagging, and uneven. Typically, the sections in Dien An (Dien Chau) are nearly 2 km long, with “undulating” curves, which are the “after-effects” of the tracks left by overloaded vehicles. Many sections are full of potholes, causing water to stagnate when it rains, seriously affecting traffic.

Traveling on Highway 48C from Sang Le intersection, you often see "evil spirits" carrying whole blocks of white stone without covering them with tarps, just revving their engines, leaving behind a cloud of dust and smoke. This type of vehicle often carries over 100 tons, more than 3 times the load capacity. The scariest type is the "reo car", the "4 no" type of vehicle: no mirrors, no glass, no license plate, no inspection, carrying giant, swaying blocks of stone from the quarry to the processing factory, traffic accidents can happen at any time. It is known that this type of vehicle is mainly upgraded, of unknown origin, has too many errors, but for some reason it is still operating openly in Quy Hop. Ms. Vi Thi L in Tam Hop was indignant: "Wherever this type of vehicle goes, it breaks down the road, causing dust and smoke pollution. It is a banned vehicle but it still blatantly occupies the road and sidewalk...".

Faced with the above situation, under the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, since 2012, the Director of the Provincial Police has issued Official Dispatch No. 1755 dated August 29, 2012 "on handling overloaded and oversized vehicles in Nghe An". Following that, implementing Official Dispatch No. 95 of the Prime Minister on rectifying the situation of road vehicles carrying overloaded goods and carrying more passengers than prescribed. The Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has issued Official Dispatch No. 1557/UBND dated April 1, 2013 assigning the Provincial Police force and local police to coordinate with functional forces to "strengthen the handling of overloaded and oversized vehicles."

Oversized and overloaded vehicles are waiting to be unloaded at Traffic Police Team 1-5.

Lieutenant Colonel Tran Dinh Khuong - Captain of Traffic Police Team 1-5 said: The daily traffic volume of heavy trucks running on National Highway 1 is quite large, including about 10 enterprises in Nghe An and Ha Tinh that transport cement. Implementing the directive of the Provincial People's Committee and Nghe An Provincial Police on handling overloaded and oversized vehicles, Traffic Police Team 1-5 has increased its mobile inspection force, stationed on the roads, resolutely handled and forced to reduce the load capacity of vehicles transporting cement and construction materials.

From April 1 to now, the Team has handled nearly 200 oversized and overloaded vehicles, mainly trucks and semi-trailers, and collected over 500 million VND for the State budget. According to Mr. Khuong, the sanctions for handling oversized and overloaded vehicles are not enough of a deterrent. Decree 71/CP/2012 of the Government only stipulates penalties for drivers who violate the law, but has not yet penalized those involved in loading goods exceeding the road's load capacity. In addition, there are currently no sanctions for violating the load capacity regulations multiple times. In fact, each vehicle that violates the overload capacity is only fined from 2-2.5 million VND/vehicle.

Many drivers are aware that overloaded vehicles are a violation, however, drivers are just "hired drivers" for businesses, so they have to listen to their bosses, the heavier the cargo, the more trips they make, the more profit they make. Mr. Khuong added: The process of handling overloaded and oversized vehicles is facing difficulties. National Highway 1 is nearly 100 km long, with 25 km of Vinh City bypass, but the Traffic Police Team 1-5 is thin, when detecting a vehicle in violation, they have to take the vehicle to private weighing stations dozens of kilometers away to weigh the load, not to mention that the Team does not have any off-loading yards or warehouses to store goods...

Highway 48 is also struggling to cope with trucks carrying sugarcane, white stone, and raw glue. At this time, Traffic Control Team 1-48 is controlling and requesting to unload many trucks carrying white stone and glue. The trucks carrying stone are designed to have a load capacity of 20 tons, but most of the trucks are loaded with goods ranging from 80 to 90 tons.

Major Le Thanh Nghi - Head of Traffic Control Team 1-48 said: To effectively handle overloaded and oversized vehicles, the Team has assigned forces to block the Sang Le intersection in Tam Hop commune (Quy Hop), this is the route that trucks carrying white stone often pass through. To deal with traffic police, these vehicles often go at 1-2 am to avoid and take advantage of the "shift change" to transport. Since April 1, the Team has increased inspection and control, recorded and handled 143 cases of overloading and oversized vehicles, mainly trucks carrying white stone and raw acacia trees.

For a long time, oversized and overloaded vehicles carrying Lao timber have been running rampant on National Highway 7. It is known that vehicles carrying Lao timber often run at night to avoid shortcuts and the Ho Chi Minh Highway. Traffic Police Team 1-7 has actively blocked important points to request that the vehicles be brought to the Team to make a record for handling and reduce the load. Up to this point, the Team has handled over 100 oversized and overloaded vehicles, mainly carrying Lao timber. Currently, the Team is setting up checkpoints to handle oversized and overloaded cement tankers and hydropower equipment trucks.

Recently, the traffic police force in the province has simultaneously launched a campaign to strictly handle violations of transporting oversized and overloaded goods; forcing them to reduce the load and only allowing them to continue to circulate when carrying goods with the correct load and size limit according to regulations. From April 1 to now, the authorities have drawn up records to handle 782 cases of oversized and overloaded vehicles, temporarily detained 31 vehicles, and paid over 1.1 billion VND to the State budget. Other forms of punishment have been applied, such as revoking the driving licenses of 650 cases for 30 to 60 days.

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Minh Phuong - Deputy Head of the Provincial Traffic Police Department said: The current difficulty is that the Traffic Police Teams in the province do not have a wharf to unload, such as Traffic Police Team 1-7, which has to borrow Do Luong bus station as a place to unload. Especially on the national highways, there are no weighing stations, so they have to travel dozens of kilometers to hire a private weighing station. Not to mention that in the process of handling oversized and overloaded vehicles, many transport businesses have reacted. When their vehicles are temporarily detained, many drivers do not cooperate with the police force. Local inspection agencies can only control the input but not the current condition of the vehicle during the entire operation period. Most of the time, after the inspection is completed, vehicle owners often "modify" themselves to replace the body, springs, etc. to transport more cargo than designed.

Meanwhile, the inspection agencies do not have enough forces to conduct surprise inspections between inspection periods. Oversized and overweight vehicles and most other trucks in circulation in Vietnam are imported from abroad. However, in recent times, the technical barriers to control the total weight of imported vehicles have not been complete and strict. There are currently no specific regulations on the size of the vehicle body, the limit of the cargo body of trailers, container trucks, tank trucks, etc.

To effectively handle oversized and overloaded vehicles, there needs to be synchronous coordination between localities and related sectors. The State needs to build more weighing stations and yards. In particular, it is necessary to synchronously handle oversized and overloaded vehicles, because while Nghe An is determined to handle them, other provinces have not yet implemented them, so there are still many overloaded vehicles passing through our province.

Van Truong