Out of more than 181,000 trucks investigated at vehicle load checking stations in 2019, nearly 19,000 trucks were carrying excessive weight, leading to the withdrawal of some 6,500 driving licences and total fines of VND195 billion (US$8.4 million).

The directorate head Nguyen Van Huyen said they urged provincial departments of transport and police to set up checkpoints near mines, harbours and warehouses in transport interchanges of Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, Quang Ngai and HCM City to quickly deal with vehicles which carry cargo exceeding standards or changes structure to load more goods.

Despite these efforts, many local authorities were irresponsible and dependent on vehicle load checking stations, he said, as poor management allowed some trucks to run on national highways, especially before Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) Holiday when demands for travelling and commodity logistics soared.

Many transport companies, despite having signed commitments with the Ministry of Transport and provincial authorities not to overload, use tactics to violate regulations such as abandoning vehicles when being inspected or disrupting law enforcement forces' efforts to check on overloaded vehicles, according to the report.

Meanwhile, because of Ministry of Public Security’s order, traffic police have withdrawn from mobile vehicle load checkpoints on major national highways, leaving monitoring to provincial departments of transport, making it harder to punish those vehicles.

The directorate asked MoT to collaborate with related agencies, provinces and managing boards of harbours, mines, constructions sites and warehouses to tighten management over vehicles to ensure safety and environmental protection standards.

Inspections will be accelerated on national highways, especially No.1, No.2 and No.3 – arterial roads connecting the country’s economic hubs and border provinces of Hanoi, HCM City, Ha Giang and Cao Bang. DRVN also urged provincial department of transports to promptly handle violating cases reported by people and the media. — VNS

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