Regulation aims to curb overloaded container trucks

The Viet Nam Register Department under the Ministry of Transport now requires all container truck drivers to attach photos of their original truck to the registration certificate.

The move aims to stop drivers from using oversized cargo tanks following recent reports by the Viet Nam Road Administration that overloaded trucks seriously damaged roads. Thousands of billions of dong from the State budget have been spent to repair National Highways 1, 5 and 10 as well as the Phap Van-Cau Gie and Thanh Tri Bridge routes.

In some provinces where mines and quarries, border gates and seaports are located, heavy container trucks operating day and night have destroyed the narrow roads.

In Ha Noi, there are about 121 transport enterprises with over 850 trucks. More than 16,170 container trucks operate nationwide; 75 per cent of them have expanded containers to carry more cargo, according to the Viet Nam Register Department. Some have even renovated their containers to carry a volume of cargo three times higher than the original size.

Nguyen Hoang Linh, deputy director of Ha Noi's Transport Department, said that after the register department approved the renovation of cargo tanks in 2012, many drivers took advantage of the decision to carry excess cargo. While 40-tonne trucks should not have been allowed to be imported into the country as they were not suitable for domestic roads, the department agreed and simply required transport enterprises to carry less than 20 tonnes of cargo, he said. However, no authority conducts inspections to see whether transport enterprises comply with this requirement.

Nguyen Huu Tri, deputy director of the Viet Nam Register Department, said requiring photos of the original truck would help pinpoint violators, who would be required to cut the containers down to size on the spot.

Drivers of the thousands of trucks licensed to get their containers expanded before 2012 would receive certificates with stamps. These drivers would also be fined if found carrying excessive cargo.

Recently, the Viet Nam Road Administration installed 63 scales nationwide to weigh trucks on highways.

The ministry is chalking out a draft decree on transport conditions, which requires that trucks with capacities higher than 10 tonnes be equipped with black box recording devices.