Enforcement mechanisms to curb overloading of heavy vehicles... examples from Asia-Pacific region

Enforcement of the regulations on weight and dimensions of freight road vehicles is complex task that is aimed not only at penalizing the non-compliance but on prevention of future breaches and infringements. Below are some examples from the countries along Asian Highway (AH) network. Australia has the most holistic approach which is given at the end of this article.

Practices of ESCAP countries are diverse in all of these aspects.

South Korea ….. controls overloading with the help of static weighing at the weighbridges along the road and with the help of the weigh-in-motion technologies. ?The vehicles pass over the weigh-in-motion devices at, for instance, the road tolls and then, if excess of the weight is detected, are directed to a weighbridge for double-checking and more precise measurement. The responsibility of non-compliance might be borne by the driver of the vehicle, its owner, or transport operator.

China ….. maintains a “black list” of freight vehicles, drivers, transport operators and cargo shippers. One infringement is enough to get into the list and after the third infringement backlisted person’s faces consequences such as lowering of the credit score. Oversized or overweight indivisible cargo may be moved along the conventional roads under a single trip permit. Overloaded or oversized road vehicles are strictly forbidden on the high-speed roads; thus, the measuring takes place at the road tolls to prevent such vehicle from entering the highway. Detected oversized or overloaded vehicles are towed to the impoundment lots where they stay until the infringement is eliminated by the responsible party (cargo is divided or permit to carry oversized indivisible cargo is obtained). If the number of infringements is more than three within one year then the vehicle’s operation certificate is revoked, the driver is forbidden to undertake commercial transport operation. If within a year 10% of road vehicles of a road transport operator are detected overloaded or oversized, the business of the operator is suspended until the practice is corrected, in serious cases, the business license is revoked.

In India / Pakistan……. weigh-in-motion technology and road side weigh bridges are being put in place. Non-compliant drivers may be disqualified from driving for overloading vehicles. The overloading is fined and in case the transport operator is responsible for overloading, both staff in charge and the operator are deemed liable for the offence. In addition to the fine, the excess load is un-loaded at the cost of the driver or owner of the vehicle before the vehicle is cleared for continuing the trip

?"Chain of Responsibility" in heavy vehicle national law and regulations in Australia

To ensure safety of the heavy road vehicles operations, Australia developed the scheme of “shared responsibility” for violations of the Heavy Vehicle National Law. Acknowledging that issues with loading, dimensions of vehicles, drivers’ fatigue and others may be caused not only by actions of a driver or an operator but by other participants of the supply chain, legislators introduced in 2005 the scheme, called “Chain of Responsibility”. This Chain of Responsibility includes: – employers and company management, – contractors of drivers, – operators of vehicles, – shippers, consignors, consignees, recipients of shipments, – loaders and unloaders of goods, loading managers – schedulers. Both entities (companies, associations, etc.) and people involved, regardless, whether they were actually driving or operating the vehicle, are legally accountable for breaches and infringements. The legal actions applied range from warnings to fines and penalties. By spreading the responsibility up to shippers and receivers of the goods and applying the penalties to the benefits obtained by the violations of regulations (overloading of vehicles, for example), Chain of Responsibility provisions demotivate coercion of drivers into the offences and encourage better control over the compliance to the vehicles regulations across the supply chain. Source: National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, Australia.