Despite crackdown, overloaded vehicles spotted

In 2013, the public security and transport ministries launched Plan No. 12593 to keep a check on overloaded vehicles, which were a huge risk to motorists. As part of the crackdown, every province and city was given a mobile scale to weigh vehicles.

In June 2016, the plan summary showed that the number of overloaded vehicles on roads had reduced by 80 to 90 percent compared to the before the campaign. 

However, a recent report in the Government’s online newspaper states that overloaded vehicles are back, not only on highways but also on inner city roads, such as on the Xuan Mai-Hoa Lac route in Hanoi and Highway No.6 from Hoa Lac to Hoa Binh. Highways running through northern provinces of Hung Yen and Bac Giang, and Highway No.1 have especially recorded many overloaded vehicles.

Noticeably, weighing stations at almost all provinces and cities have closed down.

Dang Van Chung, deputy head of traffic safety division under the Transport Ministry’s Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, said that many regions are no longer keeping a tight check to prevent overloaded vehicles from plying. 

Offenders running such vehicles on long journeys are not being punished, while most weighing stations have shut down, except in Nghe An and Vinh Long, Chung said identifying the issue.

After Plan No. 12593 ended, the two ministries took stock and stopped the crackdown activities, which has created the wrong impression that the fight against overloaded vehicles has ended, Chung said.

He also slammed media reports that vehicles are not being weighed as the weighing scales are damaged. Scales were installed at the same time, so their maintenance is also around the same time. Almost all provinces and cities have sent the scales to Hanoi, which is the only place that has the maintenance station, Chung said.

Any province with a broken scale or with one that’s being repaired has received replacement from the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, he added.

“It is fair to say that some provinces do not want to fight against overloaded vehicles as it has an impact on economic development,” Chung said. 

In 2016, the directorate proposed to the Transport Ministry that a directive be passed to strengthen the drive against overloaded vehicles, he said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assigned the responsibility of controlling the weight of vehicles to local authorities.

“If every single locality tightens control, the campaign will be effective whether there are weighing stations or not,” Chung said.