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Govt vows firm action against overloaded trucks
Transportation Ministry to prohibit oversized and overloaded trucks from entering toll roadsRecent road accidents involving oversized and overloaded trucks across the country have prompted the government to take further action to increase surveillance and legal enforcement on transportation vehicles to avoid similar accidents in the future
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Transportation Ministry to prohibit oversized and overloaded trucks from entering toll roads
Recent road accidents involving oversized and overloaded trucks across the country have prompted the government to take further action to increase surveillance and legal enforcement on transportation vehicles to avoid similar accidents in the future.
Truck accidents often occur on the country’s main roads, partly because of overloading. Among the latest is one that occurred on the Cipularang toll road at Kilometer 91 in Purwakarta, West Java, on Tuesday, when two container trucks collided in a crash that also involved three smaller vehicles. Although no casualties were reported, the event added to the long list of traffic accidents involving freight vehicles in the past two months.
The accident occurred just eight days after a massive crash involving a large truck and several passenger cars took place near the same location on the toll road on Sept. 2, killing eight people and injuring 28 others.
In August, a truck loaded with soil rolled and crashed into a car, killing the driver of an app-based ride-hailing service and his three passengers in Tangerang, Banten. An infant who was traveling with them survived. Five days later, another truck loaded with blocks crashed into a car in Neglasari, Tangerang, Banten. While the car was severely damaged, its driver survived.
The road accidents involving large trucks taking place across the country in the past few months have raised questions over safety standards and law enforcement in the freight services
Transportation Ministry Land Transportation Director General Budi Setyadi promised that the government and other stakeholders would tighten law enforcement on freight vehicles to make sure of their safety and obedience to regulation.
“We will make maximum effort to persuade truck operators, especially dump trucks operators, to follow the existing regulations and then we will improve our law enforcement and surveillance on toll roads through a collaboration between police, toll road operator Jasa Marga and the Transportation Ministry,” Budi told a press conference in his office on Sept. 9.
Budi said a memorandum of understanding would be signed by the three institutions later this month to strengthen their commitment to increase the level of surveillance on the operation of freight vehicles.
“With the Indonesia Toll Road Authority, we have agreed to prohibit oversized and overloaded trucks from entering the toll roads beginning early 2020,” said Budi.
Budi said regarding the Cipularang toll road accident that the police would continue to investigate the truck owner and the people who ordered the goods being delivered by the truck. The investigation would not stop at the drivers, since the police had also found that the dump truck was oversized, as the vehicle exceeded the standard size by 70 centimeters.
“Many truck operators violate traffic regulations. Many freight vehicles in Jakarta and Greater Jakarta are oversized. The second violation is the falsification of the Type Test Registration Certification made by vehicles operators and also the falsification of the roadworthiness test [KIR] book,” said Budi.
Budi promised the government and stakeholders would conduct a massive and intensive operation, especially on trucks operating on Java Island and Riau. Budi said his office would also gather together 200 truck operators in Greater Jakarta and ask them to follow the rules and standardize their trucks.
In the past few years, the government has been struggling to eliminate the practice of using oversized and overloaded freight vehicles. The ministry alone is also currently drafting a weighbridges master plan for 2019 to 2021.
Previously, road transportation infrastructure director Risal Wasal said that 73 weighbridges were managed by the Transportation Ministry, which did not only weigh vehicle loads but also checked the truck dimensions. This year alone, there are 13 pilot projects for weighbridges that are to be equipped with measuring devices.
Previously, Budi revealed the results of a survey of oversized and overloaded trucks conducted by the Transportation Ministry for 13 days from July 8 to 22 at 21 vehicle weighbridges. The survey found that 9,225 vehicles violated size and load rules and only 2,154 vehicles adhered to the rules.
Of the total number of violating vehicles, 1,500 were overloaded by between 50 and 100 percent, while 435 vehicles were overloaded by more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, trucks that were overloaded by more than 100 percent mostly carried cement, animal feed, sand, fertilizer, groceries, wood, bottled drinks, rocks and soil, said Budi.
