Government sanctions including business suspension will be imposed on ports in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam, found to have allowed overloaded trucks to enter and leave their premises.
Operators of ports in the city agreed at a recent meeting convened by the Ministry of Transport to punitive sanctions for violating the truck overloading policy, including financial punishment for the first offense and the additional punitive measure of suspension of business for the second offense onward.
Temporary business closure for second-time port offenders will be for a period of between one and three months, according to local media reports.
Under the agreement, all ports in the city agree to weigh trucks right at the ports to support the administration’s drive to control overloading of trucks, although not without some of them voicing their concerns about carrying this action out.
Some of the port representatives cited the lack of cooperation of some truck drivers when it came to checking their vehicle registration certificates on the approved tonnage.
Others worried that the loading control would raise transportation costs since more trucks would have to be used to ferry the same volume, thus reducing Vietnam’s competitive edge.
But the ministry said that if all port operators agreed to implement the regulation strictly, and disallowed drivers who could not show certificates of registration from leaving the ports, drivers and businesses would be forced to comply.
An inspection team that includes traffic police and inspectors will make a list of overloaded trucks and identify which port frequently violated loading regulations, reported VietnamNet Bridge.
Some 29 port operators in HCMC made a formal written pledge not to let any overloaded truck pass through their gates.
Photo: Genghiskhanviet
