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Fines for overloaded trucks, weight control stations being pursued
– in response to damage to roadways
Over-laden trucks are causing significant damage to the roadways and plans are being pursued to establish weight control brides at strategic points along the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) between Timehri and Grove.
The estimated cost for a weight station complete with multi-axle weigh scale is about U.S. $1.4 million and the weight stations could also be privately operated.
Kaieteur News understands that the EBD roadway is just the start of a country wide plan to address the issue of overweight vehicles.
As far back as 2015, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure sent proposals to the Legal Affairs Ministry to explore new legislation that will among other things increase the current fines for overweight vehicles utilising the roads.
Officials appear to be moving slowly on this, especially as it relates to the legislative aspect of the overall plans to address the problem of overloading on the roadways.
International firm, IMC, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank had undertaken a number of studies on weight control for the East Bank corridor, particularly in light of the massive cost for tax payers to maintain the road.
The inadequacy of the current Acts and Regulations to deal with vehicle weight control in a proper manner was cited and suggestions were made for substantially modified and expanded legislation in line with regional and international best practice.
A number of new regulations were recommended that expand the current range of enforcement measures available to control overloading. These measures were linked to punitive overloading fees, which enable authorities to recover the actual cost of damage inflicted on road pavements.
The IMC study recommended additional enforcement measures that call for the mandatory weighing of all vehicles over 3,500 kg gross vehicle mass. Other proposals from the study suggest that if a weighing station is deliberately bypassed, an additional punitive fee may be imposed while the liability for paying an overloading fee is placed in the owner and operator of the vehicle.
It was proposed that if a vehicle was not under the control of the owner/operator when it was loaded, the consignor can be held liable for the fee under certain circumstances.
An Avery Weigh-Tronix scale
Once it was determined that a vehicle is overloaded, IMC recommended that the vehicle may not proceed with its journey until the overload has been offloaded or readjusted to within legal limits and the overloading fee has been paid.
The recommendation was made that absconding from a weighing station should be made a separate offence punishable by an appropriate fine or imprisonment while an overloaded vehicle loaded with live, dangerous, hazardous or indivisible cargo may be permitted to proceed with its journey provided an excess fee is paid.
Modern payment methods are suggested to ensure rapid settlement of overloading fees. Credit cards and electronic transfer of funds are also being encouraged to avoid the handling of cash at weighing stations.
Under the current laws, officials use maximum vehicle weight as expressed in terms of axle weight but the laws of Trinidad and Barbados refer to maximum gross weight of a vehicle.
Brazil’s legislation expresses maximum vehicle weights in terms of both gross vehicle weights and maximum axle loads.
The maximum gross weight of a motor vehicle in Trinidad and Tobago, which includes the unladen weight plus load and passengers, is fifteen tonnes and eight tonnes for a trailer.
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