Kathmandu. The Federation of Truck Transport Entrepreneurs Nepal (FNTE) has urged the authorities concerned to strictly enforce laws to curb overloading of goods vehicles across the country.

The Federation has written formal letters to various District Administration Offices and Traffic Police Offices demanding full implementation of the Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 2049 BS and the Load Carrying Vehicle Regulation Directive, 2074 (with amendment).

Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chairman Rajendra Bikram Baniya said cargo vehicles were found operating in Rupandehi, Nawalpur (Kawasoti) and Kailali districts exceeding the legal limit. “This has caused serious damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and increases the risk of road accidents,” he said.

“There is a need to strictly enforce the rules so that the problem of overloading does not go out of control across the country. The problem should not be solved only by fines, an effective system of controlling the loading at the place should be implemented,” said Baniya.

According to the Federation, the problem of excessive load carrying has been seen in the vehicles operating through customs checkpoints and big industrial zones. The Federation has concluded that the problem could not be resolved in the long term as the traffic police were limited to fines even though the traffic police had been carrying out regular monitoring and checking.

In order to solve this problem, the federation has demanded that the system of unloading the overloaded goods at the customs point or loading place should be mandatorily implemented.

The Federation has also urged the government and bodies concerned to strictly enforce the provisions of adjusting the load at the customs points as per the capacity of the vehicles, mandatory weighing at the departure, middle and destination points, operating the vehicles only by removing the goods beyond the capacity and strictly enforcing the provisions as per the law against the vehicles violating the rules.

Even the Department of Transport Management has been directing the cargo vehicles to operate only as per the fixed load-bearing capacity. According to the Department, permission to operate vehicles would be given only after removing fine and excess goods if found carrying overload.

According to the department, the maximum weight of trucks has been fixed from 12 tons to 40.2 tons depending on the axle structure and for semi-trailers and trailers, a maximum load of more than 49 tons is allowed.

The Federation has also urged all stakeholders to abide by the rules to ensure road safety in the long-term, protect physical infrastructures and minimize road accidents.