During a major enforcement action on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 October in Limburg, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) found several serious violations of the maximum load of trucks. The ILT monitors this because overloading leads to risks for road safety and damage to the infrastructure. Moreover, it creates unfair competition vis-à-vis carriers that do comply with the rules.

Rules largely adhered to

During the action, inspectors from the ILT checked a total of 306 vehicles. The ILT found 18 violations. In addition, 24 warnings were issued for minor exceedances. Inspector Sander Bijkerk is not dissatisfied with these figures. “It is good to see that most carriers adhere to the rules for maximum load. However, there were a number of serious violations. Two trucks had to unload on the A2 near Maastricht, because they had respectively 33% and 27% more total weight with them than allowed. The same was true for a vehicle we checked at Elsloo. This truck was 32% and 30% too heavy on the rear two axles.” The transport companies can look forward to a fine, the Public Prosecution Service determines how high it is.

“During the campaign, we visited companies that have weighbridges for inbound and outbound transport. Here we monitored the weighings on the spot and took historical data for further inspection. We also checked passing trucks on various Limburg highways using weighing loops in the asphalt. If an overloaded truck was detected via the weighing loop, the ILT inspector took it for a follow-up check at a weighing location. We have also worked with a mobile weighing system at a number of special locations, such as in the Beatrixhaven in Maastricht.”

Targeted control through pre-analysis

The checks mainly focused on transporters of loose (raw) materials such as sand, soil and gravel, the so-called tipper transport. During the preparation of this action, the ILT made a preliminary analysis of data from the weighing loops in the highways and weighbridge data from various companies in Limburg. Sander Bijkerk: “This allowed us to focus the checks on companies where it turned out that overloading occurs more often. We were thus able to spare the companies that complied with the rules.”

Road safety

The purpose of the enforcement action in Limburg was to promote compliance with the maximum load rules. Sander Bijkerk: “An overloaded truck entails various risks. Due to a longer braking distance, an excessively loaded construction and instability, an accident is in a small corner. With all the associated consequences for the driver, fellow road users and the infrastructure.”

The ILT is committed to safe, fair and sustainable road transport. Failure to comply with rules for working and rest times, loading or cabotage leads to unfair competitive relationships between transporters. In addition, accidents in road transport can occur due to driver fatigue or overload. And non-compliance with the rules can damage the road network and air quality, according to the inspection of living environment and transport.

Also read: Bus drivers lured away as truck drivers

Trucks were checked by the ILT.
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