By A. Peer Mohammed, President, Pondicherry Goods Transporters’ Association
Road transport is vital for economic development, trade and social integration. Easy accessibility, flexibility of operations, door-to-door service and reliability have earned road transport an increasingly higher share of both passenger and freight traffic vis-à-vis other transport modes.
Roads carry 61 per cent of freight traffic and 87 per cent of passenger traffic. National Highways, which are the major arteries of the road network, carry 40 per cent of road traffic. The unanticipated growth in volume of goods vehicles, coupled with heavy loads is, however, responsible for premature deterioration in the condition of roads in the country. Studies in developed countries have established that for every increase in axle load beyond the permissible limit, the extent of damage caused to roads increases exponentially. It has been assessed that overloaded freight vehicles are responsible for approximately 60 per cent more damage to the road surface as opposed to legally loaded vehicles.
Research carried out in South Africa has shown that 10 per cent overloading of goods in excess of the prescribed limit reduces the life of pavement by about 35 per cent. Unbalanced loading of trucks is also considered to be harmful. Overloaded vehicles threaten road safety and cause many fatal accidents on roads.
A recent study has revealed that overloading of vehicles involves unavoidable risks. The overloaded vehicle becomes less stable and very difficult to steer, and will take a longer time to halt. It causes overheating of tyres which increases the chance of premature failure or blow-outs. Driver control of such a vehicle is much reduced, making it more accident prone. The vehicle cannot accelerate, making it extremely difficult to manoeuvre. Brakes have to work harder because the vehicle becomes heavier. Brakes overheat and lose their effectiveness in stopping the vehicle, and suspension system comes under stress.
In short, the overloaded vehicle is a serious concern for safety, and the life of the vehicle is also reduced considerably. Since the percentage of goods transported by roads is increasing, heavy overloaded vehicles would remain a common sight on Indian roads in future.
Overloading should never be allowed to continue unchecked for long. Law enforcement agencies need to take stringent action against the operators of overloaded vehicles. Compliance could be achieved through a combination of enforcement and preventive steps. The current focus should be on the use of technology in solving the underlying problem of overloading. There is also a need for enforcement of loading rules at source or setting up of weigh-in-motion stations along highways. The data so gathered could be used to generate statistical overviews on the loading situation on a specific road. Such overviews could be used for road design and maintenance.
If we are able to enforce legal limits on axle loads, we can hope to ride on better and safer roads. Simultaneously, modernization of vehicle fleet is also to be carried out, to transport higher loads without exceeding the permissible axle loads. This would help in improving management of roads within the available resources.
Damage to roads as a result of overloading leads to higher maintenance and repair costs and shortens the life of a road. Deformation of the road pavement, with the resultant increase in roughness, leads to higher vehicle operating costs and reduced riding comfort and safety.
This, in turn, puts additional burden on the government as well as road users, who ultimately have to bear the costs of careless and inconsiderate overloading.
As per available reports, efforts have been made in China to curb overloading through a nation-wide campaign by strict enforcement of traffic laws, conducting education programmes, standardizing vehicle manufacturing and refitting, labelling vehicle tonnage, reducing toll fees, etc. Overloading of vehicles has been engaging the attention of highway engineers and administrators for quite some time.
In a significant judgement delivered by the Supreme Court, the practice of issuing gold cards/tokens by some State Governments allowing the card holders to overload their trucks after payment of fixed charges has been banned. The Supreme Court has desired these State Governments to offload the overloaded cargo and charge the transporter the cost of the operations.
In addition, the State Governments have also been ordered to levy a penalty on the extra tonnage. While the benefits of the SC ruling seem to be manifold, there have been practical hurdles in its implementation by the States. All said and done, the long-term benefits of ending the system of government approved overloading could materialize only if the SC order is implemented strictly.
While damage to roads by heavy overloaded vehicles cannot be eliminated, it is imperative in the interest of road users and road transport agencies that all reasonable steps should be taken to minimize the deterioration in the condition of roads. It is essential that government agencies and the transport industry work in co-ordination to end this menace.