Transport dept cracks whip on overloading

According to sources, the authority has written a letter to the PWD (Mines), urging them to control the movement of sand-laden trucks, which were identified for predominantly flouting the traffic rules by carrying excessive load.

As per the official data, the regulators have suspended nearly 1,308 driving licenses for goods overloading since the beginning of this year in Chennai South region. Although exact figure is unavailable, the Chennai (North) zone has registered a few hundred more number of cases than its adjoining region.

Last year, 8,542 vehicles were penalised for overloading, either with goods or persons, in the two zones. Of them, 5,251 vehicles came under scrutiny for goods overloading.

Vehicle overloading threatens road safety putting not only the driver at risk but also the passengers and other road users. This comes at a time when the Ministry of Road Transport and Road Highways highlighted that heavy vehicles were carrying loads 25 per cent higher than the prescribed limits.

“We observed that the trucks carrying construction materials from quarries or elsewhere were flouting traffic rules rampantly. Recently, a meeting was organised to review the situation across the state.

Thereafter, a letter was sent to various agencies, including the PWD (Mines), district Collectors and other enforcement agencies, to curb the overloading of heavy vehicles. Currently, we are managing the situation with limited manpower and resources,” said a top official attached to the State Transport Department. 

Last year, the number of road accidents occurred owing to other reasons including overloading was merely 335.