Apprehend drivers of overloaded trucks, DPWH to LTO, LGUs

Damage to roads and bridges caused by overloaded trucks prompted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 to ask law enforcement agencies to run after erring drivers.

As mandated by law, the load capacity of cargo trucks should be written on the body of their units and should be able to guide law enforcers if the drivers exceed the allowed capacity, said DPWH 7 Director Edgar Tabacon.

But even if trucks are found to have exceeded their capacity when they pass through DPWH’s weighing scale in Minglanilla town, Tabacon said the DPWH has no police power to prosecute the erring drivers and operators.

Tabacon said the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and traffic groups of local government units (LGUs) have the power to apprehend drivers whose trucks are overloaded to prevent damage to government infrastructure.

He said most of the violators are trucks transporting sand and gravel, cement and filling materials for reclamation.

Tabacon also agreed with the observation of some ship owners and operators that overloaded trucks on board roll-on, roll-off vessels can cause marine accident.

Alexander Cohon and Jose Emery Roble of the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators (VAFCSO) said they suspect that some trucks loaded on ro-ro vessels are overloaded.

“As much as possible, the LTO or the LGUs must help DPWH to stop this practice,” Tabacon said. /