Measured and weighed: control over truckers in Russia has been strengthened
The President has signed amendments to the Statute of Road Transport and Urban Land Electric Transport, which introduce the obligation for drivers to undergo weight and dimensional control. Experts believe that this will help avoid situations when truckers avoid weighing by various tricks. However, only these measures to solve the problem of overloading on the roads will be difficult, experts say. Details in the material "Izvestia"
Eliminate the gap
The head of state signed amendments to the Charter of road transport and urban land electric transport. The document is published on the official Internet portal of legal information. The amendments establish the obligation of drivers to undergo weight and dimensional control of vehicles.
"Controlled persons, for whose vehicles within the framework of state control (supervision) on road transport <...> a permanent raid is carried out, are obliged at the request of the official conducting the raid to ensure the passage of weight and dimensional control of their vehicles", - reads the text of the document. The new requirements come into force on September 1, 2025.
These changes eliminate a gap in the law, which is used by unscrupulous carriers to move with overload, experts and lawyers say. The fact is that the law did not clearly establish the obligation of drivers to pass an overload check, they note. Often truckers go to various tricks to avoid going to the scales, told "Izvestia" president of the association of truck motor transport "Gruzavtotrans" Vladimir Matyagin.
- Most often it concerns automatic points of weight and dimensional control (APVGK). When passing through them, drivers often covered license plates with a rag or covered them with some other objects, drove through these points at a snail's pace or close to each other, thus knocking down the scales. I personally saw how dumpers paved a separate exit, which they used to bypass the APVGK," he said.
Drivers also cheat at the entrances to weighing points, where Rostransnadzor employees are on duty, said Taras Koval, President of the Association of Transport Experts and Specialists. It is not uncommon to see trucks that are supposedly broken down in front of them, he recalled.
But even if a trucker with an overloaded truck passes through such a post, he simply ignores the requirement of the Rostransnadzor inspector to stop and pass the inspection at the scales. In this case, according to Part 2 of Article 12.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, he faces a fine of 500-800 rubles, said the lawyer of the movement "Freedom of Choice" Sergei Radko. This is much less than fines for overloading, which reach Br400 thousand, he emphasized.
- The adopted amendments concretize the driver's responsibilities in terms of weight and dimensional control, separating the concepts of "failure to stop on demand" and "evasion of control," explained the lawyer.
Refusal of truckers from weighing is a mass character, and the number of "evaders" is only growing. According to the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport, if in 2019 there were about 15.5 thousand such cases, then by 2022 their number increased to 21.4 thousand.
Penalty for refusal
Along with the statutory obligation of truck drivers to undergo weight and dimensional control, the authorities intend to establish quite serious responsibility for attempts to evade inspection procedures. In mid-September, the State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the CAO, providing for the introduction of a fine of 10 thousand rubles and deprivation of driving license for up to six months. And for the owner of the car for this violation, the fine is expected to amount to Br100 thousand.
- Since there are still almost 10 months before the amendments establishing the obligation to pass the control of weight and dimensions come into force, I think that the deputies will have time to adopt amendments to the legislation concerning the introduction of liability for refusal of such checks before September 1 next year, - believes Sergei Radko.
Save the roads
Overloaded trucks are a serious problem for highways, emphasized Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Presidium of the Public Council under the Russian Interior Ministry. Introduction of the obligation to pass the control with simultaneous toughening of responsibility for evasion of it will allow to ensure the safety of highways, he believes.
- We budget a considerable amount of money for the maintenance and operation of highways. If we do not control the trucks going along the highway with overloading and do not punish both the fact of overloading and evasion from passing the inspection, very soon there will be nothing left of the roads.
Taras Koval, President of the Association of Transport Experts and Specialists, also believes that the introduction in the legislation of the obligation to pass weight and dimensional parameters is "rather a good thing". However, he emphasizes that along with the establishment of such an obligation and responsibility for its non-fulfillment, it is necessary to ensure adequate and proper functioning of both APVGK and weight points, where Rostransnadzor employees are on duty.
- Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for weigh stations to operate incorrectly and produce unreliable results. Since it is difficult to challenge a fine for this violation, drivers dislike weight control checkpoints and try to avoid them," he told Izvestia.
Punishment for customers
Vladimir Matyagin, president of the association of cargo road transport "Gruzavtotrans", explains that the wrong slope of the highway section, where the weight control point is installed, ruts and other defects of the roadway can distort the result of weighing. At the same time, the expert considers fair fines for overloading for customers of transportation along with drivers and carriers themselves.
- Of course, both drivers and carriers should be responsible for overloading a truck. But the same responsibility should be borne by the customers - shippers or consignees. After all, it is their desire to save money and transport the cargo, which will fit in three cars without violations, on two, but with overload, and is the very first link in the chain of violations of weight and dimensional parameters. By removing it, it will be possible to significantly reduce the number of cases when a truck loaded beyond all measure drives along the road," he told Izvestia.
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