VietNamNet Bridge – The new regulation on examining trucks’ unloaded weight at registration stations has caused problems for transport firms because they cannot fulfill registration procedures within one week.

Nguyen Van Hung, the owner of U&I, a transport firm in Binh Duong province, complained that it is now very difficult to have trucks registered at the registration agencies.

He said in most cases it takes more than one week to follow necessary procedures to register vehicles.

“Transport firms’ representatives have to cool their heels for weeks at registration agencies for the registration certificates,” he said.

According to Hung, the new method of examining vehicles’ unloaded weight has made the registration procedure more complicated.

As a result, transport firms now seriously lack vehicles to carry goods. In principle, they want to have their trucks registered soon so as to increase the number of shipments to optimize profits.

The director of a transport firm in Hanoi said the new regulation has put his work in a stir.

“Management agencies have forced to cut the loading capacity by half for the trucks with bodyshell and dumpers, because their real unloaded weight is heavier than written in the applications for vehicle registration.

In Binh Duong province, the state management agencies ask truck drivers to have vehicles weighed at registration agencies to find out the total real weight of vehicles (real weight = unloaded weight + goods’ weight).

According to the owner of a transport firm with 20 trucks and lorries with trailers, if registration agencies discover that the total real weight is too high, they will force them to  reduce the loading, so that the total weight does not exceed the limits.

As a result, he said, transport firms now have to use more trucks to carry the same volumes of goods.

This explains why there is always a long queue of trucks waiting at the entrance to sea ports.

“Instead of using 10 trucks to carry 300 tons of goods as previously, we now have to use 20-30 trucks now,” he said, adding that this makes transport costs increase.

The new regulation on vehicle weight examination has led to a sharp increase in the demand for trucks, while the supply is diminishing.

“Those who want to buy trucks at this moment will have to pay hundreds of millions of dong more,” he said.

Dinh Nam Dinh, Deputy Chair of the HCM City Cargo Transportation Association, confirmed that importers say they can only deliver products in four or five months. And even if buyers accept to wait, they will also have to pay high fees for trucks because of the sharp increase in demand.

The current road system in Vietnam is reportedly good enough for 12-13 ton trucks, while the maximum possible weight is 25 tons. Meanwhile, a lorry with retailer has a total load of up to 37 tons.

If a truck has an unloaded weight of 17 tons, it could carry eight tons of cargo when it crosses a bridge, which allows a total load of 25 tons.

TBKTSG