Kenya National Highways Authority(KeNHA) has warned transporters against abandoning overloaded trucks at weighbridges.
KeNHA assistant director in charge of weighbridges and axle load control Eng. Michael Ngala said the law would be applied to the letter for impounded overloaded trucks.
Ngala said owners of overloaded trucks should pay stipulated fines within 3 days or risky hefty parking fees.
“We give a 3-day grace period for overloaded truck owners to pay overloading fees. Thereafter, we charge 50 dollars or Ksh.6000 per day. This is not negotiable”, he said.
Ngala urged transporters, not to overload and to avoid unnecessary charges.
“Transporters know the drill. Stop overloading and enjoy a safe journey on Kenyan roads” he said.
The EAC Axle load regulation section 17(6) an overloaded vehicle shall be detained at the weighbridge for 3 days to allow the owners to pay overloading fees. There after, the respective road agency charges the 50-dollar fines.
Overloading fees is a statutory levy paid by truckers who exceed accepted limits.
The EAC Axle load law also prescribes handling of overloaded hazardous and perishable cargo.
Designated officers have the discretion to safely redistribute the cargo or charge appropriate overloading fees and allow the trucks to continue.
Each of the EAC road agencies is mandated to facilitate seamless payments of overloading fees to facilitate faster movement of goods.
“KeNHA roads are free of charge for transporters. But they must avoid overloading to avoid paying fines”, Engineer Ngala said.
Ngala said the fines are used to repair the damage caused by the offender and the money is used to repair the broken road surfaces
He said compliance levels on the Northern corridor is at 98 per cent, but decried a growing culture of impunity by rogue transporters.
Rogue sand trucks, transporters of loose cargo, construction equipment and infrastructure contractors top the list of crooks destroying Kenyan roads.
“It doesn’t matter who owns the trucks. You overload, you pay heavily or stay away from the roads.
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