Wood transport out of control: police stop overloaded truck!

Wood transport out of control: police stop overloaded truck!

In the Hessian Lahn-Dill district, a wooden transporter was recently checked by the police, which significantly exceeded the permissible overall load. With a weight of 48.1 tons, although only 40 tons are allowed, the truck caused a sensation. In addition to overweight, the police found that the truck, with a length of 24 meters, also wanted to use an exemption here, but which could not be proven correctly. According to Giessener General there was no additional insurance, which is why the approval with the traffic authority in North Rhine-Westphalia was revoked.

The officers prohibited the continued journey of the wooden truck, which meant that some wood trunks had to be unloaded and collected with a different means of transport. The responsible freight forwarder is now faced with a profit creation process of around 2,600 euros. There was also another incident before the turn of the year, in which another freight forwarder was caught because of a weight trick and now has to expect a fine of 190 euros and a point in Flensburg.

Problems by overloading

The problem of overload is not new and does not only affect wood transports. In another case, a trailer was controlled by the police and Wiesen sign was on an overload. The total weight was more than 54 tons on a bridge scale, which resulted in overloading by over 14 tons - more than 30 percent. This situation meant that the onward journey was also prohibited and a large part of the wood had to be distributed over two transports at night. Here too, a fine is expected for the driver, and the responsible company is faced with a legal procedure, reports Agrarheute .

Compliance with the weight limits is not only a question of security, but also has legal implications. EU guidelines such as the 96/53/EC determine clear maximum limits for trucks and other vehicles, with special exceptions and permits for certain types of transports possible. These regulations should not only ensure security in road traffic, but also promote free goods traffic in the EU's internal market. An important aspect is already taken into account in the proposed changes by the EU Directive 2015/719, which under certain conditions allows higher weights to promote ecological and secure transports, as from EUR-Lex In summary, it can be said that the control of truck weights and compliance with regulations in both Hesse and in other federal states are of great importance to ensure the legal transport of goods and increase security on the streets.