Overweight truck drivers feel full brunt of the law

OVERWEIGHT truck drivers felt the full brunt of the law on Friday when licensing officers issued them a total of 160 tickets for transporting goods in excess of the weight they are licensed to carry.

The exercise, along the East-West Corridor, netted $180,000, representing tickets issued to drivers of trucks and ten-wheel lorries. A report said on inspection after they were stopped, drivers were told to drive to the Licensing Office in Caroni, where their vehicles were weighed. According to the report, 160 were found to have been carrying loads that were overweight by 16,000 to 20,000 kgs.

Led by senior licensing supervisor Inool Khan, who heads the Ministry of Transport Law Enforcement division, the exercise netted truck drivers who were carrying gravel, sand and building materials. Newsday was told that among the ten-wheeler trucks that were stopped and the drivers ticketed, the licensed weight was 16,000 tonnes, but when weighed, they were found to be carrying materials which weighed between 24,000 and 26,000 kgs.

More exercises are to be done with special focus on trucks transporting loads over the licensed tonnage.

The licensing party included senior licensing officers Marlon Mohammed, Wendell Ward, Keon Brathwaite, Kevon Quamina, Pat Riley, Sham Abdool and Vikash Ramgoolam.