ISLAMABAD: Like any other developing country, Pakistan also faces the gigantic task of maintaining load limit on highways to prevent accidents and their deterioration every now and then, which necessitates spending large amounts of money for their upkeep.
According to WealthPK, there has, however, been no noticeable effort to curb overloading on highways through the implementation of the relevant laws, WealthPK reported.
Bilal Shahid Khokhar, a design engineer at the Finite Engineering Private Limited, collaborated with the National Transport Research Centre (NTRC) in conducting a study on axle load situation on the national highways and motorways back in 2018-20.
He said that the transport volume on roads has grown since 1995 as a result of economic integration and the establishment of trade corridors. He said that in most cases, trucks’ loads are heavier than the road strength, resulting in deterioration of the arteries.
“The magnitude of damage depends on the number of axles on the vehicle, axle configuration, suspension system, tyre pressure and the magnitude of load,” he explained, according to WealthPK.
According to the National Highway Safety Ordinance 2000 (NHSO-2000), which has yet to see the light of the day, the permitted load limit for a two-axle vehicle is 17.5 tonnes, 27.5 tonnes for a three-axle vehicle, and 58.5 tonnes for a six-axle vehicle.
The axle load study was carried out at 110 locations, with 41 stations on motorways and 69 on national highways. According to the study results, the average weight carried by trucks was less than the permitted limit on motorways.
However, on national highways, the average load was greater than the permissible limit. It was 20 tonnes against 17.5 tonnes for a two-axle vehicle, 40.37 tonnes against 27.5 tonnes for three axles and 75.09 tonnes against 58.5 tonnes for six-axle trucks.
The load-damage analysis on National Highways’ N5 section suggests that the segment designed for 10 years as per permissible load limits will begin degrading in 4-5 years if the present conditions prevail.
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The NHSO-2000 was promulgated to improve road safety by reducing the number of accidents, fatalities and preventing overloading at the national highways and motorways.
Incumbent federal communication minister Murad Saeed had implemented the NHSO-2000 in June 2019 after conducting several meetings with the stakeholders such as goods transport agencies. However, its implementation lasted only for 20 days when goods transporters met the prime minister and persuaded him to put the policy on hold.
A lawsuit was also filed with the Islamabad High Court, seeking the suspension of the ‘outdated’ NHSO-2000.
However, the IHC rejected the plea and directed its implementation in letter and spirit.
Meanwhile, industrialists argue that if the policy is implemented, cost of carriage per metric tonne would rise, which will obviously be passed on to the end consumers.
They argue that the implementation of the ordinance will result in less vehicles available for freight, causing an imbalance in supply and demand chain.
The ministry of communications should launch efforts to achieve consensus among all the stakeholders for implementing the axle load regime in an effective manner. -INP
