PNCC revives anti-overloading law on North Luzon Expressway

ANGELES CITY — Truck and trailer drivers plying the North Luzon Expressway should make sure that their vehicles are not overloaded.

This, as the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) launched here yesterday an anti-overloading campaign with the fielding of three new portable computerized weighing equipment to be used in randomly checking trucks and trailers plying the 84-kilometer stretch of the North Luzon Expressway (NLE) from Balintawak, Quezon City to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

Marlene Ochoa, assistant vice president for public information of the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), said the campaign aims "to promote safety, speed up travel time, and provide convenience" along the improved NLE.

The MNTC, which will take over the management and operations of the NLE as soon as its P18-billion upgrading is completed, is assisting the PNCC in the campaign.

"We want to ensure the safety of all motorists traveling along the expressway and one of the best ways is to make certain that trucks and trailers carry their correct amount of load," said Pastor Ramos, PNCC president and chief executive officer.

He said trucks and trailers with dual-wheel axle loads exceeding 13,500 kilograms or with vehicle loads exceeding 150 percent of their maximum allowable gross vehicle weight (GVW) are considered "dangerously overloaded and will not be allowed to proceed on the expressway."

Ramos said, "We are announcing the start of the anti-overloading campaign now so that truck drivers and more importantly, truck owners and operators will have time to adjust and correct their usual practices."

He said there will be a two-week grace period during which "we will only issue reprimands to drivers of overloaded trucks."

"After that, trucks and trailers (found) to be overloaded or violating other highway rules will be fined or restricted in passage through the NLE," he added.

The fines, Ramos said, would be equivalent to 25 percent of the motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) applicable to the vehicle at the time of apprehension.

The PNCC is now distributing information flyers along critical points of the expressway.

The three portable weighing equipment, costing about P2 million and provided by the MNTC, are being used for the first time in the country.

"Since we have only three of them, we cannot yet station them at the many entry points along the expressway, but eventually, we envision to have weighing stations at entry points to make sure overloaded vehicles do not get into the expressway at all," said Raul Ignacio, MNTC assistant vice president for project controls.

Trucks and trailers will be asked to drive on two pads connected to computers which will instantly churn out a piece of paper containing information on their weight.

Jaime Dumlao, director of the Toll Regulatory Board, lauded the efforts of the PNCC to revive the anti-overloading law.

He also cited the MNTC for providing the new weighing equipment "to complement efforts to lengthen the life span of the infrastructure improvements along the NLE."

Dumlao urged other tollway operators and local government units nationwide to acquire similar weighing equipment to fully enforce the anti-overloading law.