Lorries can soon carry 20% more on federal roads

Thursday April 24, 2008
Lorries can soon carry 20% more on federal roads
By TEH ENG HOCK
KUALA LUMPUR: Lorries will be allowed to carry 20% more load on federal roads after bridges along the routes have been repaired and upgraded.
Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said the move would keep transportation costs down and allow the industry to be more efficient.
The Pan Malaysia Lorry Owners Association (PMLOA) and the Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) lauded the move, saying it would help maintain escalating operational costs.
Mohd Zin said the lorries were previously allowed to carry not more than 10 metric tonnes per axle on federal roads, but could now carry 12 metric tonnes per axle.
“The international standard is 13 metric tonnes, but we prefer to stay on the safe side,” he said.
Mohd Zin said the move would take effect after it was gazetted, which should take about two weeks. He said there would be no changes to the axle load limit on highways, which is already 12 metric tonnes per axle.
Lorries in Malaysia, depending on size, have a maximum of seven axles.
When contacted, PMLOA president Er Sui See said he was happy with the move, as he had lobbied for it for 10 years.
“It sends the message that our roads are of international standards. And our lorries are more than able to carry the extra load,” he said.
“The price of tyres and spare parts have been rising. This will keep our costs down, and since we can sustain our operations at the existing rates, we do not need to increase our fees.”
AMH president Datuk Ahmad Shalimin Shaffie also welcomed the move, saying that it would resolve the issue of lorries overloading.
He said on average, those who overload carry about 30% more than the permitted limit and many would stop doing so as the 20% limit increase would be cost-efficient for the operators.

PM's reply to Association's letter

Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia

Federation of Sabah Lorry Transportation Associations would like to enlighten YAB Dato' Seri on the long outstanding issue of upgrading the Gross Vehicle Weight (Berat Dengan Muatan) of lorries of Sabah to be on par with the one of Peninsular Malaysia.
For unknown reason, the Weight Restriction Order 2003 passed by Parliament, has down graded the BDM of lorries in Sabah and Sarawak while the Peninsular Malaysia ones were upgraded, making the weight differential between them to as much as 10 metric tons in some cases. Since the road designs (Route 1) of both East and Peninsular Malaysia are the same standard, then there should not be any differential of BDM between them.
The Association has restlessly appealed to Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Works, JKR, Menteri Pembangunan Infrastruktur Sabah for the past 3 years but it met with disappointment as non of the Ministries could give a definite solution. The Members of the Association were made to suffer the loss of income due to down grading of BDM of lorries despite of the Association's appeal. to defer the implementation of Weight Restriction Order. East Malaysia is always standing at a disadvantage as spare parts, batteries, tires, oil and maintenance are 15% to 20% costlier than Peninsular Malaysia what more coupled with 26% less cargo weight. To make end meets one can imagine what would the transporters do to survive or they will be phased out.
The members of Association appeal to YAB Dato' Seri to bridge the gap of the Ministries and come up with workable solutions to ease member's burden . In the interest of “Sabah Development Corridor” and ASEAN Inter-State Agreement, let Sabah have an equal ground to compete with outsiders by amending the Weight Restriction Order uniformly throughout the country.
Last but not least, the Association wishes YAB Dato' Seri's success in the coming election. May God bless our country with righteous leaders.

Adrian Ho
Secretary General of
Federation of Sabah Lorry Transportation Associations

Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: Penghargaan daripada PM
Kepada Yang Amat Berhormat Perdana Menteri Malaysia,

Saya berterima kasih atas tanda penghargaan daripada PM melalui emel dan berharap pejabat Perdana Menteri akan memberi maklum balas yang positif mengenai aduan yang dihantar dari pihak saya.

Sekian dan salam sejahtera daripada saya,
En. Adrian Ho Su Fah
----- Original Message -----

Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 11:22 AM
Subject: FW: Penghargaan daripada PM
From: info@warkahuntukpm.com.myTo: adrianho@fanmount.com.mySubject: Penghargaan daripada PMDate: Fri, 7 Mar 2008 00:20:56 +0800