Transporters warned on cargo weight
Sep 11, 2014
The Ministry of Works and Transport has warned cargo transporters against abusing roads by overloading vehicles, leading to breakdown of roads.
By Samuel Balagadde
The Ministry of Works and Transport has warned cargo transporters against abusing roads by overloading vehicles, leading to breakdown of roads.
The warning follows complaints from cargo transport operators that the Entebbe expressway under construction was so low, which could inconvenience transporters where the flyover crosses existing roads.
Some cargo transporters using Kampala-Masaka road complained that the height of the expressway was insufficient to accommodate their vehicles. The 51km expressway is meant to ease traffic on the Kampala-Entebbe stretch although users will be expected to pay road toll.
According to the ministry, the newly-constructed bridges on the express highway can accommodate any permissible load on any cargo truck.
Eng. Dennis Sabiiti, the commissioner for transport regulations in the Ministry of Works, said the maximum overall height of any motor vehicle on Ugandan roads is four metres from the road surface.
The bridge at Busega roundabout is 5.2 metres high, meaning that it has an extra 1.2 metres above the maximum permissible height under the traffic and road safety (weighbridges) regulations of 2010.
He said any vehicle whose height exceeds four metres is dangerous loading and it has to be impounded by the traffic Police and the driver charged in courts of law.
Under the regulations, the maximum gross weight of any cargo truck on the road is 56 tonnes with an average of nine tonnes per axel.
Geoffrey Obara, the manager of axel load control in the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) said abuse of the gross weight by some transporters is affecting the lifespan of the national roads.
Dr. Stephen Kasiima, commissioner for traffic and road safety in the Police, said there is an increase in accidents on Kampala-Makasa highway due to overloaded cargo trucks.
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