JOHOR BARU: Lorry operators in the country have been reminded not to contravene the regulations set by the Transport Ministry for offences relating to overloading.
Its minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook (pix) said the regulations have been clearly explained to them and they should abide by them.
“Once you (lorry operators) exceed that limit, you are subject to heavy fines. So don’t cross the red line. If I do not put the red line, everyone will contravene (the regulations) so I am very, very firm on this matter.
“Do not blame us for issuing hefty fines the moment you cross the red line. We are not just looking from the operators’ point of view, but also from the road-users’ as many of them complain that there are overloaded lorries on the highways which endanger other motorists,” he said.
Loke was replying to allegations made by the Pan-Malaysia Lorry Owners Association (PMLOA) president Datuk Ng Koong Sinn that the Road Transport Department (RTD) was using the Land Public Transport Act 2010, not the RTD Act 1987, to impose heavy fines on them for offences of overloading.
Loke said the RTD Act was only applicable for cases of minimal (minor) overloading where the maximum fine was RM2,000.
“Under this act, a summons would be issued to the lorry driver and operator, but under the Land Public Transport Act, the summons would only be for the operator and the fine is very high because this act involves serious overloading offences.
“If there is no stern action like this, every operator will transport goods more than their load and this is dangerous to other road users and will damage our roads,” he said at a press conference for Johor Port’s handling of one million TEU containers at Johor Port here today. — Bernama
