DPWH: 34% of trucks in PH are overloaded

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said that the truck overloading cases last year was at 34.11 percent.

DPWH Secretary Roger Mercado said that based on the Department’s Bureau of Quality and Safety, the total number of trucks that were recorded carrying above the weight limit in 2021 is 6.96 percent higher compared to the 27.15 percent tallied in 2020.

“Of the 401,785 trucks that were weighed by our 38 truck weighing stations in 2021, a total of 137,029 or 34.11 percent were apprehended for overloading. This is alarming, considering that the cases have worsened from last year,” Mercado said.

Mercado explained that overloaded vehicles cause premature deterioration of roads and bridges that could yield to vehicular accidents and endanger the lives of both commuters and pedestrians. “This also redounds to more government spending on road maintenance,” Mercado noted.

In line with the report, Mercado ordered all DPWH Regional and District Engineering Offices to intensify its nationwide campaign against overloading.

The DPWH — in coordination with the Philippine National Police, and Land Transportation Office — jointly apprehends violators of overloading nationwide by setting up permanent and mobile weighing stations along national roads.

Photos from Department of Public Works and Highways, Isuzu Philippines Corporation, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.

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