EUROPE gets moving on WIM: F J VAN LOO DESCRIBES A NEW INITIATIVE TO DISCOURAGE OVERLOADING OF HEAVY GOODS VEHICLES (HGVS) AND PROTECT THE ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

摘要

International goods transportation by road is an important part of the Dutch economy, with 173,000 trucks transporting 600 million tonnes of freight annually. Numbers and loads of truck axles are the major determinant of the degree of road maintenance needed as a result, and trucks with axle loads higher than the legal maximum cause a disproportionately large percentage of damage to the country's transport infrastructure, The Dutch Government roughly estimates the direct costs of additional asphalt maintenance at around EUR17 million (USD22,6 million) per annum - excluding the additional cost of traffic delays caused by resulting roadworks. Overloading of one or more truck axles, let alone of the whole vehicle, is also likely to have a negative effect on traffic safety.