The drivers have consequently appealed to the government to ensure that their vehicles are always laden with the required volume of load to prevent road accidents and the resultant carnage.
According to the drivers, overloading poses great danger to their lives as drivers, yet their vehicle owners want them to overload so that they could make more profit.
Some haulage drivers who disclosed this to the paper during a vox pop, have strongly urged government to prevent overloading on the road.
The paper interviewed some of the haulage drivers that ply the Kumasi/Tamale highway to ascertain what causes accidents.
The project by DAILY GUIDE was to help bring to an end, the rampant vehicular accidents notably, among haulage vehicles.
According to them, aside claiming precious human lives via accident, overloading of their vehicles has other negative consequences for the country.
They said it destroys the road, their vehicles and puts excessive pressure on the tyres.
Again, they confessed that they often struggle to control the overloading vehicle which put a lot of stress on the breaking system.
Sankara Seidu, a Burkinabe driver who willingly spoke to the paper, urged the government to maintain the current tonnage for haulage vehicles.
He said any attempt by government to increase the tonnage for the haulage vehicles could result dire consequences for the drivers.
The paper’s checks indicated that an articulator tuck with six axles carries 60 tonnes and the one with five axles takes 50.5 tonnes of load.
A four-axe articulator truck carries 44 tonnes of load; three axle truck takes 34.5 tonnes and single vehicles with four axles take 37.5 tonnes.
The paper’s checks also revealed that a vehicle with three axles carries 30.5 tonnes and a single one with two axles takes 21 tonnes of load.
Sankara Seidu pleaded with the government to maintain the current load specifications to ensure the safety of the drivers and other road users.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
This article has 0 comment, leave your comment.