EDITORS DESK
The serenity of the holidays was not as sweet last December with the sheer number of fatal truck accidents that happened. There were quite a lot of incidents, but perhaps the most heart-wrenching one was the incident that happened along the Katipunan flyover. The driver was descending the flyover and claimed to have lost his brakes, consequently plowing into several other vehicles and motorcycles caught in Katipunan’s traffic. Several people lost their lives, and no doubt, several families had to nurse those gravely injured over the holidays.
Several other incidents happened in December, and in many of them, brake failure was blamed. These incidents are becoming too common to ignore. If we do take the drivers’ word for the cause of the incidents, that means there are a lot of trucks that are not fit to be on the road.
Poor maintenance
As you can imagine, maintenance on a truck is much more expensive than your average vehicle because of its sheer size. The tires alone are much more expensive by a large magnitude, exacerbated by the fact that a truck requires more of them. Lubricants and fuel costs are also significantly higher. And to save on costs, many of these operators have their own internal motorpools and maintenance facilities, if not have service providers come to their HQs.
Perhaps the only time these vehicles are subjected to scrutiny is during their annual Motor Vehicle Inspection as part of their registration requirements. Other than that, many of these trucking companies are left to their own devices. Unfortunately, a lot can happen in the span of a year. Carrying heavy loads wears down parts, especially brakes, fairly quickly. The operator may continue to neglect proper maintenance until the next year where it will likely be addressed just enough to pass inspection. Perhaps the government should look into more frequent inspections, site visits, or spot checks on the road to ensure these vehicles continue to be properly maintained and are road worthy.
Overloading
A continuous problem in the trucking industry is the propensity to overload. After all, with fuel prices where they are, the less trips a truck makes, the lower the cost for both the client and operator. Unfortunately, overloading has more dire consequences than many people realize. Exceeding a truck’s maximum carrying capacity puts a heavy toll on its engine, transmission, brakes, tires, and axles. Often this pushes these trucks to the breaking point even faster. It can also damage the very roads the truck is traveling on.
Checking for overloading is not easily done. It requires the use of truck weigh stations. There are several around the country (typically owned and operated by the private toll operators). However, most of the time, these are poorly maintained or barely used. These facilities should be properly maintained and used more frequently. In addition, some trucks purposely avoid the toll highways and therefore bypass the weigh stations. Weigh stations must be put on non-toll roads where trucks frequent too so that they can be checked for overloading and hopefully avoid any incidents.
Raise fines and penalties
Perhaps the third element in reducing these serious accidents should be re-examining the fine and penalty structure for violations and making the appropriate changes. If they are too low, some trucking companies may simply opt to take the violation and pay the fine rather than cancel their trip. If the punishment is too lenient, then there is very little that’s discouraging these operators from repeatedly taking these deadly risks. As it stands, these trucking operators are only made to face the consequences after a deadly incident. Little is done to prevent one.
Many high safety standards are already strictly enforced for companies that deal with fuel transport. Indeed many of these other trucking companies deal with less flammable loads, but aren’t these loads just as deadly to other motorists when carried by a truck that is not road worthy?
Granted, all of these suggested changes will cost a lot of money and greatly affect the efficiency and cost of logistics. Yet with the frequency of fatal truck accidents of late, it is an added cost that is worth bearing.
(Iñigo S. Roces is the Motoring Editor of Manila Bulletin)