In the past few days, hundreds of Vietnam’s rice trading firms have suffered losses since their goods have not been delivered to buyers. This is because trucks have stopped driving during the day to avoid weighbridges and potential fines.

The situation will surely worsen over the next few months when mobile weighbridges are deployed on highways across the nation and go into operation all day and night to ensure road safety and prevent bribes by traffic policemen. Currently, such weighbridges are only in operation during the day.

Transport enterprises have at least doubled their costs to cover the sudden possible overload cuts. However, clients have not agreed upon the price increase, as it comes unexpectedly and contracts under different terms have already been completed.

As a result, almost 300,000 tons of rice has been left stagnant at warehouses in the northern city of Hai Phong while trucks remain in garages to avoid highway weighbridges.

The deployment of mobile weighbridges was publicly informed to enterprises, but drivers and cargo owners failed to seriously judge the determination of relevant authorities.

Transport prices to vastly increase

Drivers in southern and central provinces, which provide popular seafood and agricultural products, admitted that transport prices must increase by several times if they carry only the allowed amount and do not overload their trucks.

On April 7, ports Vat Cach, Nam Linh, and Tuan Huong in Hai Phong saw no trucks, while the venues once received hundreds of vehicles a day carrying cargo to northern border gates in Lao Cai, Cao Bang, and Quang Ninh.

Other private ports along the Cam River in Hai Phong were packed with ships waiting for cargo, but had no trucks. Over 200,000 tons of rice has been ‘detained’ at the private ports along the river.

Drivers said they could carry 50 tons of cargo before, but from now on, the legal amount is only 25 tons.

Nguyen Trong Hung, a representative of a rice export company in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, said, “My cargo has been stuck at ports for having no trucks. Trains can’t carry as much as we need while trucks are asking to increase transport prices.”

Tan Cang Port in Ho Chi Minh City, which has a total capacity of 9,000 20-foot containers, is keeping 11,000 of those containers, as trucks are refusing to carry them.

Before, it cost VND600,000 (US$29) to carry a ton of cargo from Hai Phong to Lao Cai in the north. But as of this month, it has doubled to VND1.2 million a ton, according to cargo owners.

“I can’t ask to cover the additional cost from buyers because our contracts have already been signed. On average, it costs me an additional VND600 million [$29,000] for each consignment,” complained a cargo owner.

“I face the risk of being fined for late delivery,” he added.

The transport cost of other cargo besides rice such as construction materials, bauxite, and seafood will also increase by double or triple the previous amount.

For construction materials, the transport fee must be hiked three times to cover the costs and still ensure a profit, a transport company owner in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau said.

Road bribes to reduce, road safety to improve

Realizing the current difficulties caused by the decision to prevent overloaded trucks on highways, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, deputy chief of the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam under the Transport Ministry, admitted that the law enforcement agencies have been overly permissive of overloaded trucks in the past ten years.

The deployment of mobile weighbridges may contradict the benefits of drivers, vehicle owners, and even officials who have shares in transport firms and protect wrongdoings, Cuong added.

“From now on, we are determined to restore regulations,” he stressed.

It is difficult initially, but in the long term, it will help wipe out bribes by traffic policemen.

Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, insisted that the mobile weighbridges will help actualize the price of transport.

Before, transport firms competed with each other by lowering prices and overloading cargo, thereby violating traffic laws. To avoid being fined for such violations, drivers frequently bribed traffic policemen.

With mobile weighbridges deployed throughout the country to eliminate overloads, drivers will not have to worry about bribes or unfairly competing with one another. Roads that cost thousands of billions of dong will have a longer life span, Thanh assured.

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