The Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD), working in concert with the State Traffic Police Department of Cargo Transport Supervision conducts regular roadside checks of vehicles used for the transport of commercial goods. It invited the Zebra team along to witness one of the surprise audits by the highway in Ikskile this week.
One of the difficulties in conducting such raids is the lack of appropriate shoulders on the side of the road to allow large vehicles to easily pull-over and be checked with the proper equipment. Long-distance truckers also tend to have a strong professional solidarity, using closed-band radios to notify nearby drivers about the checkpoints.
Over the past ten years altogether 30,000 cargo vehicles have been inspected in such raids, says the CSDD. According to the data collected, one in ten trucks gets a rating level of ‘2’, meaning that deficiencies in roadworthiness must be fixed within a month’s time.
For every hundred trucks checked, one receives a ‘3’ rating, which requires the immediate removal of its license plates and a prohibition on entering traffic until the vehicle’s problems are resolved.
