The All Sea Ports Trailer Owners Consortium has urged the Chennai port, Kamarajar port and the private port at Kattupalli to ensure that trailers are not forced to carry excessive weights.
A trailer with three axles can carry a maximum of 30 tonnes of weight but many times they end up carrying 64 tonnes, said consortium president P. Gopinath.
Plying overloaded vehicles only caused accidents since the drivers could not manage the additional weight.
“If they brake, the vehicle will not stop and sometimes the trailer overturns causing unfortunate deaths. We have been writing to the ports regularly asking them not to overburden trailers but to no avail,” he said.
Accident in city
Consortium secretary K. Suresh Babu said that after a container-carrying trailer proceeding from the Chennai port sank when the bridge collapsed on Poonamallee High Road last year, overloading had stopped for several months.
“Last week, there was a sudden checking of over loaded vehicles on roads leading to the ports by teams of RTOs and fines were collected. Such checks should be done regularly to prevent overloading,” he said.
