Cargo transporters opt for self-regulation

Container Freight Stations (CFSs) will be required to install weighbridges at their facilities in a move intended to check overloading of trucks.

This is one of the measures stakeholders in the transport sector have proposed, and which they are expected to commit themselves to in a charter signing ceremony today in Mariakani.

Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya National Highways Authority will seek other ways to ensure cargo loaded on trucks is of required weights.
Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau is among dignitaries from sectors in the cargo clearance and transport through the Northern Corridor who will witness the signing ceremony.

Overloading of trucks leaving Mombasa port and CFSs has been a bone of contention with various agencies blaming each other for non-compliance to required weight limits.

ABETTING OVERLOADING

Kenya Revenue Authority officials, managers of weighbridges and the police have been accused of abetting overloading by accepting bribes.

“Since various measures put in place to curb overloading, including punitive fines have failed, we have decided to go the self-regulation way. This is an initiative we believe will work because each member of an organisation will have a responsibility to ensure trucks are not overloaded,” Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) chairman Paul Maiyo said on Sunday.

Agencies that will sign the pact include Shippers Council of Eastern Africa, Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association, Long Distance Truck Drivers’ Union and CFS Association of Kenya.

Other public sector organisations are Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, National Transport Safety Authority, Kenya Maritime Authority and Kenya Police Service.

The charter has been spearheaded by the Northern Corridor Transit Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) and KTA.