prohibition on overloading of Trucks will destroy the Economy of India.

R o b b y S h a r m a 865, Block-B, Panki Freelance Research Scholar Kanpur—208020 U.P. Town & Country Planning Problems INDIA

& Land Acquisition Act Ph:9235844258;9415438326

email.sharmarobby@hotmail.com Blog-http://sharmarobby.wordpress.com;

How prohibition on overloading of Trucks will destroy the Economy of India.

To Sri Manmohan Singh Ji 15-04-2012

Prime Minister of India:

Sir all that glitters is not Gold, similarly most of the Laws now being made in India are bad and in fact are counter productive.

There is a Myth that overloading of trucks is hurting the economy very badly in fact the opposite is true. Stop Overloading and your economy will suffer very badly as India is a Oil importing Company sorry Country.

It is proven fact that a Truck sanctioned to carry 9 tonnes can carry Eighteen Tonnes i.e. double and only about 25 % of fuel will be consumed extra. So you are saving 75 % of fuel.

Initially when Trucks were being manufactured in India at around 1950-60, the Trucks could not carry more load but later on with Steel heads coming in to vogue the problem was solved. The two major Truck Producers in India namely TATA & ASHOK LEYLAND due to fierce Competition amongst them produced Trucks of so fine a Quality that they could easily carry more than double the Loading capacity by weight but till about 1975, Tyres were the only problem because taking advantage of the shortage in this sector , the Tyre Companies formed a Cartel and produced very substandard Tyres in India till MODI GROUP entered the Field and started producing high quality tyres, forcing the rest to follow.

Since then the Trucks can easily carry even two and half time than the registered laden weight but to sell more trucks the Truck Companies are deliberately not giving “F” forms for the increased load carrying capacity with the result that the Truck which can easily load 20 Tonnes is sanctioned by Transport Authority to carry just 9 tonnes.

There is another Myth that Overloading of Trucks is responsible for majority of Accidents. In fact the opposite is true, In case of Overloaded Trucks, the Drivers, drive more slowly and carefully and thus more safely to protect the Tyres from overheating.

In fact high speed is the major cause of accidents in the Country and under loaded Trucks (and Buses) are driven at high speeds and recklessly causing millions of accidents, Therefore Speed is the main culprit for causing so many accidents and not Load. Seeing the high density of population in India, there should be a maximum speed limit of fifty Kilometers per hour on Highways and only Forty Kilometers (Thirty Kms in crowded parts) in Cities. Those crossing this limit should be publicly flogged (monetary fine will only increase the Corruption” .The Traffic Policeman in case he indulges in corruption in such matters should be immediately sent to Jail for three years and his service terminated. All you need is good and fool proof Devices for catching Speedsters.

There is another Myth that Overloaded Trucks damage the Roads. This may happen as we in India do not have proper Road Rollers, We need much heavier ones than the ones we have. If the Road is rolled over with a Road Rollers having say twenty Tonnes of Axel weight then Trucks carrying lesser Axel Weights can easily Ply. The problem is that we Roll the Roads with small rollers of say ten Tonnes (with less than six tonnes of Maximum Axel Weight) and then Trucks of more Axel Weight may damage it. Roads in India being mostly made by Stone and Tar are mostly damaged by RAIN as it water (specially water logging) is the Enemy of Tar. So better Roads of Concrete / Modern materials , rolled with very heavy Road Rollers are the need of the hour.

Now the question of breakdown of Trucks on account of overloading has to be addressed .In this connection if Roads are smooth and the Speed (rather than weight) is controlled then this problem will not be there. More wear and tear results in more production of Spare parts and thus generates employment for millions of Workers and Mechanics.

It will be in the interest of a Fuel scarce Country like India to force the Truck Manufacturers to give a more Load bearing “F” form so that the official Registered Laden weights of the Trucks can be increased to a more realistic level say about twice the present laden weight. Do this and Roll your Roads with heavier Road Rollers and fix speed limit of fifty Kilometers per hour and strictly punish Speedsters. You will be able to reduce the accidents and save about forty percent on diesel Import Bill.

Rest assured that the Tyre Companies will meet the challenge and the most critical load bearing component i.e. Tyres will not be found lacking in Quality, the Trucks are already of so high a quality that they can carry twice the Weight than now at no extra cost at all, what ever the Manufacturers lack is already taken care of by the Vehicle Owners, who increase a few leaves in the Springs and give the extra tension require to the Spring a practice which they have been following since decades.

Remember only drastic ideas can change the destiny of Countries no matter how unpleasant they may sound

(Robby Sharma)