Free Mass: The Prosecutor General's Office will check the work of weight control on roads

The Prosecutor General's Office has started inspections of the operation of automatic weight and dimensional control points on federal and regional roads. According to the association "Gruzavtotrans", thousands of complaints have been registered about the incorrect operation of scales, as a result of which drivers receive unjustified fines of up to 500 thousand rubles. Truck drivers are trying to challenge 5 thousand fines amounting to about Br1.5 billion. Carriers propose to develop methods to control the APVGC. The Ministry of Transport reported that they are working on a bill to create a unified federal state automated platform of weight and dimensional control.

How the weight and dimensional control system works in Russia

The Prosecutor General's Office after the appeal of the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights has begun to analyze the legality of the use of automatic points of weight and dimensional control (APVGK) on the country's roads. This is stated in the department's letter to the business ombudsman.

Until September 23, complaints from carriers were collected, as well as their proposals for adjustments to the legislation.

- The Association in 2021-2024 conducted inspections in 17 regions, including Tula, Kurgan, Leningrad, Vladimir, Voronezh, Chelyabinsk regions, Udmurtia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. Everywhere violations are recorded," Vladimir Matyagin, president of the association Gruzavtotrans, told Izvestia.

In the explanatory note to the appeals to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Transport, Gruzavtotrans reports that in the Tula region, on the Tula-Belov highway, 7-10 cm deep rutting and cracks in the asphalt were recorded in the APVGK zone. In Kurgan region at the points Yalutorovsk - Shadrins and Irtysh - Peschanovolzhanskoye there was detected asphalt delamination on the whole length of the sensors, road slope of 21 cm, asphalt failures in 60-70 m from the APVGK, which affects the operation of scales.

The Association has come to the conclusion that road owners improperly operate APWHCs, which affects the results of measurements, the document says.

An example is given of incorrect operation of the "SVK-2RVS" type APVGK at the 11.8 km of the Abakan - Ak-Dovurak road - Scania water carriers with four-axle semitrailers-tankers Nordtank Giga-28 run through it. These vehicles travel daily from the mineral springs to the bottling plant and back and have become a kind of means of verifying the reliability of APWHC measurements.

With a 16-ton tractor and a fully filled 28.02 thousand liter water tank, the weight of the road train cannot exceed 44 tons. However, from December to March 2024, in 13 out of 507 cases of measurements, the scales recorded overloading and showed the weight of the road train from 49 to 52 tons.

- The performance of the weighbridge depends to a large extent on the quality of the road surface in the measurement area. When the car is traveling at speed, the wheel can bounce over bumps and hit the recording device, and the shock loads are much higher than usual, and the error of readings will increase many times over," the press service of the 3PL-operator NC Logistic told Izvestia.

According to Vadim Filatov, President of the Association of Automobile Cargo Carriers and Forwarders "AvtoGruzEx", APVGCs often erroneously record the load. The vehicle weight may differ from the data of the automated system by 5-10%, he noted. The accuracy of measurements is affected by the speed and weight and size characteristics of the vehicle, he said.

- We have received fines for non-compliance with dimensions on refrigerated semi-trailers, although such violation is impossible in this type of cargo transportation, - Evgeny Kozyrev, Logistics Director of Delko transportation company, told Izvestia.

He also received fines for overloading, when in fact there was no overload, but there was a weighing certificate with permissible values.

What are the fines for overweight trucks?

- Association "Gruzavtotrans" together with carriers monitors about 5 thousand administrative cases for the amount of more than 1.5 billion rubles, - said Vladimir Matyagin. - Not all of them can be disputed. The situation is made worse by the fact that these fines come unexpectedly. When passing the APVCC, the scoreboards often do not work, and messages about overweight are not broadcast, and penalty protocols come 1.5 months later, when it is impossible to prove their rightfulness in the courts.

Moreover, when courts make decisions on fines they are guided by the acts of measurement results and certificates of verification, although the manufacturer of this equipment notes that the accuracy of measurement does not depend on the acts, but on the proper maintenance of the complex.

The manufacturer of APVGK, Tenso-M Company, reported in a letter to Gruzavtotrans that damage to the roadway in the area of the measuring section has a direct impact on the measurement results. Strict requirements for asphalt quality are due to the fact that rutting causes the vehicle to roll and "gallop" in the longitudinal plane, which increases the amplitude of the suspension, which affects the accuracy of measurements. The rut limit for automatic road scales is only 10 mm.

- Trucks roll up such a rut in the control zone after a month of work, - says Vladimir Matyagin. - As a result, one or two months the point works normally, and then it gives a considerable error and almost always in the direction of overestimation.

The penalty for overweight according to Article 12.21.1 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation is 100-150 thousand rubles for legal entities with overweight up to 10%, up to 20% - 250 thousand, up to 50% - up to 400 thousand, over 50% - up to 500 thousand.

According to Rostransnadzor, in 2023, carriers were fined 22.5 billion rubles for overweight. In September 2024, there were 60 APVCs on federal highways, and more than 300 points on regional roads. Until 2030, another 417 APVCs will be installed on the roads, Rosavtodor reported.

"Izvestia" sent requests to the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Transport, Rostransnadzor, Rosavtodor and the office of the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights.

What norms are set for heavy trucks

- Unjustified fines are direct financial losses for carriers," Sergei Chernov, general director of the federal transportation company Skif-Kargo, told Izvestia. - Incorrect operation of the APVGC leads to delays in cargo delivery and transportation downtime. In order to maintain the level of profitability in case of incorrect operation of APVCC, carriers are forced to index tariffs.

In order to remedy the situation, it is necessary to conduct control weighing on stationary scales when there are doubts about the data from APWHC, as well as online monitoring of weighing results, says a market participant.

- Due to regular failures in the work of APWCC, carriers are forced to add additional risks to the cost of delivery - this figure can reach 3% of the tariff," said Vadim Filatov. - In our opinion, it is necessary to finalize the model of vehicle registration, making it mandatory to fill in detailed information about the dimensions of the truck. In addition, it is important to install additional sites for re-weighing of vehicles at automated points, he said.

As it was specified in the press service of 3PL-operator NC Logistic, online monitoring of weight and dimensional parameters will help to improve the work of the system. If a driver sees information in real time that the weight of a truck has been exceeded, he must check it on the control scales and contest the fine online.

The Ministry of Transport considers the installation of APVCs as a priority for controlling the movement of heavy vehicles and is not going to give up on them, according to the Ministry's response to the association "Gruzavtotrans" (available at Izvestia). Although the main disadvantage of APVGK is seen in service organizations and their activities, for which they are punished under Art. 19.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation ("Violation of legislation on ensuring the uniformity of measurements").

The agency is working on a draft law to create a unified federal state automated system of weight and dimensional control of vehicles (ASVGK), according to the response.

The document will make it possible to launch a network that will unite measurement results from all ASVGK in the online space. The results of measurements from all automatic points are planned to be used to carry out their permanent automated diagnostics.