VOSA: Many courier vans being overloaded
Date: 17 October 2007
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The Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has reported a large number of incidents where light commercial vehicles such as courier delivery vans have been overloaded.
In its 2006/07 Effectiveness Report, VOSA revealed that 3,335 vans out of 6,050 were prohibited for being overloaded. Some 55.1 per cent of vans at checks were prohibited, up from 38.7 per cent the previous year and from 30.5 per cent in the 2004/05 period.
Paul Whitehead of the Freight Transport Association told RoadTransport.com: "They [the fleets] move to 3.5 tonnes because they want more flexibility with the use of the vehicle, but not enough of them understand that they cannot exceed the gross vehicle weight.
"They are putting too much equipment into their vans. They also forget that if they have passengers in the van this also adds to the overall weight."
He added that many smaller fleets are guilty of overloading, and that some people are not taking on board the information that is out there.
He asked: "Do they know the difference between filling up a van with foam blocks and filling it up with bags of sand?"
Courier drivers are reminded that there is a possible £5,000 fine for overloading freight haulage vehicles.
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