He said this is to ensure the entire logistics ecosystem is held accountable and complied with legal load limits.

“We will be taking stricter action moving forward. I want to remind both consignors and consignees that currently, only drivers and vehicle-owning companies are penalised for offences involving their lorries, including overloading.

“We are now working on amendments to ensure that both senders and receivers of goods are also held responsible. The entire ecosystem must comply to ensure road safety,” Bernama reported him as saying today.

Loke said overloaded lorries posed not only a road safety risk but also a significant burden on public infrastructure, accelerating road damage and increasing maintenance costs.

“People often complain about potholes on Malaysian roads. One major cause is overloaded lorries.

“When roads deteriorate, not only do maintenance costs go up, but the safety risk, especially to motorcyclists, increases drastically,” he said.

Loke said lorry drivers and transport companies were often pressured by quarry or factory owners to carry excess loads in order to cut operational costs and remain competitive.

He said the road transport department would hold meetings with quarry and sand operators to issue final warnings before stepping up enforcement.

He also said the government was promoting a “road-to-rail” policy to shift the transport of heavy and high-risk cargo from roads to railways, in an effort to reduce accidents and protect road infrastructure.