More ECOWAS members adopt axle-load regulations

The West African and Monetary Union States (UEMOA) member-states have agreed to adopt standards and procedures for control of the gauge, weight and the axle-load of every vehicle by close of 2010, Mr. Yaya Yedan, Country Representative of the Burkina Shippers’ Council in Ghana, has disclosed.

“Since mid-2009, Ghana, Niger and Togo have been enforcing the regulations and other UEMOA’s member-states have agreed to enforce the rules by 2010. Enforcement of the axle-load regulation by member-states is aimed at controlling and protecting the country's roads against premature deterioration,” Mr. Yedan said.

UEMOA member-states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

The idea of regulating axle-loads in West Africa dates back to 1982 when ECOWAS member-states signed a convention11, which stipulates that the maximum axle-load of vehicles authorised to carry out interstate transportation, should not exceed 11.5 tonnes per axle.

Available statistics have shown that on the Burkina Faso road from the Ghanaian border to Ouagadougou, 84 percent of trucks were overloaded by an average exceeding 52 tonnes, with some trucks weighing up to 142 tonnes – almost three times the legal limit.

When made to endure such abuse, the life of a road is reduced to 1 - 4 years, compared to a normal lifespan of 15 years or more.

Mr. Yedan, who explained this at a ceremony in Accra organised by West Africa Trade Hub and funded by USAID, which was aimed at removing trade barriers in West Africa, said the elimination of trade barriers in West Africa was the key to economic growth of the sub-region, emphasising,” overloaded trucks have a serious negative impact on the West African road infrastructure.

The sudden decrease in tonnage that trucks are allowed to carry resulted in a decrease of profit per trip; transport prices from Tema to Niger, for example, rose phenomenonally.

Many trucks, particularly Ghanaian ones, have been heavily reinforced in order to carry excessive loads. This reinforcement increases the tyre-weight of the trucks, and thus limits how much cargo the trucks can legally carry and still respect the gross axle-weight limits. Many of these trucks are now working in countries that have not yet implemented the axle-load regulations.

Heavily overloaded trucks also make for dangerous driving situations as they are difficult to drive and, more importantly, difficult to stop once they are moving. Overloading also leads to more breakdowns, which have financial impacts on exporters and importers and represents a threat to the safe journeys of other road users.

Meanwhile, Mr. Niels Rasmussen, Transport Director at the West Africa Trade Hub, indicated that transport prices have gone up, at least for the time being. Failing to implement axle-load controls is clearly not a viable option.

“In the long-run, transport prices should go down as a result of better and safer roads - which will allow for faster trips and thus more revenue per truck, particularly if the regional trucking markets are de-regulated to allow for competition based on service and price,” he said.