The Hindu Business Line : Box trailers posing risk in Chennai

TRUCK operators and traffic police are worried about the increasing number of accidents involving container-laden trailers in the city and its suburbs.

The operators say that there is almost one accident a day involving trucks carrying containers, but not many are reported. The traffic police have just started classifying the type of accidents - that is specifying that it involved a truck carrying containers and not just as a truck accident.

The reasons for the accidents, according to the operators and the police, are many. These include reckless and drunken driving too. The police say they can act against speeding vehicles but cannot do anything when the truck carries more than the load it is supposed to haul.

Most accidents, they say, happen at sharp curves when the drivers lose control of the vehicle. In the process, the trucks damage the medians on the road and hold up traffic. There have been a few accidents that have resulted in deaths. In one case, an autorickshaw got caught under a container that had toppled over from a truck.

The operators also say that containers topple over because they are not securely fastened on to the trailer. The trucks are expected to have an elaborate locking mechanism in place, precisely to prevent such an accident. But, it is followed more often than not in the breach.

A single-axle vehicle can load boxes up to 15 tonnes, but carry around 25 tonnes. Similarly, a double-axle vehicle can take boxes up to 25 tonnes, but load around 35 tonnes, said a vehicle owner. Due to overloading of containers, drivers find it difficult controlling the vehicle.

Due to low freight rates vehicles are loaded beyond their capacity. The operators get away after paying a minor penalty, he said.

A source in the maritime industry said that most of container-laden trailers were not fitted with twist-locks or turn-lock fasteners for locking containers. The lock secures the container on to the trailer and also prevents it from toppling over.

The locks are meant to be provided on all trailers. However, vehicle owners do not want to have twist-locks as they fear that providing twist locks will result in the overturning of the vehicle itself.

However, trailer owners deny the charge that locks are not provided and said that 99 per cent of vehicles plying in and out of Chennai port have twist-locks. On an average, about 1,500 boxes are moved into and out of the port every day.

An official at the Chennai Container Terminal Ltd, the private firm that runs the container terminal inside the Chennai port, said the company has given strict instructions to vehicle operators to have twist-locks.

A trade source said the moment trailers come out of the port twist-locks are removed.

Vehicle operators said that congestion on city roads also leads to frequent accidents involving the trailers. Unlike other major ports, the Chennai port is within the city limit. These cause problems for drivers manoeuvring through the congested city.

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