The National Transit and Transportation Institute (Intrant) has issued a resolution that regulates and establishes the basic safety measures for highway safety for freighters on the nation’s highways. By means of Resolution 0001-2019, the Intrant has installed controls for the times and permits for the transport of cargo by means of the double-trailers (road trains), in order to guarantee highway safety and protect the infrastructure, until the Intrant achieves the approval of the pending regulations for freight under Law 63-17.
The Highway Safety Agency (DIGESETT) will supervise the execution and audit of the regulation and establish the necessary controls. Intrant issued a 30-day notice for all freight vehicles to comply with some of the requirements of the resolution, but other aspects need to be implemented in the next seven days.
In the same resolution, the Intrant ordered heavy vehicles to stick to speed limits of 70 kph on expressways and 55 kph on secondary and tertiary roads and exclusively drive on the right, except when passing to another vehicle movng in the same direction or when it is ready to turn the left, at an intersection or to enter a private road.
Heavy vehicles traveling on highways and roads must also maintain a distance of no less than 150 meters from the vehicle ahead, in accordance with the provisions of article 224 of Law 63-17 on Mobility, Land Transport, Traffic and Road Safety of the Dominican Republic.
The measures call for the cargo transporters to submit their units to periodic maintenance.
The same resolution orders truckers to cover loose cargo to avoid the latter spilling on the roadways, causing danger to people and the environment.
Truck drivers are also banned from being on the road for more than five hours at a time. “In no case should drivers drive twelve hours accumulated, in a period of 24 hours,” adds the Intrant resolution.
On the loading and unloading of goods, the resolution specifies that it will be mandatory to do so on the side of the vehicle closest to the edge of the sidewalk or the back of the business, taking the precaution of parking the unit in a place where it does not obstruct the way, in the case that there is not a space destined for those purposes.
“In no case will the goods or objects being loaded or unloaded be stored on public roads,” adds the provision, which also prohibits doing so at corners and intersections of roads and establishes a maximum time that does not exceed two hours to complete the process. It is forbidden for double-tail units and semi-trailers to distribute goods in the urban area and also to exceed the size of the cargo indicated in the registration or certificate, without the proper authorization of the Intrant. The load must not exceed one meter on the front of the vehicle and two meters on the rear end “. “Lateral dimensions of any kind will not be accepted,” states the Intrant.
The full resolution can be read on the Intrant website/transparencia
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El Caribe
Listin Diario
14 January 2019
