KeNHA reports over 99 per cent axle load compliance

 

KeNHA says axle load compliance rates are on account of campaign to protect road infrastructure. [File, Standard]

Axle load compliance across key transport corridors has increased to over 99 per cent driven by increasing engagement between Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and truckers and cargo owners, as well as use of mobile and virtual weighbridges.

KeNHA said the high compliance rates are on account of an ongoing nationwide campaign to protect road infrastructure and boost highway safety by working with truck drivers, fleet owners as well as regional law courts and county governments.

Faith Wanjugu Njani, KeNHA’s Assistant Manager, Juja Weighbridge Cluster said the highways authority conducts sensitisation sessions at loading points, quarries and industrial sites, educating crew truck drivers on proper axle load distribution and legal limit compliance before vehicles start their journeys. 

“We ensure regular sensitisation, and one of the key issues that we talk to stakeholders about is how to load their vehicles to ensure compliance. We talk regularly with the drivers, the owners of the trucks and the cargo loaders,” she said. 

Kenha has in the recent past invested in the automation of weighbridge management. It has also increased its monitoring infrastructure and in addition to the traditional static weighbridges, the Authority has increasingly been using virtual and mobile weighbridges along key corridors across the country. 

“Another way to ensure compliance is having mobile operations on those routes that do not have static weighbridges. This way we are able to monitor every other route that is within a certain region. We collaborate with the county governments as well as sensitise law courts within the regions so that they are aware of what we do,” said Njani. 

“Our objective is to ensure that our roads are not exposed to overloading and to ensure that every infrastructure that has been put in place is also protected.”

Njani said the Juja weighbridge along Thika Road and the Kanyonyo weighbridge on Thika-Garissa Road had reported improved compliance due to constant engagement with stakeholders. Of about the 3,000 trucks that go through the Juja weighbridge daily, she said, just about five to 10 trucks are found to be non-compliant. About 1,500 trucks go through the Kanyonyo weighbridge per day, where she noted about two trucks are on average found to be overloaded. 

“That is more than 98 percent compliance,” said Njani.

“We also have other offences apart from overloading, we have other offences we inspect trucks for abnormal loads on trucks to ensure that they comply with the legal dimension limits. We have seen an increase in trucks carrying sand within the region and this is due to a lot of construction projects going on. We also have industries that have come up. Working with the drivers, the owners of the trucks and the truckers association, which is at times done at the loading point, we can ensure axle load compliance.”