TheCable

Boboye Oyeyemi, corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), says a significant percentage of trucks in the country have been in operations for over 30 years.

Oyeyemi stated this on Monday during a meeting with officials of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in Lagos.

While noting that such trucks pose serious threat to road users, the corps marshal also called for the intervention of the federal government to ensure that truckers have fleet renewal to reduce the frequent breakdown of vehicles on the road.

“Due to the age of the trucks, they frequently break down on the road prolonging the days goods spend on the road before getting to its destination,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“While coming to this place, I went through the Third Mainland Bridge and I saw trucks lining up on the bridge going towards Apapa and this is not good.

“Bridges are not meant to carry fixed trucks and when we have such scenario, we are reducing the lifespan of the bridges.

“Also, there is decay in the vehicle inspection system in the country. Most of the trucks are not road worthy and this poses serious threat to road users.

“When these trucks break down, the goods will not get to its destination as scheduled and this affects the end users.”

Hassan Bello, executive secretary of NSC, said the meeting was to address the operational challenges of cargo movement.

“NSC also has the mandate to ensure efficient and effective service delivery is enforced across the transport chain,” he said.

“The partnership between the NSC and the FRSC has recorded reasonable landmarks, especially in traffic management and safety of cargo in transit.”

Bello added that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with the FRSC to enforce standards for truck owners and drivers.