The new “Regulation on the Protection of Road Safety” will make it possible to punish drivers more severely than in the past if they are caught overloading their trucks. The new rules will take effect in July. It is the first administrative regulation to target protecting the nation’s road network since the current “Regulation of Highway Management” was issued in 1987. Truck drivers who break the legal limit on how much freight they can carry three times in a year will lose their business license, and transportation companies will be banned from operating if one-tenth of their vehicles are found to be overloaded. The Ministry of Transport also said the new law offers tough penalties for manufacturers and dealers who produce or sell cars and trucks with illegal load capacities. In addition, inspections of trucks will be strengthened in places where coal, cement and other bulk cargos are collected and distributed. China’s roads have long suffered from extra wear and tear because of illegally overloaded trucks. The traffic authorities have said inspectors found 80% of trucks were overloaded. Cui Zhongfu, Secretary General of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, told China Daily that trucks are being overloaded partly because highway and bridge tolls in China are too high for transportation companies, sometimes accounting for as much as 20% of total expenses.