Truck Driver Protests, Ministry Of Transportation Affirms No ODOL Law

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Land Transportation emphasized that there is no law regarding the regulation of vehicles or trucks over dimension over load (ODOL). The statement was in response to protests against the policy of cracking down on ODOL trucks, which were carried out by truck drivers who are members of the Indonesian Driver Association.

As is known, on February 22, 2022, truck drivers who are members of the Indonesian Drivers Association Seguyup Rukun Sopir Indonesia staged a protest against the policy of cracking down on ODOL trucks some time ago. They consider that the policy does not care about the fate of truck drivers who are suffocated by the high operational costs of shipping goods.

Director General of Land Transportation Budi Setiyadi said that there were still truck drivers who did not know the definition of ODOL itself. So this is also the reason many drivers protest against the ODOL rules.

Furthermore, Budi emphasized that there is no law regarding the regulation of ODOL, as said the truck drivers during a demonstration they held some time ago.

"There is no ODOL Law as stated by the driver. We are only strengthening the existing regulations, regarding the rules for logistics vehicles, regarding cargo and also its dimensions," he said in a virtual press conference, Thursday, February 24.

Budi explained that the regulation in question was Law No. 22 of 2009 concerning Road Traffic and Transportation (LLAJ). Where strict sanctions for violations of ODOL trucks can be applied such as fines, transfers of cargo until the violator's vehicle is not allowed to continue the journey.

Furthermore, Budi said that his party had held a meeting with the truck driver's association regarding their demonstration. As a follow-up, the Ministry of Transportation has held a meeting with the Police Headquarters regarding changes in the handling of ODOL vehicles.

"In recent years, we have done a lot of firm or hard power and we agreed to only low power, cooling down and soft power with our presence for a campaign of socialization and communication with car body associations, operators, dealers throughout Indonesia and driver associations," he explained.

On this occasion, Budi Setiadi explained that the commitment to curb the problem of ODOL trucks had been planned since 2021. However, the time for the socialization was finally extended until 2023.

Therefore, Budi continued, by 2023 the Directorate General of Land Transportation together with the Korlantas Polri, Jasa Marga, and BUJT will increase the supervision of ODOL trucks, so that the target for controlling ODOL in 2023 can be realized.

Budi said he was optimistic that the goal of zero ODOL would still be achieved even though the handling of violations in the field was not as strict as the values carried out.

"Hopefully with this road, we can still achieve that target. Until now, there are also many driver or operator associations who with their own awareness have taken steps to normalize vehicles that are over dimension," he explained.