[UPDATED] RTD launches crackdown on rogue lorry operators

New Straits Times

22-05-2025

SHAH ALAM: The Road Transport Department (RTD) is cracking down on lorry owners who knowingly operate vehicles without valid road tax, insurance or mandatory inspections.
The department has begun recommending the suspension of operating licences for such companies, with offending lorries to have their permits revoked and potentially face ownership forfeiture.
RTD Enforcement Division senior director Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan said these measures were being taken under the provisions of the Land Public Transport Act 2010.
"To date, we have seized 135 vehicles under Section 80 of the Land Public Transport Act, involving cases in Selangor and Pahang. Of these, seven lorries have already been forfeited," he told reporters today at the Elmina RTD Enforcement Station.
Section 80 of the Land Public Transport Act grants the power to seize relevant vehicles for certain offences and obtain forfeiture orders on these vehicles.
Kifli said between 2019 and April this year, 513 companies have been recommended to have either their operating licences or vehicle permits suspended under the same Act.
"We also issued 28 warnings to these companies during this period.
"I also want to explain that in a bid to take stricter action against lorry drivers and their company owners who obstruct RTD personnel from conducting their duties during traffic checks, we will also open investigation papers under Section 234 of the same Act.
"Those who commit an offence under this Section can face a maximum fine of RM200,000 or a maximum two years' imprisonment or both upon conviction," he said.
Kifli also said they have initiated 17 investigation papers over commercial vehicles, including lorries which have been involved in accidents due to negligence or technical issues.
"Of these IPs opened, 11 are still under investigation, three are currently being prosecuted and one has successfully been convicted.
"Another IP is being reviewed by the deputy public prosecutor's office, while the remaining IP, involving a case in Rompin where a lorry crashed into a home, is awaiting a chemistry report as the driver was allegedly on drugs at the time," he said.
Kifli said that the decision to take tougher action against errant lorries using all available laws in place was made following a string of accidents involving heavy vehicles, including the accident at Teluk Intan on May 13 which claimed the lives of nine Federal Reserve Unit personnel.