AHY Says ODOL Crackdown Won't Disrupt Economy

KatadataOTO – The government continues to show its seriousness in cracking down on Over Dimension Over Loading (ODOL) trucks, which are rampant in Indonesia.

The presence of ODOL trucks is considered very detrimental. This is because they are often the cause of fatal accidents and result in many casualties.

Therefore, the government, along with other parties, must take action to eradicate the use of ODOL trucks in the country.

“Then there's road damage; tens of trillions have to be spent every year to repair roads that are destroyed and damaged by overloaded vehicles,” said Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, to Antara on Wednesday (13/08).

Photo : Antara

AHY admitted that the government has made calculations from various aspects, including the economic losses caused by the Zero ODOL program.

The results found that cracking down on ODOL does not cause excessively large losses in the economic sector.

Therefore, this aide to President Prabowo Subianto believes that economic motives are not a reason to begin regulating overloaded trucks.

“What is clear is that we have obtained a set of data showing that it does not have a very significant impact,” said AHY.

As a reminder, the Zero ODOL program is a national policy aimed at eliminating the practice of logistics transportation with excess loads and non-standard dimension modifications.

This activity is expected to improve traffic safety, protect road infrastructure, and create a healthier and fairer business competition for freight transport.

The Difficulty of Eradicating ODOL

On the other hand, the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) revealed that there are two reasons why ODOL trucks are difficult to eradicate.

“First, the backbone of our logistics supply chain system is flawed. 98 percent is road-based; we do not use trains or adequate ferry services,” said Ahmad Wildan, a Senior Investigator at KNKT, on a separate occasion.

Even other alternative modes like trains are considered not yet optimal. This is because freight trains still rely on the same tracks as passenger trains.

Photo : NTMC Polri

For ODOL trucks to be eradicated, the logistics supply chain needs to utilize other modes of transportation and not just depend on road-based transport.

“Then the second issue is freight transport tariffs; the bargaining power is in the hands of the goods' owners, so it's rather difficult to control. The government really needs to intervene here,” Wildan concluded.

These tariffs should allow trucks to operate carrying loads according to their capacity while still ensuring business continuity for transportation companies.