HÀ NỘI — Nine tractor head trucks that exceeded the prescribed weight limit were seized late Sunday, the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.

The vehicle was headed from the Hoàng Bồ District towards Hạ Long City in the coastal Quảng Ninh Province.

Each of the truck was found to be carrying some 20 tonnes of coal. Their drivers were unable to present valid driving licences and relevant coal transport documents, the Quảng Ninh police said.

One of the trucks sped off to a coal gathering site during the investigation, the police said.

The eight remaining trucks were moved to the Bãi Cháy Bus Station in Hạ Long City.

The trucks were identified as the HOWO A7 tractor head trucks, with trailers added to carry coal, the newspaper reported. 

Some locals living alongside the stretch of National Highway 279 in the Hoàng Bồ District said the trucks frequently ran through the stretch at high speed, polluting the environment and endangering traffic, according to the newspaper.

Colonel Phạm Hồng Sơn, head of the traffic police department of the Quảng Ninh police, told the newspaper on Monday that fines would be imposed on the trucks, both for exceeding the weight limit and for adding trailers.

He refused to reveal the identity of their owner.

The Quảng Ninh coastal province, rich for coal resources, has heightened regulations on illegal coal transport, since the beginning of this year.

Coal transport has been prohibited on the stretches of the 18A, 10, and 17B national highways that run through the province from January 1.

Enterprises that are eligible for coal transport, such as those under the Việt Nam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV) and the Đông Bắc Corporation, had to develop plans to transport coal via water instead of road. — VNS