Combating Overloaded Vehicles on the Roads – Potential Economic Benefits

Overloaded trucks have a significant impact on road surface degradation, leading to premature damage to infrastructure. Reducing the number of overloaded trucks can help decrease the extent of this damage, which, in turn, will result in less frequent need for repairs and lower road maintenance costs. These conclusions suggest that effective control of vehicle weight is a key element in strategies aimed at maintaining the durability of road infrastructure and optimizing spending on its upkeep. To this end, calculations of potential savings on periodic maintenance as a result of implementing the WIM system were carried out, based on literature assumptions. The results obtained showed that the implementation of a more efficient heavy vehicle weighing inspection system can significantly contribute to reducing road repair costs as a result of a reduction in the share of these vehicles in traffic.