Regulations for ODC: The Juggernaut Rules

Specific regulations are being implemented by various states in India for handling ODC movement. Gone are the days when redtapism ruled and cumbersome norms were the order of the day. Here come new norms and standards that are all set to streamline the entire process of heavy transport. It is a matter of time before India, like the US, Europe and Australia, could have regulated and organised ODC movement and a well-defined process for trailer manufacturing in compliance with motor vehicle norms.

by Radhika Rani G.

The growing number of development projects in the country has led to an increase in the demand for specialised machinery and equipment by infrastructure and power plants, fertiliser companies and construction firms. With the growing demand, the risk of moving machineries like rotors, stators, turbines, generators and transformers, heavy-lifts, boilers, chemical filters and storage tanks has been growing owing to their irregular size, weight and dimensions. While most of the cargo weighs beyond 100 metric tonnes and up to 300 tonnes, Indian roads and bridges are hard-pressed of capacity to take in huge loads.

In view of the inherent limitations of our highway infrastructure, traffic bottlenecks, unauthorised transport and untoward incidents involving the movement of overdimensional cargo (ODC), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Government of India has issued a notification to states for the smooth movement of heavy cargo by specified trailers from the hinterland to the gateway port or vice versa, subject to approval by the authorities concerned (see Guidelines at the end).

The transport commissioners of the respective state governments have accordingly issued guidelines to facilitate transportation of ODC by hydraulic modular trailers rather than by conventional rigid or mechanical trailers. 

States like Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan have the guidelines in place while a few more states are to follow suit. Setting the tone for the guidelines, the Maharashtra resolution says: “Some of the transporters of ODC cargo are facing certain difficulties because they do not get the permissions within the prescribed time limit. In order to initiate coordination among various authorities and to bring about rationalisation and transparency, the Government has taken a decision to bring orderliness in the prescribed method.”

On a similar note, the transport department of Andhra Pradesh has constituted a committee, comprising officers of its department, national highways, roads and buildings and the police, to lay down a clear procedure. While the norms take a short time to be implemented, a few project cargo transporters and users await clearance for their cargo stranded on highways. “Six of our ODC transport vehicles have been stranded for nearly a month awaiting approval from the transport authorities,” says a senior official of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited in Hyderabad.  

BHEL had been unlucky August last year when its 280-tonne gas turbine heading from Mundra Port for installation at Pipavav met with an accident causing the death of five members of the transportation crew. The hydraulic trailer along with the gas turbine fell 3 metres into the river Kshatrunji near Talaja (49-50 km from Bhavnagar) on National Highway 8E when the bridge it was crossing caved in.  

Terming the incident as “illegal transportation of overweight consignment” and “unauthorised movement of ODC”, Kandla Port has issued a circular to all trade associations to obtain necessary permission from the roads and buildings department for transporting any such ODC consignment from the port.

Several mishaps have been reported over time impelling the states to enforce stringent norms for the movement of authorised heavy cargo. More recently, a bridge taking the load of equipment bound for the Tripura Power Plant gave in causing disruption of traffic between Guwahati and Tripura. The Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which is readying the 700-MW plant in Tripura by March 2012, has awarded the EPC contract (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) to BHEL. 

Following the incident, the Government of India had sought the transshipment of heavy cargo through Bangladesh territory from Ashuganj, the port of call, to the international boundary at Akhaura-Senarbodi from November next year.

However, Bangla officials fear that the development of a road network to facilitate movement of cargo trailers on their roads will disturb the irrigation facilities in the country and also the morale of its people.

“While the norms are welcome, adhering to them on a short notice has become a big challenge for project cargo transporters,” says Vimal Kumar K, General Manager, Dredging & Projects, Urmila Projects & Services. The task becomes all the more difficult in the absence of a congenial mode of transport like inland waterways at key points, Vimal Kumar adds. However, Maharashtra government clarifies that once the proposal for ODC transport gets an NOC, permission will be issued in a day.

Meanwhile, the states are instructing their public works departments to equip their websites with the map of the road network in the states, the design of the road, the capacity to carry cargo and the location of bridges and flyovers. They are also asking the departments concerned to submit their contact details to the RTOs via the transport commissioner’s office. 

Some states have made it mandatory for transporters to bypass all the bridges with a span of more than 10 metres and those that are weak or too narrow for ODC. On the permissible bridges, the speed of the vehicle should be less than 5 km per hour and the driver should not apply brakes while passing the structure or should not change gear to avoid any impact to the overpass. All this information is coming in handy for transporters to plan and seek permission well in advance.

These unambiguous rules are being hailed by transporters as they can be confident of hurdle-free movement of their cargo at all the checkpoints. “The proposed system is fantastic,” remarks A R Goyal, managing director of Jai Shree Transport, “as advance permission through a single window ensures transparency.” As for the multi-state movement of ODC, he hopes that online clearance will see the light of the day quite soon. 

Photos courtesy: Jai Shree Transport

The demand for multi-axle hydraulic trailers, according to Jai Shree Transport, has meanwhile grown tremendously. “We are a leader in heavy equipment transportation and have seen 70 per cent growth in our business over the last year,” says manager A N Mishra. “With our fleet of hydraulic axle trucks likely to touch 100 by this year-end we are a busy lot too,” he adds.

As a logical extension, the demand for modular axles too has gone up. A company like VMT (earlier Vishwakarma Machine Tools) that manufactures 20-24 axles on an average every month is flooded with demand for 40 axles now. “Things changed drastically as heavy cargo demand grew,” informs S K Marwaha, sales and marketing manager at VMT. Being in the market of transportation equipment manufacture for the last four decades, VMT has orders full for the coming 6-7 months for its modular axles.

With the load and quantity of ODC movement growing on a gigantic scale in the country, the newly prescribed norms are deemed necessary by both the government and the trade alike. Any regulation that ensures the movement of authorised cargo and protects men, mass and machines is indeed a thumbs up. Finally, rules come to rule!

The Road Law

As per the Government of India notification, the Andhra Pradesh government has come up with the following guidelines:

1. All hydraulic trailer vehicle-owners having a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of more than 49 tonnes shall apply for the movement of their vehicles in the state to the transport commissioner.
2. The application should be made in seven sets.
3. The application should enclose the following attested copies of documents: a. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways granting exemption for registration of the trailer. b. Registration certificate of the prime mover and trailer(s), valid fitness certificate, insurance certificate, pollution under control certificate, valid permit and authorisation, cargo details with the letter of the consignor, route details with route plan, load diagram and a fee of Rs 2,500.  
4. Once the application is received by the transport commissioner’s office, copies will be forwarded to the engineer-in-chief / chief engineer of the National Highways, the engineer-in-chief / chief engineer of roads, the chief general manager NHAI, the chief engineer (R&B) and DG&IG of police.
5. The five authorities will verify the application with reference to the strength and condition of the roads, culverts and bridges on the route applied for.
6. The committee members will meet within 15 days of the receipt of the application and grant / deny permit for the movement of the vehicle.
7. Where permission is granted, the hydraulic trailer owner / company shall give a one-time bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh valid for one year and also an undertaking as specified.
8. After receipt of the bank guarantee and undertaking, the transport commissioner will grant permission within two days for the movement of the vehicle with the specified cargo.
9. After stabilisation of the process of granting permission, the committee will strive to complete the entire process within 10 days of the receipt of the application from the owner.