What does empty vehicle overload mean?
2 Answers
Empty vehicle overload refers to some unscrupulous merchants falsely reporting the weight for their own benefit, resulting in vehicles being marked significantly lighter during registration, leading to a situation where the vehicle is "overloaded" even when empty. Existing policies will focus on rectifying the issue of "large tonnage with small labels" for light trucks. Relevant national departments are revising the technical requirements for light trucks, which will completely eradicate problems arising from the source in the future, and industry irregularities will become history. Technical requirements for light trucks: 1. Content 1: For light trucks with a total mass exceeding 3500kg and a warehouse-style cargo compartment, the cargo compartment should adopt a multi-layer warehouse-style structure (except when the maximum distance from the cargo compartment floor to the top of the warehouse is less than 1500mm); the arrangement of layers should be uniform, reasonable, and non-removable. 2. Content 2: For light trucks with a dump function and a bar-type cargo compartment, the total mass should be less than or equal to 3500kg, and the total vehicle length should be less than or equal to 5000mm. 3. Content 3: It is not allowed to use dump truck chassis to modify ordinary bar-type, box-type, warehouse-type, or flatbed trucks.
Last time when helping a friend with transportation, I encountered a strange incident. His van was clearly empty but got stopped at the highway toll gate for being overweight. It turned out the vehicle had added anti-slip steel plates and two additional fuel tanks, pushing its empty weight over the 3-ton limit stated on the vehicle registration. The traffic police issued an on-the-spot fine and impounded the vehicle, which made me realize that an 'empty overload' means the vehicle's own weight exceeds regulations. We had to remove the fuel tanks to pass inspection - truly a case where modifications weren't worth the trouble. More importantly, driving like this is extremely dangerous - braking distance increases by 5-6 meters compared to normal vehicles, and it's prone to rollovers when turning in rainy conditions. Now when buying vehicles, I always advise friends to first verify the certified load capacity on the compliance certificate, and to properly register any modifications with the DMV for safety.
