The Ministry of Public Works has indentified overloaded vehicles as one of the most significant challenges to the operation of a safe national heritage road. Abnormal loads have increased significantly during recent years and strict control is necessary to limit the damage caused by these vehicles, making it possible for the need of the head weighing stations as well as private service providers who are responsible for the technical management and maintenance of weighing stations for a given period supervised by the Ministry of Public Works.

Driving across Regions has not been a bed of roses to small vehicles road users, from Monday to Sunday thousands of trucks hits the road from different parts of the regions; the administrative heartbeat is to facilitate economic growth of the country, as business activities are being carried out faster when roads are in good condition.

Private Service Providers are recruited by the Ministry of Public Works (MINTP) on national competitive bidding to ensure the maintenance of weighing stations equipment, these weighing stations will help traffic police crackdown overloaded vehicles, which were identify as a major causes of road damage, especially on national highways.

The legal framework for weighing stations in Cameroon is mainly based on protection of roads and the national heritage road network. Measures were put in place to eradicate the process of damage roads, such as; levy charged on overloading vehicles, these stations will make an obligatory stop for any overloaded vehicles and trucks.

According to the national ambitions expressed in the memorandum of understanding in 2006 two specific objectives were selected: namely,

-         develop the network of weighing stations to cover the entire paved network by the year 2015 with a fleet of 25 weighing stations

-         Optimize the management of weighing stations, including the improvement of the governance in these stations.

The Ministry of Public Works is entrusted with the task of protection of the road, in which various inter-ministerial committees were put in place for the monitoring and coordinating workflow of weighing stations on national territory.

The inter-ministerial committee (CISOP) was created by decree to monitor and coordinate workflow at weighing stations. This committee is composed of eight members, including two representatives of transport unions. The division of heritage protection and road environment (DEPPER) established by decree, and converted into directorate of maintenance and protection of heritage road, under the Ministry of Public Works, to improve in the government’s vision for preserving the gains and to sustain the entire institutional road network, weighing stations; on-call staff consists of inter-departmental teams (MINTP, MINMAP, MINPAT, MINFI, Gendarmerie) that provide administrative operation.

Any vehicle weighing exceeding 3.5 tons, with the system of weighing vehicles based on the maximum overall weight of 51 tons. Any vehicle whose load exceeds the tolerance limits above mentioned is subject to pay the sum of 25.000FCFA per excess tones, overload between 5 and 10 tones is 50.000FCFA per excess tones, greater than or equal to 10 tones overload is 75.000FCFA per excess tones. Offended vehicle is immobilized at the weighing station; until full payment of the corresponding fine is made combine with a warning letter. When the overload is recorded to the total weigh, the vehicle in question is subject to shedding additional charges payable by the carrier.

The weighing station is to preserve the tarred road from getting damage due to overloaded vehicles.