JPJ “declares war” on overloaded vehicles in Malaysia, “I’ve lost my patience,” says Loke

An enforcement operation against overloaded vehicles across Malaysia will begin today till December 31, 2025. Stated as a “declaration of war” by Transport Minister (MOT) Anthony Loke, the operation will be conducted across five main zones – North, Central, South, East and Borneo.

“Each state will have four enforcement teams, totalling 12 teams active in each zone, with operations conducted throughout a continuous seven-day period for each operation phase,” said Loke. Loke further said the operation will target transport sectors known for overloading, including the stone, sand, earth, silica, charcoal, steel, oil palm and timber industries.

“MOT and JPJ will not show compromise to any party that flouts the overloading limit according to the terms of their licence,” Loke said. “Furthermore, JPJ will not negotiate with any driver, owner or transport company that is careless or disregards public safety requirements to the point of causing an accident or damaging roads,” he added.

Aside from the operation against overloading, Loke has also instructed JPJ and APAD (Commercial Land Transport Agency) to formulate a new administrative framework to strengthen enforcement against companies operating vehicles in high risk industries. Under the framework, repeat offenders will not only be penalised by JPJ but also the vehicle permit or operating licence suspended or cancelled by APAD.

Loke explained this action arises from findings from a special safety inspection and audit (JISA) conducted from June 23 to July 31, this year. During the audit on 500 companies considered high risk, 54.43% were found to have failed to abide by regulations, as reported by Bernama.

“This number shows a systemic and serious disregard for the law, and a critical need to strengthen enforcement mechanisms as a whole,” Loke said. “I have lost my patience, there are too many accidents involving heavy vehicles that we feel are caused by overloading, or cargo exceeding the stipulated limit,” said Loke.

As of July 2025, APAD has issued 353,135 permits for goods vehicles, and 40,126 bus permits. For operators, 40,770 hold goods vehicle licences, with 10,879 licensed bus drivers.

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