The government wants to take a new approach to truck cheating

Until March 1, 2021, the commission will propose ways to improve the work and organization of road controls. But four months before that, on November 30, 2020, the investigator will come up with proposals to allow what the government calls traffic safety controllers to conduct sobriety checks on the roads and whether rules of various types can be punished with penalty fees instead of fines. Penalties make it possible to charge fees directly, on-site, instead of sending fines that may never be paid.

- I want to see better and more effective controls and I have talked about a VPS, a unified organization that ensures that the roads are organized and clear, says Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth (S) in connection with a press conference on the Investigation Directives.

- There must be fair competition conditions so that Swedish hauliers cannot compete with those who have dumped wages or poorer vehicles, we must ensure that there are equal rules, says Eneroth, pointing out that traffic with foreign trucks also increases in Sweden, so-called cabotage.

The Center Party's traffic policy spokesperson, Anders Åkesson, welcomes the inquiry.

- It's not a day too soon. It is extremely important that we have sound conditions for competition in the haulage industry and if you break it down with cheating it will hit the Swedish industry, says Åkesson.

But he warns the government to turn in protectionist proposals. He believes, for example, that the requirement that has now been imposed on winter tires on all wheels of trucks driving into Sweden in the winter goes too far.

"It has nothing to do with road safety," says Åkesson, who believes that it had sufficed with the requirement for winter tires on swinging and driving axles.

Åkesson also believes that the authorities can already coordinate their work better today, without creating new ones.

The transport companies, industry bodies for the haulage industry, say that more and better checks need to and welcome the investigation.

"Healthy competition in Swedish haulage industry requires efficient and well-functioning supervisory and control activities," says the transport company's CEO Mattias Dahl in a press release, adding that for a long time the traffic police have become less concerned.