VIDEO: "No One is Listening to Us". Truck Drivers Continue Protests

Approximately 2000 truck drivers near the Sisian-Megri highway continue their protest that began yesterday, blocking the road. The drivers are dissatisfied with the newly installed weighing scales on this route, which were placed a few days ago. If the load of the trucks exceeds the allowed limit, drivers are fined 200,000 drams.

“They said that the truck should weigh 26 tons, we have loaded 25 tons, but this time they said they weigh using slip scales. However, the conditions in Armenia do not allow for loading with slip scales. It turns out that we either have to stop working or they have to address our issue. Today is already the second day we are standing here, and there is no regional governor, no mayor, and no one listening to us,” a truck driver participating in the protest told NEWS.am.

Another driver complained that their truck was weighed in Iran and everything was normal, but in this section, according to the slip scales, their truck is overloaded. “Can someone come and explain to us how they made such calculations that left us with this problem?” the driver said.

The drivers indicated that they are currently allowing passenger vehicles to pass, but if their issue is not resolved, they will not allow any vehicles to pass.

It is worth noting that the drivers had previously blocked the highway with the same complaint. Gnel Sanosyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, who was on a working visit in the Syunik region, met with the truck drivers and was presented with a proposal consisting of four points. It should be recalled that on May 17, the State Supervision Service for Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety had informed that the allowable maximum weight of vehicles or the load per slip scale, as well as the maximum dimensions for large vehicles, had changed.

According to this, the allowable maximum weight for mechanical transportation vehicles with two slip scales should be 18 tons, while for those with three slip scales, it should be 25 tons. For three slip scale mechanical transport vehicles with dual tires on the leading slip scale and pneumatic or similar suspensions, or when each leading slip scale has dual tires that do not exceed a load of 9.5 tons per slip scale, the allowable maximum weight should be 26 tons. For mechanical transport vehicles with four slip scales, with two guiding slip scales and dual tires on the leading slip scale and pneumatic or similar suspensions, or when each slip scale has dual tires and does not exceed a load of 9.5 tons, the allowable maximum weight should be 32 tons. The allowable maximum weight for mechanical transportation vehicles with three slip scales and those with a three-slip trailer should be 40 tons, while for those with a semi-trailer should also be 40 tons.