by Rod Hughes

For foreigners, it was probably no surprise that the paper La Nacion reported today that overloaded trucks shorten the life of Costa rica’s roads by 50%. Of the thousands of trucks and pickups on the road today, 40% are overloaded, a study shows.

In most countries, too much weight on the axle results in a fine because of a long-recognised relation between pavement deterioration and weight. Because of a lack of weighing stations and traffic police control, highways built to last 15 years are pounded to death in 11 and some show damage within seven years.

The data comes from the National Materials and Structural Model Laboratory of the University of Costa Rica which weighed 2,500 loaded vehicles in 2005 and 2006. The lab says that an axle with dual tires should not support more than 16.5 metric tons but found some up to 32 tons.

The highest percentage of overloaded vehicles were found on the stretch between San Ramon and Esparza, followed by the highway between the airport and San Ramon and the San Jose-Limon Ana road.

But the study did not cover another fact—overloaded trucks are harder to control and may carry weights far too much to allow overtaxed brakes to stop them within a reasonable distance.