NST Leader: Unlicensed foreign drivers in RTD crosshairs

New Straits Times

2 days ago

Errant operators of heavy and commercial vehicles just can't help but make the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This time it is for hiring foreigners without valid driving licences.
Not that they haven't been hiring foreigners without a valid licence before. The media archives are filled with such blatant disregard for the law. What must have compelled the Road Transport Department (RTD) into action is the increasing number of foreigners being caught driving goods and public service vehicles when the law clearly says it is illegal for them to do so.
There are three reasons why operators of heavy and commercial vehicles go their errant ways.
Firstly, foreign drivers come cheap. They are willing to work long hours and demand little to no benefits. Low pay and no benefits mean bigger profit for the operators. Such illegality has tragic consequences for road safety. Drivers, without proper rest, licensed or otherwise, are a danger to themselves and other road users. And pose a great risk to the operators' business. Not only their vehicles may be confiscated, but permits, too, may be revoked. There should be no place in commerce for such foolish businessmen.
Secondly, shortage of local drivers. This is an old complaint, especially by haulage operators. But even if this narrative is true, it must not be a licence to break the law. Neither is it a job for RTD to solve. The solution lies with how the industry practices its trade, including how it hires, trains and rewards its drivers. As harsh as it may sound, if the operators pay peanuts they get monkeys working for them.
Haulage operators can alleviate shortage of drivers by working with other hauliers in sharing their loads. But this needs coordination. Analysts reviewing the industry's driver shortage narrative in the past found cooperation among hauliers a rare trait. Coordination isn't going to happen without cooperation.
Thirdly, RTD hasn't been as robust as it should have been. The Land Public Transport Act (LPTA) has been there since 2010. But in the past, RTD has been sending notices, summonses, and on rare occasions, issuing partial suspensions. From Aug 7, RTD has decided to give the LPTA its full force. High time, we say. Slaps on the wrist will only make miscreant operators continue breaking the law. Operators who consider road safety as something that can be dispensed with must be weeded out of the business.
By RTD's own admission, from 2021 to July this year, there were 17,347 offences involving foreigners driving vehicles that require goods driver's licences and public service vehicle licences. Surely, among the thousands of cases, there must have been some that would have deserved vehicle forfeiture or permit revocation. Had that happened and the numbers made public, the operators would have taken note of RTD's seriousness back in 2021. Or even earlier in 2010, when the LPTA came into force.
Be that as it may, RTD is making the right move by being robust in their enforcement. There will be many challenges along the way, but it must stay the course. Too many lives have been lost on our roads due to such operators' disregard for the law.