Pressure on time and income limits
According to Article 64, the Law on Road Traffic Safety, effective from January 1, 2025, drivers of transport business cars are not allowed to drive vehicles continuously for more than 4 hours, no more than 10 hours/day and no more than 48 hours/week.
Regarding this regulation, Mr. Hoang Anh Minh (residing in Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi) - who is a driver on the Hanoi - Ha Tinh route, said that he has encountered many difficulties in balancing driving time continuously so as not to violate the new regulation.
"The total travel time is about 5 hours, but the regulation stops after 4 hours even though the road is clear, causing difficulties for drivers. When congested, vehicles standing still have their driving hours counted, causing many drivers to run out of time before 3 hours" - Mr. Minh said.
Discussing this issue with Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen - Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association - said that according to the unit's statistics, based on the current status of the road transport system in Vietnam, car drivers will use about 60 - 65 hours/week for short-distance transport (under 300km) and over 65 hours/week for long-distance transport (over 300km). Therefore, if compared to the actual regulations in the Law on Road Traffic Safety of 48 hours/week, the number of working hours of drivers will be significantly reduced.
This regulation means that drivers will have their income reduced due to reduced working hours. Meanwhile, the service supply capacity of the entire road transport market is about 20 - 30%, causing transportation fares to increase by an estimated 20 - 25%, leading to an increase in logistics costs of transportation to about 10 - 11% and reducing the competitiveness of the entire economy" - Mr. Quyen analyzed.
Need to adjust driving time to remove difficulties for drivers
To address the remaining shortcomings, the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association has issued a document recommending the Prime Minister to adjust the driving time of transport business car drivers to 70 hours/week.
The Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association said that, compared to the international market, the 48-hour/week limit in Vietnam is too low. For example, the European Union allows driving for a maximum of 56 hours/week, the US from 60 - 70 hours/week, and Japan from 60 hours/week.
According to the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, this will create favorable business conditions for businesses and improve income for drivers.
Regarding the issue of fines for drivers who violate driving hours, Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen - Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association recommended that the authorities only impose a fine according to Decree 168/2024/ND-CP for violations of exceeding continuous driving hours, driving hours per day and driving hours per week of drivers of transport business cars over 10% of the time prescribed in Article 64 of the Law on Traffic Safety.
Mr. Quyen said that this will eliminate long traffic jams that cause vehicles to move slowly, but drivers will still be counted in the driving time. These are force majeure situations that require exemption from responsibility, emphasized the Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association.
