Every time a lorry enters my driving horizon, whether beside, ahead or behind, my instinct tightens. I have learnt that size, on the road, doesn’t always come with responsibility.
In recent months, reports of lorry accidents have become far too frequent — overturned trailers, brake failures, overloaded giants ploughing through highways as though their cargo were worth more than the lives around them. The public shock is immediate, the outrage familiar. And yet, when the Minister of Transport moves to make changes, some players in affected industry cry foul (https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/10/27/loke-stands-firm-on-crackdown-on-overloaded-vehicles)
This isn’t about one investigation or a single driver. It’s about a culture — a mindset among some lorry owners and operators, and related industry who openly flaunt laws meant to keep people safe. Enforcement does happen; authorities issue fines, carry out operations and suspend licences. But many operators simply treat the penalties as a cost of doing business — or worse, ignore them altogether.
The argument is always the same — tight schedules, delivery targets and thin margins. But how far can those excuses stretch before they snap under the weight of a tragedy? When a lorry crashes because it was overloaded, or because the brakes gave way from neglect, the “business decision” that led to it becomes a moral crime — even if it is officially called an accident.
The irony is that none of this is new. Puspakom inspections, JPJ and APAD regulations, licence categories, driver training, pre-journey checks — the laws and framework already exists. But the real gap lies in conscience. The will to do what is right fades the moment profit enters the equation.
And it is not as if low-cost, safer practices do not exist. There are ways to make logistics both efficient and humane — from better route planning and scheduled maintenance to rewarding drivers for safety instead of speed. These aren’t revolutionary ideas. They’re simply good and responsible sense. But conscience, once compromised, tends to cost less than compliance.
The truth is, a lorry doesn’t just carry goods. It carries risk. Every extra tonne added to maximise profit multiplies that risk — for the driver, for the innocent motorists nearby, and for the families waiting at home.
The lorry owners who cut corners know this. They know what overloading does to brakes and how skipping maintenance saves time. And yet, some continue — because as long as the lorry moves and the money flows, it feels worth it. Until it isn’t.
And when tragedy strikes, it’s never the owner who pays with their life. It’s someone else’s child. Someone else’s parent. Someone else’s income earner. Someone who was just in the right lane, but at the wrong time.
We don’t need more laws. We need more conscience. The road is not a place to test how far greed can stretch.
So yes, make your money. Grow your business. But if profit demands you gamble with another person’s life, then you’re not running a business — you’re running a loaded weapon on wheels.
Coco Nut (anitadharam@yahoo.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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