Tolls take a heavy toll on truck owners

For example, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, which started collecting toll in 1997, cost 12.2 billion yuan ($1.98 billion) to build. And although the toll collection between 2002 and 2009 alone exceeded 24.2 billion yuan, the operator continues to collect tolls ignoring public protests.

Drivers have been criticizing the high toll charges for a long time. Even Geng Shuhai, a senior National Development and Reform Commission official, said at a 2011 forum that expressway tolls were so high that the charges accounted for one-third of the cost of transport companies. If fines for overload are taken into account, they could reach half of the transport companies' operating costs, said Hou Hanping, a logistics expert with Beijing Jiaotong University.

Moreover, tolls and fines for overload are often arbitrary. In last year's attempted suicide case, investigating officials concluded the fine imposed was not legitimate. According to a 2006 audit by the National Audit Office, 16 of the 18 provinces and municipalities under scrutiny had set up 158 unlawful tollgates and collected nearly 15 billion yuan in illegal toll charges.

Overloaded vehicles on expressways are a serious problem in China. The practice continues despite heavy fines and repeated national campaigns initiated by regulators to put it under control. People initially criticized cargo truck owners for their greed and profit-first mentality only to realize later that the high expressway tolls could make long-distance cargo transportation unprofitable if truck owners did not overload. But by overloading their vehicles, truck owners face the risk of being fined. And to avoid the heavy fines, some of them bribe expressway operators, leading to corruption.

Returning to the Nov 24 incident, the truck owner couple's suicide attempt was not the proper way of protesting against illegal fines. Having said that, one has to admit that there is no reason to continue imposing dubious heavy expressway surcharges on drivers.

Policymakers must reform the expressway toll collection regime after proper consultation with transport companies and vehicle owners. Or else, more people like the Henan couple may resort to desperate means to voice their protest against high toll charges.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. xinzhiming@chinadaily.com.cn.