Around a third of truck drivers on the road could be unlicensed, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said on Thursday, comparing total registrations of trucks versus licenses over 30 years.
Speaking at the inauguration of a heavy vehicle drivers’ training center in Phnom Penh, Chanthol said that between 1990 and 2020 the ministry had registered 315,000 heavy vehicles but only 218,000 truck-driver licenses.
About a third of drivers on the road are likely without a license or the wrong type of license, Chanthol said.
“Drivers who do not have the right license, please stop driving,” Chanthol said.
He added that 90 of 2,152 road fatalities in 2019 were caused by heavy vehicles carrying goods.
Road traffic expert Kong Ratanak said one-third of truck drivers being unlicensed was too much, and compliance should start from when they are hired.
“For companies using heavy vehicles, we ask them to send the drivers’ names to the ministry to check so we can be sure they have a valid and proper driver’s license before we let them drive,” Ratanak said.
