Border jams ease after officials relax stance on overloaded trucks

After two days of traffic chaos at the border, Shenzhen authorities have agreed to be flexible in enforcing a new anti-smuggling law that penalises drivers of trucks that exceed a weight limit.

But they say drivers who continue to overload their trucks are to blame for the holdups, not officers enforcing the law.

The decision came after representatives of eight container-handling associations told the head of Shenzhen customs that the gridlock had caused serious losses.

More than 1,300 container trucks - one in 12 of all the trucks passing through the three road checkpoints - were stopped for inspection on Monday, the first working day after a mainland anti-smuggling law took effect on Sunday, allowing no more than 500kg variation from the declared truck weight.

The new measure resulted in queues as long as 9km on southbound lanes in Huanggang, on the mainland side of Lok Ma Chau, on Monday. The Man Kam To crossing had to extend services by four hours to clear the queue.

The congestion eased yesterday morning, with officers allowing slightly overweight trucks to pass without checking, but drivers still needed to wait two to three hours before getting their goods cleared, more than double the usual time.