“Having approved the action plan ‘STOP road damage,’ we did not put it in a drawer. We immediately took concrete steps. Inspections in Northern Lithuania showed that the problem is not limited to overweight heavy vehicles. Numerous violations related to driving and rest regimes, technical condition of vehicles, and others were identified. Therefore, we will further strengthen control not to punish as many carriers as possible, but to make our roads safer,” says Minister of Transport Juras Taminskas.
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“We notice an unusually high movement of heavy vehicles in Northern Lithuania. Residents of surrounding areas raise concerns about possible risks to traffic safety and road damage. Therefore, we have strengthened control of heavy vehicles specifically in this region of Lithuania,” says LTSA director Remigijus Lipkevičius.
During 25 days of control, 165 vehicles were inspected. Of these, 69 vehicles, or 42%, had at least one violation. 9% of the violations were related to overweight.
“During 14 inspections, 23 violations of heavy vehicle category requirements were recorded, such as exceeding allowed gross weight, axle loads, or vehicle dimension requirements. The standard vehicle combination, consisting of a two-axle tractor and a three-axle semi-trailer, has a maximum allowed gross weight of 40 tons. Most often, the allowed vehicle weight was exceeded by 10 or more tons. There was a case where the overweight reached as much as 25 tons. In three other cases, possible non-compliance with the ‘Restricted weight’ road sign requirements was identified,” says R. Lipkevičius.
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Besides overweight violations, 150 driving and rest regime violations were also identified (accounting for 59% of all violations), 66 technical condition violations (26%), and 16 other violations (6%). In total, 255 violations were recorded.
“Considering the inspection results, information received from Lithuanian residents, and identified risks due to vehicle traffic intensity, targeted heavy vehicle inspections in Northern Lithuania will continue to be planned. Priority will be given to the most problematic road sections, and specific inspection locations and times will not be publicized in advance,” says R. Lipkevičius.
Targeted vehicle inspections on Northern Lithuanian roads conducted from July 9 to August 27, 2026, are part of the ‘STOP road damage’ initiative, which foresees coordinated efforts to strengthen control of heavy vehicles and develop necessary control capacities.
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