TRUCKS WEIGHT RULES * Europe: SOLE style

* Belgium - European shippers face SOLAS-style truck weight rules

--- An EU regulation obliging shippers to declare the weight of goods in containers and swap bodies transported by trucks across Europe comes into force next month. The new law is modeled on the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) amendment, which took effect on July 1, 2016 and required the verified gross mass (VGM) of a container before it can be loaded onto a vessel... From May 7, EU member states must enact laws mandating shippers give truckers a statement indicating the weight of the container/swap body being transported, while the trucker must provide access to all relevant documentation submitted by the customer... The purpose of the amendment is to provide trucking companies with the assurance that the weight of containers or swap bodies when loaded onto the vehicle does not cause its gross mass weight to exceed the maximum legally permissible weight... But, existing business practices should be sufficient to meet the requirements of the rule... 
Brussels, Belgium - JOC, by Bruce Barnard - Apr 25, 2017