JOHOR BARU, July 9 — The Johor Road Transport Department (RTD) will throw the book at lorry transport operators and their drivers if they are found to be endangering other road users in the state.

Johor RTD director Razali Wagiman said the decision to take stern action comes after repeated warnings and advice have gone unheeded by the companies and its drivers.

"The lorry companies and their drivers seem to ignore the law set by the authorities and have become a danger on the state’s roads, especially in west Johor,” he said after a state-level Johor RTD Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house event at its headquarters in Taman Daya here today.

Razali said the state RTD has received a high number of complaints from the public, especially through the department’s social media platforms, over the presence of commercial heavy vehicles in particular those loaded with stones.

"We (RTD) view this as a serious matter as the respective companies and their drivers understand the limit they are able to carry, but are ignoring the ruling set by the authorities.

"From what we had gathered, the complainants cited their worry over the presence of such heavy vehicles either on highways or even normal roads in the state as they claim that the vehicles are overloaded with stones and some are not covered,” he said.

Razali added that overloading heavy vehicles and not covering their contents properly is an offence under the law.

He said some lorry drivers had also been caught speeding and driving recklessly on the road.

Razali urged lorry drivers and their companies to always adhere to the law if they do not want action to be taken against them.

"We know that these lorries are also using the services of ‘tontos’ to evade authorities’ action against them.

"JPJ has its own special task force that caters to such reckless road users and no matter how hard they try to escape from us, we will come after them,” he warned.

Heavy vehicles and lorries for construction found flouting the law come under the Motor Vehicles Rules 1959 (construction and use), which carries a fine of not more than RM3,000 or a jail term of not more than three months upon conviction.

Razali added that the department will continue to conduct enforcement operations, including checks to stop such lorries from posing a danger to other road users.