Police heavy goods vehicle professionals their skills for real in Central Finland

The police carried out intensified control of heavy goods vehicles in Central Finland on 23–25 April 2024 as part of a police training week. During the control days, 240 heavy vehicles were inspected.

During the past week, the police carried out intensified control of heavy goods vehicles in the Jyväskylä region in Central Finland from Tuesday to Thursday. The control operation was part of a week-long national training and enforcement event for heavy goods vehicle control by the police, which involved police officers, nearly 40 in all, from each police department.

“The control campaign aimed to deepen police skills and harmonise supervision and sanctioning practices throughout the country. This is why the event involved professionals from across Finland,” says Chief Superintendent Kari Onninen at the National Police Board of Finland.

Inspections revealed driving and rest times, load securement and overloading to be the most serious shortcomings

Control was carried out on four roads leading to Jyväskylä and focused on load securement, driving and rest times, vehicle condition and overloading.

A total of 240 heavy-duty vehicle combinations, 17% of which were foreign vehicles, were inspected during the control days.

A total of around 110 sanctions (reprimands, traffic penalty fees and fines) were issued during the control campaign. Almost 10% of these were issued to foreign transports. In addition, numerous technical roadside inspection reports, inspections of the transport of dangerous goods, notices of overloading and notifications to the transport licensing authority were recorded.

Most violations, 55, concerned driving and rest times, inadequate load securement 25 and overloading 19. There were also penalties for violations of rules related to vehicle condition, transport of dangerous goods, vehicle couplings, professional qualifications and emission control systems. The legality of the transports was verified before they were allowed to proceed on their journey.

The police spent around 700 working hours on the control campaign.

It was once again observed In conjunction with the control campaign that drivers warned about police enforcement, control points and targets via social media.

"Anyone warning about police enforcement should think a bit more carefully about who benefits most from these warnings. For example, whether a drink driver with no licence operating a heavy vehicle without brakes should avoid enforcement,” reflects Chief Superintendent Kari Onninen.