The government delegate in Extremadura, José Luis Quintana, chaired today the meeting in which the next campaign of transport of tomatoes by road has been discussed with all the sectors involved.
The meeting focused on analyzing compliance with the regulations that regulate the transport of goods by road and specifically, in one of its sections, the transport of tomato, and that establishes specific conditions to guarantee road safety and avoid possible traffic accidents.
The campaign will begin in the last week of July and will run until the beginning of October. During these dates, just over 2 million tonnes of tomato will be transported on the roads of Extremadura, which will mean that more than 100,000 journeys will be made between farms and processing companies, (which will mean around 1,500 daily journeys), so it is necessary to establish a control on the vehicles that carry out this transport to prevent cargo loss or liquid spillage, fundamentally, from causing traffic incidents.
Global data from last year’s campaign showed that 1,674 vehicles were monitored, which is 24% more than those monitored in the previous campaign; while the increase in complaints was 11%; therefore, the percentage of vehicles reported fell from 31.9% to 26.8%.
The most frequent complaints continue to be those related to excess weight and the disposition of the load. Also significant have been the complaints made by the condition of the tyres and by the spillage of liquid to the roadway. Despite these data, it should be noted that there has been significant improvement in other types of complaints related to the condition of vehicles, which indicates that those responsible for transport have significantly improved the use of vehicles suitable for this transport.
As for the road incidents caused by the loss of liquid or product on the tracks, the total number of them increased significantly, going from 46 incidents in 2022 to 76 in 2023, which means an increase of 65%, thus breaking the downward trend detected in the 2022 campaign.
Five vehicles were immobilised for failing to comply with the appropriate conditions for transport and four accidents related to the campaign were recorded.
In this section, the DGT recommends a lot of prudence and precaution on the road to avoid possible accidents and the Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard recalled the mandatory compliance with the rules in the transport of tomatoes. The government delegate stressed in this regard the importance of load placement and the good condition of tyres.
In any case, the Delegation highlighted today the positive awareness appreciated in recent years among producers and carriers regarding the adoption of measures to improve the safety of these transports. “We believe that we move forward year after year and with these meetings we correct the deficiencies appreciated to avoid greater risks and have a campaign as safe as possible,” concluded José Luis Quintana.