Transport Refusing Truck Owners to Have Fuel Subsidy Payments Suspended for 1 Year... Excluded from Highway Toll Discounts

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The government has decided to suspend fuel subsidies and exclude from highway toll discounts truck owners who refuse transportation. All members of the executive body who incite or assist those refusing to resume transportation and those violating orders to commence work will be prosecuted following investigations.

On the 4th, the government announced these countermeasures in a joint briefing after the 'Countermeasure Meeting of Relevant Ministers on the Cargo Solidarity Collective Transportation Refusal,' chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol.

According to the government, it has been tentatively identified that during the 10-day collective transportation refusal, shipment disruptions amounting to a total of 3.0263 trillion KRW occurred in major industries such as cement, steel, automobiles, petrochemicals, and refining.

In response, the government plans to secure vehicles that can be mobilized to respond to logistics disruptions as much as possible. First, the government will expand the scope of private paid transportation to include general freight trucks of 8 tons or more. Grain and feed transport vehicles, in addition to tank trucks, will be included in the private paid transportation category and exempted from highway tolls. Furthermore, up to 50 military vehicles for transporting heavy equipment will be additionally deployed as much as possible. The number of military-commissioned container vehicles will also be increased beyond the current 115.

Regarding transportation refusal acts, judicial and administrative countermeasures will be prepared and implemented. Provisions such as cancellation of freight transportation worker qualifications will be established for transportation obstruction acts, which currently lack sufficient punishment regulations under the Freight Motor Vehicle Transport Business Act. Additionally, fuel subsidies and highway tolls will not be paid to truck owners who refuse transportation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated, "Fuel subsidy payments to truck owners refusing transportation can be restricted for one year, and they will be excluded from highway toll discount eligibility for one year. To prepare for recurrence of collective transportation refusal situations, we will prioritize approval for new supply of company-operated vehicles by transport companies and also consider improving the logistics system by expanding transportation shifts through fostering rail logistics."

All members of the executive body who refuse to resume transportation and incite or assist violations of orders to commence work will be prosecuted following investigations. A mobile crackdown team will also be operated to prepare for guerrilla-style transportation obstruction, slow driving, and unauthorized occupation at highway rest areas.

The Fair Trade Commission, together with the government, will reinitiate on-site investigations into unfair collective actions by the Cargo Solidarity and other violations of the Fair Trade Act, and will continue to investigate violations even after the collective transportation refusal ends. To this end, the government plans to actively utilize the communication system from local governments → transport companies → transport workers to promote reporting of illegal activities.

Regarding retaliatory crimes such as assault, threats, and damage to cargo vehicles against cargo owners who do not participate in the collective transportation refusal, a dedicated investigation team will be established with a dispatch system in place. Police station investigation team leaders will be designated as victim protection officers to safeguard victims' safety. Furthermore, even after the collective transportation refusal ends, the government will respond to retaliatory crimes against reporters and victims and support victim protection and recovery.