Heavy-Duty Truck Traffic Not Restricted during Summer Months. Road Signs Prohibit Trucks from Overtaking on Motorways

The ban on heavy-duty truck traffic above temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius will be cancelled. Heavy-duty vehicles exceeding 20 tons will be allowed to travel freely on national roads during the summer; until now, this was prohibited from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

This agreement has been reached by representatives of three professional organizations – the Bulgarian Transport Workers Union, the International Haulers Union and the Bulgarian Haulers Association, following talks with the leadership of the Road Infrastructure Agency and Traffic Police.

The restriction regime was implemented due to the increased traffic over the summer months, and the necessity to prevent traffic jams and improve traffic safety, on the one hand, and the risk of plastic deformation and tyre grooves in the asphalt coverings which may often appear on account of heavy-duty truck traffic, on the other hand. The asphalt temperature very often reaches 70 degrees Celsius during extended hot periods.

Over the past years, however, the construction of new road sections has been using polymer modified bitumen and special materials in the composition of asphalt coverings. In this way, an ever greater number of road sections are able to sustain the weight of heavy-duty trucks without deformation due to high temperatures.

The ban on heavy-duty traffic when there are more than two consecutive non-working days remains in force – respectively on the last working day and the last non-working day. Heavy-duty vehicles will be stopped on Sundays on entering large cities and in sections with a higher concentration of road accidents.

The sections which will remain restricted for heavy-duty trucks are to be specified with Traffic Police as well as the time when they will be stopped over non-working days.

Road signs banning drivers of heavy-duty trucks from overtaking will be placed in certain motorway sections. They will be installed along the Hemus Motorway and the Trakia Motorway by the end of the month. The goal is to reduce the number of road accidents and increase traffic safety for the other drivers.

The Transport Workers Union suggests an annual calendar of the days and hours when trucks will be stopped as well as a road map for it starting next year.