Transportation of car batteries: truck stopped in Germany

On Thursday, March 9, road officers stopped a lorry with a gross vehicle weight of 7.5 tonnes in Kalkar-Kehrum on the Lower Rhine in the course of normal vehicle and driver checks. According to the police authority responsible district, the truck was carrying five large open plastic containers, each of which contained a large number of bulk car batteries. These containers were inadequately secured and covered with a tarp. 

According to reports, the truck was weighed and found to exceed 12 tons, thus overloaded by more than 60%.

The main problem, however, remained that car batteries are considered dangerous when transported, and that they were loaded improperly on this vehicle. Indeed, the driver had neither an ADR certificate nor the necessary transport documents, let alone the compulsory “warning signs” on the vehicle or the prescribed equipment.

The police officers banned the man from continuing his journey and initiated a sanctioning procedure.