Japan considers raising truck speed limit for faster goods deliveries

No, no, no, no, no! Just No!

They already thunder past me, some must be doing 110/120kph, huge damn things.

Want to speed up deliveries? Make the motorways free. There. Solved it.

What? Shouldn't the speed limit have been based on what is safe? Just spitting in the wind thinking that raising the speed limit makes deliveries faster, too.

Like aaron above said a big NO.

The breaking distance "left" by most motorist is a total joke. I was drving yesterday in the rain will a massive truck on my ass in the pouring rain. If i had to break suddenly my vw would have been squashed like a can of soda.

Increase poor driving fines like undertaking, running red light, crossing speeding and usinh ur phone would be a better start.

Try driving the speed limit anywhere in Japan. You’ll have a Voxy or Probox riding your ass within a minute.

"aging, poor wages and extensive working hours " nominated as problems.....hmm...lets increase the speed limit.

So older, poorer, stressed by overwork drivers can "what " exactly ?

Damn scary driving on freeways as it is .......so it's a big NO from me.

LOL, faster speed, longer range, more tried drivers, yup, very good idea!

Japan Inc goes a long way to make everyone’s life miserable.

 when the new regulations from April limits truck drivers' overtime to 960 hours a year.

The declared overtime, that would be. Why truck drivers are allowed to do overtime at all?

The country is already facing a shortage of truck drivers due to aging, poor wages and extensive working hours, while demand for goods deliveries is increasing.

Would the NPA have something to say about this? The government? Labor unions?

Last week I took a taxi with an 82 years old oji driving fiercely through downtown traffic.

limits truck drivers' overtime to 960 hours a year.

So 80 hours o/t per month, or 20 hours per week.

That's 4 hours of tired, o/t driving every weekday just to earn a still paltry wage.

Yep, nothing wrong here!

2024 problem," meaning the country's transport delivery capacity is expected to drop when the new regulations from April limits truck drivers' overtime to 960 hours a year.

Is not a problem, Japan all this time just allowing truck driver to do overtime while driving big truck.

Raising the speed limit in practical terms means all the drivers will have to drive faster, even now many drivers ignore the max speed limit because their delivery routes and times are calculated using the current limit, if that limit increases obviously they will be expected to take shorter times (or reach farther destinations) than right now. I really hope driving over the speed limit is included in the calculations to decide if the change is justified or not.

No, no, no, no, no! Just No!

There. Solved it.

Glad to see you're addressing your ideas in the right channel and in the right language lol

the NPA will probably be holding a meeting shortly to discuss the subject again

The country is already facing a shortage of truck drivers due to aging, poor wages and extensive working hours.

Age, extensive working hours and speed don't mix!

Put more cargo on the rails.

That's probably not the best idea. From my driving experience, truck drivers tend to be rather aggressive and sometimes reckless, especially on the expressways. Faster speeds will likely lead to more dangerous accidents

Try driving the speed limit anywhere in Japan. You’ll have a Voxy or Probox riding your ass within a minute.

Yup! Maybe a HiAce or an Elf absolutely loaded with scaffolding too.

Definitely not a good idea in a country where red light running isn't enforced. Japan's general driving stanards are appalling.

Want to speed up deliveries? Make the motorways free. There. Solved it.

Yes, and try eliminating (or improving) some of the traffic lights, build more overpasses for pedestrians. Sometimes you're at a light and there isn't even a car waiting to go the other way. Making some of the roads wider too would help with safety. Underground power lines. This country is a mess the more I think about it and it doesn't have to be that way.

Japan considers raising truck speed limit for faster goods deliveries

Seriously, who the hell comes up with these ideas?

Better yet, why even have any speed limits?

Why not just let truck drivers go any speed they want?

What’s the difference?

As anyone who regularly travels on highways will know trucks rarely if ever sit on 80.

90 to 110 is pretty much the norm with some in excess of that.

In winter I often use major highways (to go skiing) at 3:00am or the like, and 1,000s of trucks line the outside lanes moving at a fairly constant speed - depending on truck and load - and can often top out at 120 when passing.

So in effect all these drivers are breaking the law and if the police did a crackdown the hue and cry from the industry would be enormous.

Solution to keep them within the law - raise the speed limit to their pretty much normal speed.

Speeding up deliveries is just the excuse they have to give to justify(?) it.

common sense is missing.

i drive often on highway and wants get also faster to my destination.next time when police will stop me for overspeeding will use this truck story as "excuse"...

That will go down very well with the folks in the fragile Kei cars hogging the middle lane at 60 kph, swaying in the vortex of trucks flying past, oblivious to traffic around them.

Educate drivers to use the innermost left hand lane more, and only use the outer lanes for overtaking, and move back in after completing the manouevre.

Some truck drivers are okay, but in general they are among the most dangerous drivers on the highways. Higher speed limits for trucks = more highway deaths. Period.

why not just use the railways to ship goods? I mean, most trains close at a certain time. I'm pretty sure rail and logistics companies can come to an agreement to ship goods by rail if conditions are met. no traffic and they can probably get there faster. raising the speed limits is like turning your stove on higher than needed heat to cook your food faster.

The fact that trucks are even allowed on the inside lane is ridiculous as it slows other drivers down and is just stupidly dangerous when there are 3 trucks blocking all motorway lanes.

It won't make any difference. Big trucks already speed over 100km/hr. It's very rare to see a truck going at the current 80km limit unless it's heavy and struggling up a hill.

I'm always being passed and tailgated by cars and trucks if I drive under 100 on the expressways.

KniknaknokkaerToday  10:14 am JST

The fact that trucks are even allowed on the inside lane is ridiculous as it slows other drivers down and is just stupidly dangerous when there are 3 trucks blocking all motorway lanes.

Sorry outside lane rather! Seeing as motorway drivers here allergic to the inside lane why don't they just have that as basically a truck lane with the increased speed limit?

Don't see a problem with it, 100km per hour and up is standard internationally on highways.

@Mike Hunt If a truck is tailgating you, it's because he is in a hurry. Just pullover and let him pass. My husband does this all the time.

Safer not faster!

I think something smells bad about this report and subsequent new research.

Here in the EU it is 90kmh...or 56 mph. Believe me, 90kmh is ok for autobahns/motorways etc but on ordinary roads NO. Keep the higher speeds for motorways only.....you have been warned.

Pretty much all posters above are correct on this.

It blows my mind they would even consider this. Limit to 960 hours of overtime? How is that even close to okay with current wages?

American truck drivers make crazy money, but their house is like a home for 4 or 5 days a week. They shower at truck stops, sleep in their cab and eat at restaurants. I haven't seen a truck with a cab here, so these "working" hours are most likely DRIVING hours. Terrifying.

And, how are there so few accidents, I've seen trucks pass me going at least 100km/h around a turn without visibility on icy roads.

In fact there’s almost never a reason for rushing or too high speed, maybe only for fire brigades, police or when delivering organ transplants. Everyone else just can start 30 minutes earlier, that’s easy to plan with every logistics software or private persons set up an alarm clock and get up a few minutes earlier.

I have seen overturned trucks in Japan and by no means drive everyday

More deaths will result from more speed on the roads by massive trucks

@opheliajadefeldt Obviously only for highways!

@Bofington Lots drivers sleep in their cabs at the michi no ekis and even use the adjoined onsens. Some gas stations also have shower facilities. Japan is smaller than California so distance between destinations is no comparison to the U.S!

This is genius again. So fuel efficiency will drop, with the added cost of more fuel used to be tacked on to the final product of course. And safety will be compromised. Instead of going to the root of underpaid, overworked drivers.

Oh THAT'LL fix everything...NOT

Absolutely not. Japanese drivers are some of the worst tailgaters I have known in my 20+ years of driving in countries all over the world. All this will do is increase the overall speed of some vehicles to 130kph or more leading to even more tailgaiting. I rarely see a truck on the Meihan doing the signed 60/70kph limit.

This will not work. The only beneficiary will be FUNERAL PROVIDERS!

Am I the only one who feels that speed limits in Japan, across the board but especially on expressways, are just too slow? Japan has some of the best maintained roadways but has ridiculously low speed limits. 120 on the expressways is absolutely reasonable.

Why not more cargo trains??..

Here in the EU it is 90kmh...or 56 mph. Believe me, 90kmh is ok for autobahns/motorways etc but on ordinary roads NO. Keep the higher speeds for motorways.

It is about raising limits of motorways (called expressways in Japanese English). Normal roads are usually 40-50km/h.

Didn't read all the comments yet, but my response is so what?

I drive upwards of 5000 kms a month for work. There are long stretches of the Sanyo and Chugoku expressways where the speed limit is already 100 kph.

As long as the individual driver is alert, allows ample space for passing other vehicles and politely submits to those trying to pass them, the proposed 20kph increase for large trucks won't make much of a difference in accudent rates, in my opinion.

the new regulations from April limits truck drivers' overtime to 960 hours a year.

will LIMIT overtime to 80 hours a month.... Dog knows what they're doing now then.

The speed limit and other traffic laws are not enforced anyways so does it really matter?

They are already driving at more than 80km/hr. on surface roads, and if you don't believe me just go out after 10 or midnight and watch trucks fly by .

The reason why limits are as they are is due to lack of road visibility-many corners on Japanese roads even expressways have limited visibility; add that to confusing signage and the roads here are just plain dangerous

And people without driving experience in Japan have little knowledge of the situation

What? Shouldn't the speed limit have been based on what is safe? Just spitting in the wind thinking that raising the speed limit makes deliveries faster, too.\

This is why Japan is a leader in nothing in 2023...incalid CSRF

You want these ginormous trucks, which are already super heavy, and further weighed down by the goods they're carrying...to speed up?!?!?!

And the maximum age for truck drivers raised to 100, fill the gap and all that :)

Put more cargo on the rails.

I don't disagree with the sentiment but here is where the idea falls apart. Pretty much every business is nowhere near a rail line. Almost all shipments and deliveries are by truck. To use rails the cargo would have to go on a truck from the shipper to the railroad, ride the rails, then get loaded back on a truck for delivery. It is faster and less expensive to make the entire shipment, portal to portal, by truck. Rail freight is economical pretty much only when you have trainloads of freight going from point to point, like a shipment of coal from a mine to a power plant, or a trainload of shipping containers from a cargo terminal at a port to a cargo terminal inland. In the US at least even running full trailer of goods across the US is accomplished in less time and at less cost by truck.

As long as the individual driver is alert, allows ample space for passing other vehicles and politely submits to those trying to pass them, the proposed 20kph increase for large trucks won't make much of a difference in accudent rates, in my opinion.

There is a pretty solid argument to be made that a significant speed differential between cars and trucks creates more opportunities for collisions than having trucks drive at the same speed as cars. Slow trucks in the right lane create the need for cars with their higher speed limits to change lanes and pass creating opportunities for people to make mistakes and collide. Better perhaps to have all traffic moving along at the same speed. Just my two yen.