The Kenya National Highway Authority (KENHA) has automated all weighbridges along the Northern Corridor in a bid to address the perennial traffic jams.
The Authority has erected high speed weighing sensor systems at the weighbridges following recent cases of traffic snarl-up, some lasting for hours.
Among the weighbridges that have benefited are Gilgil, Mai Mahiu, Suswa while the number of mobile-weighbridges along the corridor have been increased.
According to Danka Africa Kenya Limited, a company contracted to manage the weighbridges, the compliance levels stood at 99 percent.
The company assistant operations manager Jackson Kimuyu said that 99 percent of the trucks using the corridors were filtered through the new automation system.
He added that only 30 percent were weighted by automated machines, a move that had led to a swift flow of traffic.
Speaking at Gilgil weighbridge, Kimuyu said that stringent measures introduced on the highway had reduced cases of overloading mainly from local drivers.
On axle lifting, Kimuyu said that the problem lay with long distance drivers ferrying goods to neighboring countries.
He noted that by lifting one axle, the drivers were carrying excess load than allowed by the law thus damaging the road infrastructure.
He warned that those drivers found breaking the law faced a fine of USD15,000 or a three year jail term.
Kimuyu at the same time supported calls to expand the Nairobi-Nakuru highway due to an increase in the volume of traffic in the last couple of years.
