Starting from September 1, a new weighing requirement will be added for blue-plate special vehicles during annual inspection: After the "large tonnage with small label" incident of blue-plate light trucks in the 521 campaign, with the release of the Notice on Further Strengthening the Production and Registration Administration of Light-Duty Trucks and Small and Mini Passenger Vehicles (Draft for Comments) jointly issued by two ministries, policies for the blue-plate light truck special vehicle market have gradually become clear, and all special vehicle manufacturers have obtained a definite development direction. However, on September 1 this year, a new requirement is added to the annual inspection of blue-plate light trucks, namely weighing.

The regulation stipulates in clause 6.8.1.2 that during the safety inspection of in-use motor vehicles, for trucks and heavy-medium trailers registered from March 1, 2015, the error between the empty vehicle mass and the curb mass recorded at motor vehicle registration shall meet the following requirements: no more than ±10% or ±500 kg for heavy-medium trucks and heavy-medium trailers, no more than ±10% or ±200 kg for light and mini trucks, and the empty vehicle mass of light trucks shall be less than 4500kg.

As stipulated, the empty vehicle mass inspection requirement shall be officially implemented starting from the ninth month after the implementation date of the standard. Special vehicles are also covered herein. That is to say, starting from September 1, 2021, empty vehicle weighing will be officially carried out nationwide during the annual inspection of special vehicles. Overweight vehicles cannot pass the annual inspection. For example, a curb mass between 2600kg and 2800kg is considered normal for new vehicle registration. For re-inspection and annual inspection of used vehicles, only those with an empty vehicle mass within the range of 2500kg to 2900kg can meet the weighing standard. Vehicles with excessive overweight will fail the annual inspection.

Actually, this has little impact on special vehicles. Original equipment manufacturers have adopted lightweight designs for their products at present, so the curb mass of special vehicles is compliant. Only the allowable loading mass may be slightly lower, which will not affect usage. The new provisions in the Notice on Further Strengthening the Production and Registration Administration of Light-Duty Trucks and Small and Mini Passenger Vehicles (Draft for Comments) also exert little influence on the special vehicle industry. Currently, blue-plate special vehicles are mainly based on mini trucks, while light trucks mostly adopt yellow small plates, both of which will not affect end users.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Transport has issued a notice to provide online services and realize off-site annual inspection. Cross-provincial handling can be realized via the web portal, WeChat mini-program or mobile APP. Meanwhile, cross-provincial off-site handling is also available for matters including the qualification certificates of road freight drivers, transport certificates of road transport vehicles, and the "three-inspection integration". It brings great convenience to truck drivers who travel all year round and saves much time for business handling.