Thousands of unregistered garages that modify trucks to carry loads above the legal limit have been given three months to go clean and register or face fines and shutdown, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced yesterday.

Overloaded trucks cost Cambodia $100 million per year in road repairs, according to the ministry.

Besides registration, the deadline also applies to owners of modified trucks, who must remove parts that allow heavier loads.

“After three months, we and other relevant officials will take action to confiscate those trucks, removing those additional parts on their trucks and fining them,” said Minister Sun Chanthol.

“If the garage is illegal, we will close it down.”

According to figures released last month, 2,633 repair garages worked on non-standard trucks and cars in 2015. Of them, 1,923 were unregistered. An additional 88 garages have registered since then.