Although the safety fare system was introduced with the aim of improving traffic safety and improving working conditions for truck owners by reducing overload and speeding of cargo trucks, the number of truck traffic accidents increased. Thanks to the truck safety fare system, a kind of additional rate system introduced to secure safety, the income of cargo owners of cement and import and export containers surged, but the original goal of traffic safety was not achieved. The cargo truck safety fare system was scheduled to be sunset at the end of this year, but after the general strike of the cargo union this summer, the government and the cargo union have agreed to “continue to pursue.” Recently, the Korea Cargo Federation and the opposition party are demanding the expansion of the target items, including the institutionalization of the safety fare system, but concerns are raised that the burden on companies could only increase at a time when the effect of securing safety is not great.
According to the government on the 3rd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reported the results and discussions of the implementation of the freight car safety fare system to the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Public Welfare and Economic Stability on the 29th of last month. The truck safety fare system was introduced with a three-year deadline from 2020 to prevent overwork, speeding, and overload by guaranteeing appropriate fares for truck owners and ensuring traffic safety. It is currently being applied to cement and import and export containers. The Korea Transportation Research Institute published traffic accident statistics on tow truck from 2019 to last year. Vehicles subject to the safe freight system (cement and import and export containers) account for 78% of towed freight cars. As a result of the tally, the total number of car accidents in Korea steadily decreased from 229,600 in 2019 to 203,130 in 2021. On the other hand, the number of tow truck accidents increased by 8.0% from 690 to 745 during the same period. The number of deaths from tow truck accidents also increased 42.9% from 21 to 30 during the same period.
Since the implementation of the safe fare system, fares have increased dramatically. The import and export container fare for a 400km round trip between Seoul and Busan increased 28% from 760,000 won in 2019 to 970,000 won last year.