Research On Legal Regulation Of Highway Freight Transport Market

The transportation industry is the leading and fundamental industry in the national economic structure.Road freight transport is an important part of China's transportation industry.Since the reform and opening up,a huge demand for cargo transportation has emerged with the development of commodity economy.China has opened the road freight market in China in the 1980 s,and since then a large number of private enterprises and individual drivers have flooded into the market,changing the pattern that road freight was completely state ruled in the era of planned economy that lead to the establishment of a large road freight transport market.According to statistics,China's road cargo transportation volume in 2018 reached more than 39.59 million tons,which was 107.4% in the same period of the previous year.In 2017,China's road operations carried cargo trucks reached 13.66.62 million,and road freight transport created 3846122 jobs.Compared with the high maturity of road transport market,the Chinese government has not changed correspondingly in terms of regulations on road transport market,and still adheres to the strict control concept and method of the planned economy era to carry out market governance.China's current legal system for the regulation of the road transport market,which has "Regulations on Road Transport of the People's Republic of China" enacted by State Council as the center,supplemented by departmental regulations and local regulations,basically follows the traditional economic regulation concept.Thus the market access of transportation enterprises,vehicles and drivers is strictly controlled,which is inconsistent with the global trend that social regulation now gaining a more important place.Besides,the core problems of externality and overlapping management in China's highway transportation marketstill remain unsolved.Therefore,the adjustment of the legal regulation system of China's road transport market is imminent.Since the 1980 s,global deregulation has been in trend.Western developed countries have begun to loosen the control of the road freight market.Many countries have loosened the restriction on market access by amending the law of road freight transport,and enhancing the safety supervision on driver,vehicle transportation and traffic accident liability.It is the change of focus of the legal control that made the transform from economic regulation to social regulation feasible.To face the changes and development of the technical and economic conditions of the road transport industry,to adapt to the trend of regulatory changes in the global road transport market,and to promote the healthy development of China's road transport market,China must reform the current regulation concepts and methods,reduce the pressure and economic burden on market subjects caused by the economic control,and establish a legal system that is in line with China's socialist market economy.Specific recommendations are as follows: 1.Rationalize China's current road freight market management system,gradually abolish the administrative license for market entry,revoke the right of law enforcement of the transportation administrative department in terms of supervision on transport market,and its original power to enforce law and to impose penalties should be handed over to the public security organs;2.With the current “Road Traffic Safety Law” as foundation,the existing “Road Transport Regulations” shall be replaced by “Road Traffic Safety Regulations” enacted by the State Council,in order to implement stricter control on transportation qualifications,behaviors and responsibilities of vehicles and drivers when it comes to road transport safety(passenger and freight transport).The reforms above should help to realize a fundamental transform from economic regulation to social regulation in China's road freight market,and promote the development of China's road freight market.