The Japanese government decided at a ministerial meeting on Thursday to lift the ban on double trailers on some sections of the Metropolitan Expressway, the Hanshin Expressway and the Hokkaido Expressway in September.
The move aims to address disruptions in cargo transport services caused by truck driver shortages due to a new overtime regulation introduced in April — a situation called the "2024 problem" by the logistics industry.
The total length of expressway sections opened to double trailers will increase by more than 20% to 6,330 kilometers. It will be the first time for the ban on double trailers to be lifted in Hokkaido.
The government also decided to conduct a social experiment on a section of the Shin-Tomei Expressway by fiscal 2027, in which automated carts will be used to transport goods along the median strip of the expressway.
In Japan, double trailers were first introduced on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in 2019, and have since been allowed in other areas in stages.
This time, the Wangan line of the Metropolitan Expressway, a Hanshin Expressway section between Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture and the nearby city of Kobe, and a Hokkaido Expressway section will be opened to double trailers.