Vantai24h - Date 01/04/2016 - Having returned from the transporting journey to Quang Nam, driver Tran Van Tung happily shared his journey with the colleagues working at Transport 24h Co.Ltd. Due to the decrease in the quality of traffic infrastructure, Tung encountered many difficulties but experience and driving skills he accumulated from the journey are very useful to share with other drivers.
At 6 am, Tung arrived in Ngoc Hoi, Thanh Tri, Hanoi to load goods of clothes which were packed carefully, but it was still very important to keep them intact and waterproof. Therefore, the van of 1.4 tons was the only option for this transport journey. From Hanoi, the van continued going to Kon Tum to load other cargo before delivering them to the final destination of Quang Nam. It was pretty smooth to dispatch goods from Hanoi to Kon Tum by using the highways such as National Route 1A and Ho Chi Minh Road. To go from Kon Tum to the district center of Nam Tra My, Quang Nam, thanks to his experience Tung decided to choose Highway 40B. From Ho Chi Minh Road to Dac To Town (Dac To District, Kon Tum Province), the van turned toward Highway 40B.
In the past, Highway 40B was called the provincial route 672 or the southern road of Quang Nam. In 2013, the Ministry of Traffic and Transportation upgraded this route into Highway 40B. Its starting point intersected with Route 1A at Tam Ky City, Quang Nam Province, and the finishing point was in Dac To Town, Dac To District, Kon Tum Province. This was one of the main routes connecting Central Highlands with the Central Coast and Laos’ southern provinces through International Border of Bo Y – Phu Cua. It was also the only road running through 5 mountainous provinces with the total length of nearly 210 km. The fact that Highway 40B was upgraded from the provincial route into the national one has brought many advantages to exchange and develop the economy of the Central and Central Highlands in general, and of Quang Nam and Kon Tum Provinces in particular. However, Highway 40B has not still repaired and upgraded comprehensively until now. Although there is an increasing demand for transporting goods between Kon Tum and Quang Nam Province, 60 km of the road running through Kon Tum Province have deteriorated rapidly, causing troubles for local people and travellers. According to Tung, it was raining heavily when he drove to Dac To Town, Dac To District so the road surface became rather slippery. Moreover, potholes with water turned into small pool, making it very difficult to move. It tool him more than 4 hours to overcome this section of 60 km.
Although having encountered many challenges of bad road surface, Tung finally managed successfully to reach the final destination when it was getting dark. After asking local people, Tung knew that there was an alternative to Highway 40B and he followed this road to get to Tien Phuoc District to rest before driving back to Hanoi the next morning. Tung said: “ The journey was quite difficult but I was still happy because if I had not undertaken this journey, I would not have known anything about Highway 40B. Thanks to it, I could accumulate my practical driving skills and have one more exciting story to tell my colleagues” ./.
