Under the continuous and high-pressure supervision and crackdown of the state, the extremely harmful phenomenon of overload and oversize and the accidents caused by it remain incessant after repeated prohibition. Due to the advantages of flexibility, simplicity and convenience, road freight transportation has been the most important way of land freight transportation in China for a long time. However, due to historical reasons and imperfect management, overloading has become a persistent disease in the development of road freight transportation in China. Overload is a common and long-term phenomenon, which not only causes the damage of roads and the fracture of bridge, but also induces a large number of traffic accidents.The causes of road freight overload and oversize are complex, but the cost pressure is the fundamental. Under the background of high social freight cost in China, this study explores the deep-seated causes of the overload of road freight transportation from two aspects which are government supervision and industrial characteristics.(1) The imperfection of government supervision provides a breeding ground for overload.(2) Excessive low price competition further worsens the normal operation of the industry.Domestic status and empirical analysis show that simple economic punishment can not completely solve this problem; only by eliminating the opportunity to get extra profits and creating a fair and orderly market environment, can we fundamentally solve this chronic disease. In this regard, this study puts forward the following countermeasures and suggestions:(1) We should improve the law enforcement system and strictly punish the behavior of overload.(2) We should set market access threshold and reduce excess capacity.(3) We should improve the industry organization and establish an open and transparent information communication platform.
