A five-seater pickup truck is unsuitable for commercial use since it is designed to carry only a small amount of cargo for camping or other leisure activities. However, the current Act does not exclude such pickup trucks from vehicles eligible for a permission for trucking transport business.

The problem is that not a few pickup trucks that have obtained a permission for commercial use are in fact illegally used to transport passengers. Moreover, a insurance policy for cargo transportation vehicles only covers damage to cargo and does not provide any compensation for traffic accidents that occur during illegal passenger transportation, making it impossible to cover damage to passengers. Worse, foreign passengers often fall victim to a rip-off, disturbing the order of passenger transportation.

Accordingly, the Amendment strengthens truck requirements by prescribing in the definition of “truck” the standards for the cargo area and maximum seating capacity of trucks with a maximum payload of less than 800kg, thereby aiming to prevent vehicles that have obtained a permission for trucking transport business from being used for illegal passenger transportation and contributing to the restoration of order in passenger and cargo transportation (Article 2, subparagraph 1).

Prescribe that where the maximum payload of a motor vehicle is less than 800kg, the floor area of the cargo compartment shall be larger than the floor area of the cabin and the seating capacity shall be no more than three persons (Article 2, subparagraph 1)