Highway 1A is a key highway of Vietnam. It starts at km 0 in Huu Nghi Quan (Friendship border gate) in the border between Vietnam and China, and ends at km 2301 +340m in Nam Can town, Ca Mau province.

It can be consider “the spine” of Vietnam, since it spreads across 32 provinces from Lang Son to Ca Mau, including big cities like Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. The exact length of Highway 1A is 2,301.340 km, and it is one of the main transport highways of Vietnam. The width is 10-12m, with 2-4 lanes, wide enough for container-carriers and big trucks to use.

The highway contains 874 bridges, with capacity limit of 25-30 tons. Along the highway, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, drivers must go through 19 fee gates with the detailed fee as follows:

-    Car with less than 12 seats, bus, trucks with cart load under 2 tons: VND 10,000-VND 20,000 per use
-    Car with 12 seats to 30 seats, trucks with cart load from 2 tons to under 4 tons: VND 20,000-VND 30,000 per use
-    Car with 31 seats and above, trucks with cart load from 4 tons to under 10 tons: VND 30,000-VND 44,000 per use
-    Trucks with cart load from 10 tons to under 18 tons, container carrier 20 feet: VND 60,000-VND 80,000 per use
-    Trucks with cart load 18 tons and above, container carrier 40 feet: VND 120,000-VND160,000 per use

In order to facilitate flows of traffic, along with highway 1A, Vietnamese government also built supporting highways for Highway 1A such as 1B (Dong Dang town to Thai Nguyen city), highway 1C (connects Nha Trang city with highway 1A) and highway 1D (to avoid going to Cu Mong pass and link Quy Nhon city with Phu Yen.