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Eddie Crane of EC Logistics is passionate about training people how to safely handle Dangerous Goods and how to comply with the DG laws. Like his industry DG colleagues, he is becoming increasingly irate at the unrealistic bureaucratic processes standing in the way of DG training. The SANS process of formulating a local version of the Tremcard (called a Trec card) is also a thorn in his side, not to mention the puzzling lack of enforcement of DG legislation on vehicles travelling into South Africa from up north.
"I'm having a serious problem with TETA right now," says Crane. "TETA put forward a unit standard for driver training but in practice, this requires time to elapse between modules. I'm based in Durban and many of my clients are in Cape Town. Meeting the requirement of the unit standard would mean I would have to make four trips to Cape Town to get a driver through a training course. It's financially impossible for me to do this."
The issue of accredited training should be taken up by all transport operators who pay a skills levy. At this stage, explains Crane, there can be no skills levy rebates because there's no accredited training in place - not because trainers of suitable quality don't exist but simply due to the inability of TETA to establish workable parameters for the road transport training industry. Talk about a stealth tax!
On the question of compliance, Crane believes that "mid to small size companies are being reactive with regards to DG compliance. I'm called in to sort out summonses where it is clear that both the transporter and the traffic official who wrote the summons don't know Chapter VIII in its entirety."
Crane cites one such incident where the transporter was fined R11 200 for non-compliance. On investigation it was found that in some cases the driver/operator was at fault and in other instances the officer had got it wrong. After contesting the case, Crane succeeded in reducing the amount to R3 000.
Tremcards used by DG transporters are based on a European standard but now SANS is putting together a local standard to govern the production of a 'Trec' card.
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THE
EUROPEAN Tremcard
will soon be replaced locally by the Trec card but the
transport industry still has not been informed who will
benefit financially from the sale of this ‘new legal
requirement’. |
"SANS doesn't specify any standards of creation. Who's going to be allowed to produce these new cards?" asks Crane. And, how much will they cost. "Should transporters really have to cough up more large sums when they've already bought Tremcards?"
Another bone of contention for Crane is the fact that non-compliant trucks are crossing the border into South Africa. "There was an incident in Durban recently where a Zimbabwean truck carrying bags of asbestos fell over. Emergency personnel couldn't determine what the product was because the placards were incorrect. A couple of hours later, people cleaning up the mess had to be rushed to hospital. It makes one wonder who's getting money under the table at customs offices and weighbridges," concludes Crane.
