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I have just completed reading your comments on the RFA convention at Sun City (FleetWatch, June 2005) and I support your sentiments totally.

My company is a member of the association and has been for many years. I personally have not been to the convention for a number of years as I feel I do not benefit from attending. I have always believed the suppliers get more benefit than the operators as they have a concentration of operators with which to mingle. This year, it would seem not to have been the case as the numbers were down.

The cost of these conventions is also becoming astronomical. For me fly into Victoria Falls or Mauritius and expect my company to pay with little or no return is asking a bit much. I have regular contact with all my suppliers, especially Tyco, so there is no need to socialise with them at a convention. These conventions should be for the operators and for suppliers to be low key. Great observations.
Martin Kennedy 
Freightpak Durban

Editor's Comment: That says it all. Many thanks for sharing your views with our readers.

Your comment

I enjoyed the March 2005 edition of FleetWatch and especially the Special Interest report on aluminium. I would like to request your permission to make copies of these articles to give to my customers in the industry. Thanks and best regards.
Salauddin Mohammed
Regional Manager - Middle East and Africa
Heiltrailer, USA

Editor's Comment: But of course you can. Part of the idea of having a website for FleetWatch is to spread the news of what's going on in the South African trucking industry way beyond our borders. We do so in the interests of showcasing our local industry to the world - warts as well as achievements. Go for it! (See also next letter)

Your comment

My name is Tom Clark and I am a special education teacher serving 8th grade students with behaviour disorders in Alton, Illinois, USA. I am contacting you to thank you for making such a comprehensive trucking website. 

I am currently developing an intensive four week summer school programme in which my students will become "truck drivers". All of their core academics (reading, math, writing, geography, etc.) will relate directly to some aspect of trucking. Your webpage will be a great addition to the programme during my "International Trucking" unit which will examine the different types of trucking throughout the world and its impact on the local and world economies. 

My specific focus will be to provide all of the background knowledge possible to impress upon my students the fact that trucking is a profitable and honourable profession. The balance of instruction will be spent having my students "purchase" their own trucks and trailers using on-line resources and then "delivering" loads to places at random across the U.S.

Students will not only have to plan their routes but will have to manage their personal money as well as the money needed to operate their truck. Additionally, each student will research the background history of the delivery location, which will be chosen at random.

The information on your website - especially the downloadable posters and such - will be a great addition to our programme and I wanted to thank you again for making it available. As a public school teacher serving in a very poor school district, I rely on people, businesses, and organizations such as yours to help liven up otherwise boring instruction. Should you have any suggestions on how to make this programme even better, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks again and take care.
Tom Clark
Teacher
Motivational Achievement Center
Alton, Illinois
United States of America

Editor's Comment: What a wonderful email to have received - and what an innovative project you have embarked on. I am so pleased that our material has provided you with so much value. It really thrills us knowing that the FleetWatch website is having an impact on helping kids on the other side of the world, thousands of miles away from little 'ol South Africa. I wish you the best of luck with your project and thank you for letting us know that we are playing a hand - albeit a small one - in helping you achieve your objectives with those kids. Way to go!

Your comment

I agree with Bert Koning on the issue of 'Truck Stops' (FleetWatch letters, June 2005). There are probably only about three truck stops in the country. The rest are Car Stops!! A 'Truck Stop' should be built around the requirements of trucks! To qualify this:

• Most 'Truck stops' require a minimum of two 90 degree turns for trucks. Cars drive straight in and out. 
  * 'Truck stops' actually have stop signs to assist cars to depart easier. 
  * 'Truck stops' are usually built in a valley. We try drive economically so we don't stop in valleys because of the effort it takes to get back up to 80 km/h.

• The paving is in a worse condition than the roads we travel on.

• As Bert states, most become mud baths during rainy season. 

• The facilities are inadequate - usually too few toilets and too few showers (those that actually work). 

• As Bert says, no flowers, no cleaners, no seats on the toilets, no curtains on the showers, no hot water, no spray heads on the showers, no mirrors. 

• The floor is usually littered with empty soap containers, shampoo bottles, newspaper (which doubles as toilet paper) and months of gunk on the (remaining) tiles. 

• We have to walk right around the complex to get to the convenience shops 

• When a "truckers" shop is situated around the back, it usually contains vagrants, prostitutes and drunks (at night) and the TV usually blares at top volume. The food is substandard, the staff 'manning' the shop couldn't be bothered to assist you, the seating arrangements are non-existent, tables are full of dirt and graffiti, chairs are broken etc. 

• Some dedicated 'Truck Stops' - few and very far between - are built far off main routes or the route you take to them incorporates so many turns and intersections that you'd rather just stop where you are and take your chances. 

• The statement "...never had a single incident of theft or vandalism.." made by J. Maree is hard to believe. But, as he states in the next sentence we do "...appreciate and value first class facilities." "Mooi & Tugela" are on my list of stops to use in future!!

From the "Truck Stop" operator's point of view, I concede that the facilities are being vandalised. I cannot understand how some of my fellow truckers can stop, park their rigs in such a way that no other vehicle can move around them, then go into the ablution facilities and WRECK them. This, probably, provides one of the answers to another question: Where are the female truck drivers? They are too scared and/or ashamed to be out there.
George K.
Pretoria

Editor's Comment: Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to share your thoughts and views. It is interesting that those who use the 'Truck Stops' - such as yourself and your colleagues, our FleetWatch driver correspondent Bert Koning - and others - are all in sync on decrying the facilities provided. At the same time, you admit that the facilities are vandalised by the drivers themselves. What's the answer here? How do we change this? It's a Catch 22 situation. The 'good guy' drivers want top class facilities yet when they are provided, it's not long before the 'bad guy' drivers wreck them. Drivers feel they are shown no respect by truck stop operators given the lousy facilities provided. Truck stop operators feel they are shown no respect by drivers given the fact that any facilities provided are vandalised. So how do we change this? How do we get everyone on the same side? FleetWatch would welcome all suggestions because at the moment, we're all going nowhere on this one.

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