YES Where do I go to for training to be a professional truck driver and get behind the wheel of magnificent vehicles like ERF's latest offerings?  The answer is: nowhere!

Given that road safety encompasses such a broad range of inputs, it is hard to focus on specifics. FleetWatch has, however, identified two prime contributors to this country's horrific road safety record. The one is lack of driver training and the other, vehicle unroadworthiness. If these are acted on, things will get better writes Patrick O'Leary.

Who remembers the old Luipaardsvlei Driver Training Centre? It was headed by Jan Aukema and provided a fantastic service to the trucking industry with hundreds of truck drivers going through that training centre. Those were the days when this industry believed in driver training. So too did the Government.

Well, it seems that just as the centre has gone, so too has the belief in driver training disappeared. It's one of the most mind-boggling things for, as Peter Diesel-Reynolds, MD of the Skills Resource Group says, apart from the road safety implications, lack of driver training impacts heavily on the bottom line.

He reckons that 90% of all wastage in transport is caused by the human factor. "It makes sense then that the solution is to educate and coach the human behind the wheel and we need to wake up to this reality. Why is it that operators spend millions on hardware and mechanical improvements and only a fraction on the coaching and preparation of the driver?" Good question Sir!

Where do I go?
And here's an irony. If I am a school leaver and want to take up truck driving as a career, where do I go for professional training? As it stands, I'll have to enroll at ABC's Truck Driving School on the corner of Hoek and Bok streets next to Jimmy's Fish and Chip shop. That's about it. And then I'll be 'taught' in some old run-down jalopy. And that's taking the responsible route.

Even though that licence may be legal, it won't be worth the paper it's written on. As Dave Johnston points out in an article in this issue: Anyone - with or without a driver's license - can open a so-called 'driving school' or 'Advanced Driving school'. Nobody monitors standards.

Equally serious is that the lack of "learner driver" training facilities forces a potential driver to obtain a fraudulent license. The bottom line is that the root of the tree has not been planted and the government - yes the government not the private sector - has to act on rectifying this. We need driver training centres for truck drivers.

Not convinced? Well let us then point out that HIV/AIDS has hit the truck driving fraternity hard and the time is not far away - no, that's wrong - it has already arrived, where operators are looking for new drivers to replace the ones that die. Where are the replacement drivers going to come from if all accent continues to be placed on training light vehicle drivers.

As regards unroadworthy vehicles, one need look no further than the taxi industry to highlight the abysmal standards of vehicles in this country. And there are many trucks that are no better than them. The law used to require that heavy commercial vehicles be tested for roadworthiness every six months. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, changed that to every year and the result of this is that maintenance is being postponed. There are other equally negative results. The bottom line is that this was a stupid move and the law needs to revert to its former requirements.

The Minister of Transport Dullah Omar, stated in a recent speech that in the civil aviation sector, everyone understands that safety is a non-negotiable issue. "So it should also be in the road transport sector where, as we all know, far more lives are lost and economic damage incurred every year. We need to move in concert on all the safety issues involved, and to do so with all possible speed," he said.

We urge the Minister to read the articles on driver training, testing stations and vehicle roadworthiness featured on the following pages and to act - 'with all possible speed' - on the flaws that need to be ironed out. The impact following improvements will be dynamic.

South Africa has some great roads. Pity the general road safety ethic doesn't match the quality.