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Great entertainment but it's going nowhere
Can you hear it. The silence is deafening. This follows a loud outcry following the Minister of Transport's utterances at a conference where he warned of lowering the maximum payload allowed for trucks. His actual words were: "I think the time has come to review the 56-ton gross vehicle mass limit currently in force in South Africa....We are therefore considering amending the Road Traffic act to introduce a lower maximum payload for road freight." He was talking in the context of the government's recent strategic decision to encourage a shift in the balance between road and rail in the transport of heavy freight - particularly in the areas of containerised and bulk cargo. The full text of his speech was published in our last edition (June 2001). If you missed it, you can access it on our web-site at www.fleetwatch.co.za.
The post-conference tea cups had hardly got cold when the RFA came out with all guns firing with CEO Herman Lemmer saying that "maybe his (the Minister's) job title should be changed from Minister of Transport to Minister of Rail". Lemmer then threw punches at a rapid rate to counter the Minister's statements. On the issue of overloading, he said there is no dispute over the fact that overloading is damaging South Africa's road infrastructure. "However, the responsibility to ensure these practices are curtailed lies squarely with the Minister and the relevant law enforcement agencies. Unless there is adequate law enforcement, it would be a complete waste of time to lower the maximum payload allowed for trucks." He then threw the next punch saying that the government still has to account for the lack of investment in infrastructure, which amounts to billions of rands in arrears investments.
And so it went on. Wow! This was good stuff - both from the Minister and the RFA. For one, it showed that the Minister and the RFA are still alive on issues that are of great concern to this industry. We thought they had gone into hibernation. Talk about a breath of fresh air! But isn't it a pity that it takes a veiled threat from the Minister to get this industry to sit up and take notice.
FleetWatch warned some time ago that one day, the practice of overloading would bounce back against the industry. What on earth did the industry expect? That this country would put up with the vile practice of overloading forever? That the citizens and leaders of this country would stand back forever and condone the destruction of one of this country's most precious assets - its roads? It's nonsense man. Certainly I agree with Lemmer that the Government should be looking at how much money is being spent on road maintenance. However, the industry should also be looking at how much money it is adding to the maintenance backlog by its own practices. And no, I don't agree with Lemmer that "the responsibility to ensure these practices (overloading) are curtailed lies squarely with the Minister and the relevant law enforcement agencies". That takes the RFA, it's members and every other transport operator off the hook in terms of self-policing and compliance with the law. That statement is a cop-out. It is FleetWatch's contention that the responsibility to ensure overloading is curtailed lies squarely on the shoulders of every single transport operator in the country - not solely with the Minister and the law enforcement agencies. Going with Lemmer's statement is like playing a "catch us if you can" game. Far more practical is to adopt the stance of being a responsible corporate citizen and police yourself. Or is that asking too much?
I also disagree with the Minister's statement relating to 'hidden costs' where he refers to "the additional burdens placed on our traffic management and health systems by its (the road haulage industry's) contribution to general air pollution, traffic congestion and road crashes." C'mon Mr Minister. This is Save the Rhino country. Who on earth in South Africa gives two hoots about air pollution? If anyone did, Iscor in Vanderbijlpark would have been shut down years ago. And where are the facts to confirm that trucks are a major air polluter? If the government is as serious about air pollution as your statement implies, then please point us to the people who go out daily to measure vehicle emissions - and how they are taking offenders off the roads; cars, taxis, buses and trucks? The trucking industry is bringing in squeaky-clean Euro 11 engines. Pity the high sulphur levels in our diesel sort of wipes out the benefits of these. As for traffic congestion and road crashes, you've got to be joking by pointing a finger only at the trucking industry. Read our article inside this edition by Dave Johnston titled 'Licensed to drive or Kill?' And then read the other article by Wally Cracknell titled 'Folly in the Testing Process'. The system is one which propagates unsafe practices and it is within your power to change the system. So change it.
Our respectful advice to both the Minister and the RFA is to looks inwards before looking outwards. The annual report from KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Transport on Overload Control for 2000 recently arrived on my desk. It shows that in the Autonet fleet - you know, the one that belongs to the Minister and is now known as Freight Dynamics - out of a total 1 795 vehicles weighed last year, the number of vehicles overloaded was 672 and the number charged was 138. That's a lot of illegal trucks belonging to the Minister operating out there. What's that saying about when you point one finger, there's four others pointing back at you?
And then let the RFA also looks inwards before going out on the rampage. The same report reveals that in the Unitrans fleet - you know, the one that's an RFA member - the number of vehicles weighed was 2 738. Of these, 1 599 were overloaded and the number charged was 249. That's also a lot of illegal vehicles operating out there. What's that saying again about pointing fingers? Is Freight Dynamics a member of the RFA?
It seems to me that the RFA and the Minister should tidy up their own houses before worrying about pontificating how bad everyone else is. If they don't, it's all hot air with no substance. Even better, why not link hands and go forward together rather than adopting adversarial stances as demonstrated via the 56 ton saga. Check out the relationship that exists between the Irish Road Haulage Association and the Irish Government in our article inside. That's the way to go forward.
Patrick O'Leary
Managing Editor
FleetWatch
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