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Past Issues

June 2005

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Max Braun, FleetWatch correspondent and independent consultant to the trucking industry, gave an insightful talk at Alta Swanepoel's recent Transport Legislation Workshops focussing on the subject of training. He highlighted a number of flaws in the current systems that need to be ironed out, not least of which is a dedicated focus on the needs of the road freight industry.

Looking back over the years with the business of road transport in mind, we would be hard-pressed to identify more than a few worthwhile examples of training projects or programmes that survived any length of time or that made a memorable contribution to improving operating and management skills.

The ubiquitous Rand Afrikaans University road transport management diploma courses founded in the late 1970s are likely to be the first to come to mind. Does the lack of similar or extended programmes and the absence of practical skills training indicate that various segments of the broader road transport industry believe there is no real need to train its managements, supervisors and workforce?

If not, who do we want to train and why? And what training is needed? Part of the answer to this question may lie in another question, namely: Where is the country going? How is it going to get there - and when? What will it mean for road transport?

A review of a few well-publicised key factors around economic fundamentals and social development indicate:

• A stronger Rand that brings a greater degree of stability to the economy, the financial and business sectors. It is also a wake up call for many exporters of commodities, agricultural products and manufactured goods to improve efficiencies of which transport is a significant factor. There's no free lunch in the global village.

• Stable interest rates contributing to holding down inflation.

• A balanced, generally market driven national budget. The increased spend on social development, housing, health and education augurs well for the construction, timber and building materials industries to name just a few that are good for trucks and transport equipment.

• Booming retail and wholesale sales - up 10% and above 13% respectively in 2004. The pace is continuing in 2005.

• Record levels of new car, truck and bus sales.

• If world markets continue to recover (especially First World economies) demand for resources and commodities will at least be stable, if not grow.

• Ongoing improvements in disposal incomes.

• World Soccer Cup - 2010.

• Improving commuter transport.

• Growing tourism - hello China!

• Recovering world tourism.

Such a scenario demands a properly managed transport industry by competent and skilled people at all levels. If this proves to be wrong, then we shall need even more skills to manage an even more difficult period in the development and prosperity of the country. 

Based on at least some of these positive indicators, where does road transport and training fit into all of it? How do we as a nation, see ourselves? Hopefully, 'Proudly South African'. There is a lot to be proud of including:

• A more transparent and friendly country.

• The ongoing non-aligned flavour of the month.

• The President and government are respected internationally.

• Ongoing improvements in living, health and education standards.

• Determination to stimulate the economy via a lower cost of capital and labour, a more competitive Rand, making business start-ups simpler, greater efforts to defeat poverty and pressure for less partisan interests in how the economy should be run.

• Prospects for job creation is gaining ground.

• Most important is the level of optimism in the business sector and among consumers.

But, are we as a nation as proud of our road transport industry? Let's explore a few basic factors. How would you rate the importance of road transport in respect of:

• Economic prosperity - locally and in the region?

• Ability to meet global and regional standards?

• Collecting and delivering our "daily bread"? 

• Collecting and delivering the "heart" of the workforce?

• Transporting family, friends and visitors between cities?

• Giving tourists an unforgettable experience - "that want to come back feeling"?

If these are reasonable factors around which to portray the importance of road transport in South Africa and the region, why is it so difficult for government, the industry itself and fellow travellers to reflect the national importance of such a vital industry by ensuring its health, stability, on-going growth, improvement, and recognition of the almost endless career opportunities for a wide range of skills and practices.

If road transport is to fulfil its vital role in making our economic resurgence and social transformation a sustainable reality, then the industry itself must immediately step up to the plate with a vigorous and innovative commitment to accessible and affordable training projects.
It would be churlish to suggest there are no training projects and learning programmes available to various industry sectors. There are several. Let's review what government has to offer.
 

What the Govt has to offer
Under the auspices of the Department of Labour and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), the sector education and training authorities (SETAs) are by now reasonably well known. However, the minefield of acronyms, political-correctness and plethora of academic speak that rambles on about educators, learners, time-lines, grants, levy grants, critical outcomes, generic outcomes and learning outcomes that are similar to specific outcomes, has certainly succeeded in confusing, irritating and intimidating a large number of businesses, transport operators - large and small - and individuals keen to improve their knowledge and skills.

Criticising and condemning what the transport education and training authority (TETA) has done or is trying to do is not the purpose or objective of this article. They have been busy. They have done a lot of work. There are numerous learnerships, grants and programmes the industry can take advantage of. The concern of many is the lack of evidence that the importance of road freight transport, closely followed by passenger transport, is hardly recognised.

As an example, the year-long professional driver programme set up for a national certificate is, so far, only for bus drivers. It was created by leading SABOA member companies, then transcribed by accredited academics into approved "unit standards". This programme, with permission, was rewritten to suit truck drivers for the mega-dairy group Parmalat. Both, at huge cost in time and money.

Generic work functions
There are approximately 460 generic transport and freight handling work functions listed on TETA's website. Interested parties can select from these in a process of cobbling together a "job description" that perhaps broadly suits their needs. They then apply to TETA and the relevant Standards Generation Body to have them cast it into accredited unit standards that ultimately form the education levels and suggested time needed for your staff to study and practice before being considered competent. If you want to do the training yourself, the trainers and assessors must be accredited. Depending on the level and complexity of a unit standard, this can be time consuming and expensive. 

Alternatively you must find accredited trainers willing to undertake the task. This may not be so easy. The latest list of accredited providers available from TETA details 58 providers, of which only nine are seen to be fully accredited. Most of the others are provisionally accredited. Only eight of the 58 offer something applicable to road transport.

Whichever road you choose, the assessors must be re-assessed by independent assessors appointed by TETA and they must be assessed by a TETA appointed moderator to ensure they are assessed correctly before your efforts can be approved, or your staff found to be competent with points towards a larger qualification or skills level. 

In TETA's 2004 annual report, chairperson Thulani Dlamini said: "The overall objective of the Department of Transport is to provide safe, reliable, effective, efficient and fully integrated transport operations for South Africa." This, he said, can only be achieved through a skilled and competent workforce within the sector.

He goes further: "TETA has exceeded the objectives and targets set by the Department of Labour and it is obvious that both employers and employees are beginning to take the interests of the sector to heart. But at company level, it is still a challenge to get training committees to operate in a way that ensures maximum value is added not only for the respective companies, but to the sector as well."
 

During the 2004 financial year, TETA approved R68-million to fund projects across the various Chambers they serve. Based on their current summary of Road Freight Chamber Learnership Disciplines, lets see what they offer:

Road Freight Skills

• National Diploma Transport Economics (3 programmes at NQF 5 & 6 levels)

• Higher Certificate in Transport

• Diploma in Transport

• National Certificate in Packaging Management 

• National Certificate in Professional Driving (NQF 3)

• Loaders, porters, packers, changing & fixing tyres, washbay (all at NQF 1).

• There are also a variety of learnerships suited for labour recruiters, supervisors, and team leaders and there are similar skills learnerships listed for Freight Handling, Freight Forwarding, Couriers, IT, Sales & Marketing and Customer Services.

Recently, TETA announced a partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Industrial Maintenance (CEMI) in Belgium. The project required "educators" to undergo 80 hours of training in Belgium. On their return, they were to form the nucleus of a training group to train maintenance management trainers. To my knowledge only eight were identified and sent to Belgium. Not one of those that were sent represents road transport, whether freight or passenger. 

How is it possible that TETA and the industry can miss each other by kilometres, so to speak? South Africa has some of the most experienced and talented maintenance men, capable of holding their own anywhere in the world. What about the longstanding members of the IRTE? And why Belgium? What interface do they have with road or rail transport equipment commonly used in this country and what knowledge do they have of South African operating conditions?

Why so little interface?
Why is there so little interface between TETA and the industry? Who represents road freight on TETA's board? Who, with some real experience and knowledge of the industry, sits on the Standards Generation Body funded by TETA? Is the industry being held to ransom by an academic "closed shop"? Why is it that everything to do with so-called accredited learning is deemed suitable only if prepared by academics and ex-school teachers? Yes. There is a large and important role for them when it comes to the ABET levels and teaching learners with no previous education or work experience but road freight?

Recognition of TETA's "voucher" initiative must be complimented. But why should a project designed for employees of small companies (less than 49 employees) or individuals using their own initiative be challenged with a byzantinely complex and bureaucratic procedure to enrol and get funding.

Here is an extract from an email received from a TETA skills development manager in response to an enquiry about the voucher project: "When considering applicants we look at four criteria. Are there less than 49 people in the company; are they paying levies to TETA; are their levies up-to-date; are they participating in a levy grant system - are they handing in a work skills plan (WSP). The applicant must find their own accredited service providers who have been accredited by the Service Seta for business and financial administration/management. Voucher values are R130 per credit for any unit standard that is credit bearing whether it is a full qualification or part of a skills programme."

If 'would be' applicants get this far, they must find and consult accredited service providers in their area to assist and advise them as to what courses are available (or they are accredited to teach) in a particular area. If you pay levies to some other SETA you are required to ask that SETA, TETA and the Department of Labour if TETA and the other SETA may enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). If granted, you can then take advantage of the voucher system.

TETA needs to stop playing its cards close to the chest and start getting to grips with the laid-back road transport industry. Recent media reports highlight the unacceptable levels of red tape and bureaucracy that surrounds several SETAs. Here are just few things that appear to be missing when searching TETA's website, looking through their brochures or when talking to a number of their personnel:

• Standard road freight operating procedures for hauliers, private carriers and industry specialised groups.

• Standard road passenger operating procedures for commuter, inter-city, tourist and taxi operators.

Standard operating procedures include items such as:

• RTA and RTQS

• Vehicle selection and replacement policy

• How to pay for vehicles

• Risk management and loss control

• Maintenance

• Operating Costs

• Managing Vehicles

• Managing Transport Operations

• Driver selection, training and motivation

• Loading and unloading

And these are just to name a few key operating elements.

 

Somehow, soon, the industry must be seen to be training people to manage and grow a cost-effective road transport industry. The recent information sharing session hosted by Price WaterhouseCoopers (PWC) revealed several interesting points. Using an analogy from the gold mining industry, reference is made to training that is good at getting gold ore to the surface but found wanting when turning ore into jewellery.

There is something similar in road transport. Good training is available to improve driving skills but lacking is how to manage and control the operation of a truck or bus business.

How then does the road transport industry respond?
I cannot speak with a great degree of confidence for passenger transport. As for the freight industry, they are still largely trapped in the "too busy" or "too poor" syndrome. Other than those mentioned earlier, not much progress has been made in training projects in almost 50 years. Can it be that the majority of transport operators and fleet managers think they know it all and that their staff, do not need to be trained? Yes. Training is expensive, but then so is ignorance and lack of skills.

Where would the industry be now had the RFA, IRTE, trailer and bodybuilders and vehicle manufacturers interfaced with TETA to guide and motivate the training that is needed? It is hard to say with accuracy but we would all certainly be much better off than we are now. The PWC information sharing session shows that successful SETAS have mature, value-adding council members playing a leadership role in further skills development in their respective industries

If we are honest, notwithstanding all the effort and money that has gone into driver training over many years, what percentage of fleet owners actually bother to train drivers - or even select them properly.

Modern vehicles are technically complicated and expensive to repair when things go wrong. We are desperately short of maintenance and repair technicians. Who, if anyone, is motivating a solution to this problem? 

Most truckers battle to survive. How many make a decent return on assets? What strategies are in place to cope with ever increasing competition? With the imminent emergence of a transport charter, increased BEE, SMME and owner-drivers, how will the industry cope with the training needed for these ventures to succeed?

Training needs cannot be left to the RAU alone any more than it can be left in the hands of the academics that control TETA. What the industry needs is more important than what academics want for the industry. So what can be done about it?

• Establish a co-ordinated effort to promote the road transport industry as a worthwhile career path.

• Develop a less parochial outlook and attitude - create a single voice that represents all road transport interests. Freight, passenger and the specialist groups can cooperate and work together.

• Attend and support industry initiatives and activities. Conferences, seminars and workshops should be more than a golf match and the long-arm dancing that is usually attached to the end of the business discussions.

• Take note of what government is doing and saying.

• Establish a broad-based lobby that is effective in negotiation with suppliers, legislators, labour unions

In conclusion, there is a need to focus the national mindset on the road freight industry or be prepared to face damaging the economy. Passenger interests should do the same, or face damaging the social fabric. Education and training is far too important to be left totally to academics and educators. Why? Benjamin Disraeli answered that question in one simple sentence: The fate of this country depends on the education of our people.