Copyright © 2001 FleetWatch magazine and FleetWatch On-Line.

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Congratulations for a fine piece of reporting on the annual body count on the nation's highways and byways (FleetWatch Feb 2005). It certainly does not get any easier for the law enforcement officers, paramedics and other members of the emergency services who have to deal with this trauma on a daily basis.

While my sympathy goes out to the families of all road accident victims, I personally believe that the dead and maimed behind the steering wheels of the vehicles involved have a lot to answer for. It is well documented that a large majority of road accidents involve alcohol and speeding and very often a deadly combination of the two. These are realities that cannot be denied.

It is easy to censure law enforcement and traffic authorities for not being able to bring a halt to the daily carnage and yes, they must be encouraged and guided to manage their limited resources more effectively - but that is only a part of the challenge.

I am of the opinion - and I do not believe for one minute that I am alone in this - that the single biggest killer on our roads is an almost total lack of respect for the word of the law and the law enforcement officers who try to enforce it. This is borne out by the fact that a significant proportion of major road accidents are nearly always preceded by a violation of one form or another of traffic rules and regulations.

Many drivers restrict themselves to the prescribed speed limits only if they think they are going to get caught. They have, apparently, limited cognisance for the safety factors involved in delineating a particular stretch of road or highway to a particular speed limit. They boast of driving from Gauteng to Cape Town, or to wherever they are travelling, in the shortest possible time. There is always someone who has done it quicker or has driven for longer hours.

Some of the really excessive speedsters are paraded like modern day cowboys and heroes instead of the highway gangsters that they really are. The high fines they receive are worn almost like badges of merit and honour. Many even get to drive to and from court and are able to cut a deal with the authorities to pay the fines off. Stiff fines will not change this. What is required is a change of attitude. 

It is time society as a whole recognised these idiots for what they really are: accessories to death, mayhem and destruction on the roads. They are party to the devastation and misery that besets every household that has to deal with a death in the family or carry a crippled and disabled human being along with them for the rest of their mortal lives.

Speeding is just one sign of disrespect. Unroadworthy, poorly maintained vehicles and the use of fraudulent licences add to this. Much of our society appears to hold the opinion that driving is a right and not a privilege that must be earned. A lack of respect for this privilege leads to selfishness and a poor attitude toward other road users. This, in turn, leads to further accidents. Road users must be educated that they cannot breach the rule of law because they may get caught but that it is against the law to do so in the first place, regardless of whether they get caught or not.

Getting into a vehicle and driving down the road like an idiot is not far removed from picking up a loaded gun and letting it off in a crowded shopping centre. Someone is going to get hurt. It is that simple and totally unacceptable.
Andrew Parker
Port Elizabeth

Editor's Comment: Wow! Well said - and thank you for saying it through FleetWatch! Many of our readers and advertisers will recognise the name Andrew Parker as the man who used to write full-time for FleetWatch. He did some sterling work for this magazine - and others before it - before winging off somewhere into 'darkest' Africa with a sangoma friend to help her collect data on the herbs and plants used by Pygmies for medical purposes. It's true. I'm not joking. He really did that. He's an incredible guy. Although now out of the industry and living in Port Elizabeth, he still gets a tingle when he sees a truck and it is obvious from his letter that he certainly hasn't lost his critical eye for the issues out there. The points he makes are so valid and are totally endorsed by FleetWatch. If there is one thing that stands out it is the point he makes that: "What is required is a change of attitude". The erstwhile Jack Webster wrote a full article around the subject of 'attitude' which we published in FleetWatch some time back. The laws of the road are in place to keep all road users safe. What is needed is a change in attitude towards obeying those laws. Think of it this way. If everyone obeyed the rules, we wouldn't need increased policing and enforcement. It's pretty simple logic. Are you going to change your attitude? Go look in the mirror when you answer that question.

Your comment

Firstly, let me congratulate you on a superb publication. I particularly like your attitude to note things around you, to question them and to offer solutions as well as criticism. I treat FleetWatch almost as the "bible" of trucking on South African roads, using its informative articles as guidance for my own fleet and judgement of my own practices.

Having said this, I think you should cast the same critical eye over your own publication. In, for example, your April 2005 edition, there are approximately (depending on whether you include inserts in editorials) 18 advertisements featuring commercial vehicles. Of these, over 60% display vehicles missing features essential for operation on our roads - mostly: no reflective tape, no registration plate, or no licence discs.

The reason advertisers use adverts is that they work. People look at them. Even if it is a subconscious thing, if you are bombarded with images of trucks without reflective tape, you can't really be expected to spot the error when one of yours is missing some tape. As an analogy, if every photograph one saw of a truck had white-wall tyres, one would start to question why you were still using normal tyres.

I realize that you are in the hands of your advertisers and that they often contrive photographs but I think pressure should be put on them to get their act right and contribute to the "educational" value of your magazine. Keep up the good work,
Jacko


Editor's Comment: What a fine point you make. To be honest, I had never thought of it and you are so right! It's the old story, I suppose, of the cobbler's son who has no shoes. Yikes! Just to explain: most of the advertisements we receive from truck suppliers come to us as finished material - many from advertising agencies. We play no role in the conceptualisation or design of those advertisements. That said, we have close contact with all those companies and their advertising agencies and we will certainly bring the very valid points you make to their attention. And we will encourage them to feature vehicles that are legally 'compliant'. It is, as you point out, the right thing to do. I must also thank you for those fine words of praise regarding FleetWatch. Gee Whiz! Such words serve not to make us arrogant or boastful. Rather, they serve to keep us on our toes in trying our best to continue to add value to our readers and the market. Thank you for that.

Your comment

I presume "What was the point of it all?" (Editor's Comment. FleetWatch March 2005) was a rhetorical question. As you rightly point out, both the RFEA and the various unions come nowhere near representing the majority of employers and drivers in the industry.

After the Mooi River blockade 10 years ago, the idea of collective bargaining seemed like a fine idea. In its execution though, this has led to a lack of communication between employers and employees particularly where it relates to wages and working conditions. We have, in effect, outsourced our industrial relations to a non representative third party resulting in employers and employees being left without a voice in the most important aspects of their businesses and lives.
 

UPLIFT DRIVERS Reader says it’s time to get back to shop level bargaining and to uplift drivers in more meaningful ways.

The situation is worsened by the fact that many transport companies get exemptions to "incentivise" their drivers by way of trip and distance bonuses. The results are entirely predictable - an exceptionally high accident rate for "heavies" and unhappy drivers.

Your correspondent Bert Koning's observations are accurate but miss the point that the transport industry, its clients, its suppliers - and indeed its drivers - do not see truck driving as an honorable and rewarding profession.

The time has come to get back to shop level bargaining and uplifting our drivers in a more meaningful way. Customers also need to acknowledge the important role our drivers play in their businesses. Leaving a driver to wait all day to offload, reload and then to expect him to drive the whole night (risking his and every other road user's life) to make up lost time is not likely to give him much job satisfaction. Remember Mr Retailer, these drivers are also potential ex customers.

Portnet's inability to sort out the congestion on the landside of the Durban container terminal also causes much frustration and fatigue for heavy vehicle drivers. Government must also play its role. Since the welfare of our drivers is of such social importance, why has the National Roads Agency and its toll concessionaires not provided decent rest facilities for their biggest customers? The private sector has done their bit in recent years. 

Lastly, please can we get a reinvented, broad based and non commercial RFA to represent the greater road freight industry? 
Bert Hofhuis
KwaZulu-Natal

Editor's Comment: Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to put your thoughts to paper. You have touched on many points but two stand out for me. The first is the customer who, in my opinion, doesn't give two hoots about the lot of the drivers or transporters. They need a shake up and a wake up. The second is Portnet. As stated in a previous issue of FleetWatch - and as you now mention - the delays at the harbours are a prime cause of driver fatigue, specifically for the reasons you mention. Yet all blame gets put on to the drivers when accidents happen. Portnet also needs a shake up and a wake up. I love input like yours. What do other operators think? Let us know.

Your comment

Bert Koning states in his letter (FleetWatch March 2005) that there is no respect for drivers in this country. He also complains that the truck stop facilities in KZN are poor and protests against drivers being required to pay for parking.

I have personally visited many truck stops in the USA, Spain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. The two truck stops in KZN (Mooi River Truck Stop and Tugela Truck Inn) are in all respects equal to and better than the best on offer in the USA and Europe.

It is true that truck stops in KZN charge parking fees. However, this is necessary because in other countries, truck stops enjoy high profit margins (up to 10%) on diesel sales which, of course, adds to the cost of diesel but allows them to build and maintain parking bays and ablution facilities without charging a parking fee.

In South Africa, the profit margin on diesel sales for truck stops is less than 1.6% (a handling fee of 7.5 cents per litre) and this barely covers the basic operating costs of providing diesel. Therefore, truck stops like Tugela Truck Inn and Mooi River Truck Stop are obliged to charge a parking fee - otherwise they cannot provide parking bays with clean ablution facilities in a safe environment where drivers and their cargo are protected round the dock.

These parking fees should, however, not be paid by the drivers but should rather be paid by the owners because it is the owners that benefit from the cheaper diesel they buy as a result of the lean margins our truck stops take on diesel sales. 

Mooi River Truck Stop and Tugela Truck Inn have never had a single incident of theft or vandalism on their premises. Drivers appreciate and value first class facilities and respond accordingly,
Jacko Maree
Melkbosstrand

Who better to respond to this but Bert Koning, our driver correspondent. Here is his comment...

Thank you for your letter and points of view. As mentioned in my article, these are opinions of drivers and my own opinion. 

In most of the countries drivers drive small cars and don't need to use the washing facilities at any of the stops in South Africa, be it Truck Stops or convenience stores. From the front these facilities look great and yes I agree with you to the general public they are great. I worked in the states and you can't begin to compare the facilities. Go to the back the complexes, to where the real things happen, ask to take a shower or to use the truckers facilities, you will see the marked difference. There are no pretty flowers like you find in the general ablutions and no body cleaning the floors on the hour etc. Please try that! 

What will happen at the Mooi River Truck Stop, in the summer months, when they have their first big downpour of rain? I think it will be big mud bath. 

As for paying to sleep and use facilities, why is it that in KZN you have to pay and elsewhere in the country you can use most of the facilities for free. Surely the inland truck stops have higher fuel levies because of the distance away from the coast. The transport cost are surely higher than the costs in KZN. How do the inland Truck Stops recover their costs?

Don't get me wrong, I am, as are all drivers grateful for the facilities provided. I just feel that the general public must look beyond the front of the truck stops to see the real picture. 

Bert Koning

Your comment

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