How lucky can you get? In the case of the driver of the car carrier pictured here - extremely lucky especially since he was illegally parked and was hauling valuable and expensive cargo that could have been written off. There are points to ponder arising from this incident writes Patrick O'Leary.

Driving back from Van Reenen a few weeks ago, I came across this rig precariously leaning on the side of a steep embankment alongside the exit ramp section of the Caltex Monte Vista StarStop on the Jo'burg side of Harrismith. The driver was nowhere in sight which meant he had probably experienced his lucky break sometime during the night and was now deep breathing in Noddyland somewhere around the back of the truck stop.

Taking a walk around the rig, two things stuck me. The first was that the driver could not have been very experienced or road wise as despite there being more than enough room to comfortable park off without incident, he went much too far left thus displaying an error of driving judgement. A professional, trained and experienced driver would not have made such an easily avoidable mistake. This driver obviously wanted to pull off far enough to avoid blocking the exit route to other traffic - but he needn't have gone that far!

My apologies to the operator if my summation is incorrect in terms of him not having well trained drivers piloting his rigs. However, reading the on-site signs tells me that this guy needs more training - which brings me to the lesson from this first point.

Difficult to find drivers
If I am correct in my summation, let that operator take consolation in the fact that he is not the only one with that problem. At the recent Road Freight Association conference held in Swaziland, a survey was conducted among delegates as to the driver situation in South Africa. A number of pertinent questions were asked but the one that got down to the bottom line was: 'Do you find it hard to find professional driving staff?" To this, 90% of delegates responded yes. A fancy push-button gizmo sponsored by ABSA allowed for instant processing of survey results.

For many years now, FleetWatch has been shouting from the rooftops about the shortage of drivers in the industry. We have stated that the few new drivers coming into the industry are young, inexperienced and generally untrained which tends to replace the one problem - the shortage - with another - accidents and incidents.

Most people see accidents involving two or more vehicles as the money waster. However, as FleetWatch technical correspondent Dave Scott has so often pointed out, single vehicle incidents also need to be recorded as they too cost money. The situation referred to here is not an accident. It is an incident - and a costly one at that.

Firstly, that truck is in downtime mode; secondly, delivery to the customer will be late; thirdly, it will have to be put back on the road by a tow truck rig and then inspected for damage. If unsafe, a replacement rig will have to be brought in to transfer the load of new vehicles while the damaged rig limps off to the workshops. It's all wasted time and money - and all due to a simple error in driving judgement.

At the RFA convention, the survey mentioned above ended with the question of whether or not operators would like to see the establishment of an industry supported driver training facility. The overwhelming response was yes with 94% of respondents saying they would support such a centre by sending their drivers for training.

I highlight all this to point out the lesson that driver training will not only reduce the number of accidents but also the number of incidents. The industry really needs to move on this.

Not enough parking?
The second thing to strike me was why, with the Caltex truck stop a mere 100 meters behind him, did the driver park there? It's actually an illegal parking spot but that aside, was the Caltex truck parking area full when he pulled in during the night forcing him to park away from it? If it was, I don't blame him for trying to park where he did as it's better than alongside the highway - which is far more dangerous. Also, with the security situation being as it is out there on the road at night, there is no way he can just pull off into a lay-by somewhere along the route. There's safety in numbers. 

I phoned the Caltex StarStop and spoke to manager Wilma van Wyk who had seen the truck standing but could not confirm whether or not the truck parking was full the night before. She explained that if a truck filled up with diesel - any amount - the driver could park off and sleep on site for free.

"However, if they don't buy our diesel, they then need to pay R50 to sleep over. I'm not 100% sure if we were full but my guess is that in this case, the driver probably parked there out of his own choice," she said.

Stressing the point that she is a truck-friendly person having visited many truck stops in the USA on her yearly visits to her daughter, she said she had been urging Caltex for some time to open a bigger parking area at the site. "The land is here so it can be done and we can provide safe parking for more drivers on this route," she said.

Although some would argue that there is enough safe, formal parking on the N3 for drivers to overnight, I would disagree. Certainly if you add up all the 'formal' truckstop parking spots along the route on any one night, you might find a few spaces open. However, given that many operators instruct their drivers to be off the road between 11.00pm and 4.00am, they have set destinations to get to. The Harrismith area and surrounds is obviously a popular destination for overnighting as it is midway between Johannesburg and Durban and it is here that hundreds - and I mean hundreds - of trucks converge every night.

A problem for Harrismith
Highway Junction, situated at the entrance to Harrismith from the south, is a facility FleetWatch rates as one of the top truck stops in the country. It has parking spots for around 450 trucks per night and it is full every night. So where do the others park? That is easily answered by taking a drive through the town on any night. The trucks are everywhere and have, in fact, now become a problem to the townsfolk.
 

Too right it did. Much more than a R50 parking fee. But was there enough parking for that driver to overnight in the formal truck parking area?

Perhaps it is time to look at upgrading the lay-byes along the route to allow drivers basic sleeping facilities. All that is needed is ablution facilities and a parking spot. Nothing fancy. They do this in Europe but the difference there is that it is safe for drivers to catch a nap when they pull over at these stops. In South Africa, it is totally unsafe to do so but here again,does this not provide us with an opportunity to create employment for security personnel?

FleetWatch issues this as a challenge to the N3TC. Take a look at the pictures featured above which I took of such lay-bye facilities in Germany. It can be done here and will provide a safe haven for drivers, their trucks and their cargo to rest - as well as provide jobs for security personnel. On the up side, Roux tells me there is a new truck stop being built at the Vaalbraai intersection on the N3 - about 19kms north of the Vaal River. That's good news but it won't be enough.

I look forward to the N3TC's response to this FleetWatch challenge. Until then, urge your drivers take care where you park. They might just fall over.