Where to the  ENGINEER? South Africa needs an active fraternity of road transport engineers but the irony is that there is still no definition for the qualifications and functions of a road transport engineer in South Africa. This anomaly was the topic of discussion at a recent meeting of the Johannesburg Centre of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers. While a start has been made, there is still a long way to go before a final definition is decided on reports Jack Webster.

"There is no Prescribed minimum qualification for the person responsible for the operating performance and roadworthy condition of the vehicles"  Jack Webster Fellow, IRTE

Jimmy Campbell, chairman of the Technical Committee of the IRTE, opened the discussion by expressing the view that the basic qualification for a road transport engineer should be taken from the IRTE London document "The Role of the Road Transport Engineer" and the examination syllabus and regulations which qualifies a person for membership of IRTE.

In Britain, a person has to be the holder of a Certificate of Competency (CPC) issued by the Ministry of Transport to be responsible for a fleet of vehicles. A full member of IRTE qualifies for certain exemptions for CPC.

Campbell also referred to section 49 of the National Road Traffic Act which prescribes the duties of an operator which includes the responsibility for ensuring that vehicles are kept in a roadworthy condition and operated in accordance with the regulations, etc.

While this section of the Act is directed at the operator, the duties require the person responsible to be technically qualified.

Jack Webster, a Fellow of the IRTE, then presented his thoughts on the need for a road transport engineer as well as his recognition and functions.

He stressed the fact that any factory, workshop, power station or the like which consumes or generates more than 750 kW of power (1 000 HP) must be under the supervision of a person holding a Certificate of Competency (Government Ticket). However, in the case of a transport operator who runs three high-powered truck-tractors which develop more than 750 kW, there is no prescribed minimum qualification for the person responsible for the operating performance and roadworthy condition of the vehicles.

Webster also made reference to large fleets of vehicles such as Cargo Carriers, Tanker Services, United Transport, Trencor and others, who placed a high level of responsibility and authority on the engineers with unquestionable success.

While it is generally conceded that an engineer is mostly concerned with technical matters, he emphasised that in the case of the exam for the Certificate of Competency (Government Ticket), a high level of knowledge of legislation is also needed and this applies very definitely to the road transport engineer.

Reference was also made to Section 50 of the Act which prescribes the administrative powers of the provincial MEC and the action he/she can take if an operator fails to meet the duties prescribed in section 49.

For example, if an operator is found to persistently and/or consistently operate unroadworthy vehicles, or is found to persistently and/or consistently overload his (or her) vehicles, the MEC can suspend or even cancel the operator card - without resorting to prosecution and court action. Regrettably, for some unknown reason, section 50 has seldom, if ever, been applied, but will be if and when the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act ever becomes law. 

Complex issue
The relationship and distinction between an operator and a Road Transport Engineer was also discussed and it was agreed that this is a complex issue and amounts to delegation of responsibility.

By virtue of the definition, the operator is the person responsible for the use of the vehicle and in terms of Regulation 267, the owner of the vehicle is registered as the operator when licensing the vehicle. In some cases, the title holder (i.e. the Bank) could be the owner or a company who has nominated the Chairman/Chief Executive as the proxy/representative. 

It would be logical, in such circumstances, to delegate the duties prescribed in section 49 of the Act to someone suitably technically qualified and who better than a Road Transport Engineer. If such a person was recognised and given authority by law, he could stop a vehicle leaving the depot if it was not safe, was unroadworthy or overloaded.

A discussion took place around the training of a transport engineer and Campbell's suggestion that the IRTE (London) course and examination should be used was met with mixed reaction. Some felt it would be a good starting point but others felt it would have to be based on more local conditions and requirements if official status and recognition is to be achieved. An important point was raised regarding the need to give due consideration to the skills development policy adopted by Government.

After discussion, it was agreed that the time has now arrived to make positive progress towards introducing and recognising a Road Transport Engineer in South Africa. To achieve this goal, a working group was formed to take the matter further.

IRTE is to create single national Body...