In defence of 
TRUCK DRIVERS

I am a female owner of a manufacturing company and recently had the opportunity to be the guest of a truck driver in a Scania on a week long trip to various points in South Africa. 

How it came about was when I stood admiring a truck which had arrived at my premises to deliver some material. The driver approached me and cordially invited me to join him whenever he had a trip to the Cape. Months later I accepted his invitation and had the most glorious time of my life.

I recall reading an article in one of the past issues of FleetWatch titled 'What Makes a Truck Driver Tick' and decided that keeping quiet about my view of truck drivers would be a sin. 

Interesting is that I was warned by all my friends and colleagues not to make the trip as "all truck drivers are the same". I'm so glad to say this was not the case. He was a real gentleman and treated me as a lady and with utmost respect. I was never allowed to even go the toilet alone. His assistant always had to play "body guard" as I had to be returned safely and unharmed.

He never touched me, used no alcohol, never did drugs, only ate twice a day - sometimes only once a day - and slept for a mere two to three hours a night and not even every night. I cannot describe the respect he earned from me. He stopped at only the cleanest truck stops where possible to shower - and there weren't many. In fact, I wish something could be done about the filthy situation at most of the truck stops. I sometimes left without even using the toilet as it was so disgusting. 

On the down side, the way he was treated at the dispatch areas of some companies was so sad. Sometimes we had to wait for hours before the truck could be loaded or offloaded. His timing was always determined by the customers who had all the time in the world. He wasted no time on the road only stopping to go to the toilet, buy food and refuel - all in one go - and would then leave again without any unnecessary delay. A lot of time is also wasted at weighbridges and when overloaded, the poor trucker gets the blame - not the agents or customers who determine the weight.

Most motorists I saw on the road were highly inconsiderate and drove like maniacs without any consideration given to the weight or the speed of the truck. I could not believe some of the dangerous situations we were put into because of piggish motorists. This particular truck driver's driving skills amazed me totally. His patience with inconsiderate motorists made me feel ashamed of the "blind accusations" that are always made against truck drivers by motorists.

Truck drivers are also accused of having affairs in every town and this is totally far fetched. Most of the time they are so tired due to lack of sleep that I don't think they would have the energy for sex, let alone in every town. So to you wives of truck drivers, don't worry. I assure you they would love to be in your loving arms rather than sitting behind a cold steering wheel. 

I can wholeheartedly confirm that truckers, with their long hair and bearded faces, do not do drugs, are not alcoholics and are definitely not low class citizens as everybody believes. What I also now know is that they are not respected for the love of their unappreciated job nor their love of their country. They are definitely underrated. They are the ones who keep the economy going and I know for sure that I will not hesitate to defend the truck drivers of South Africa - except of course, the handful that do act out of line. There is always the exception to every rule. I agree that some of them are a bit rough but to treat them all the same is a sin

I urge everyone out there to have some respect for these good men. They have a heart and a soul and are not made of steel. They work long hours and patiently have to listen to a lot of criticism from unfriendly communities who have not taken the trouble to know or understand them.

Thank you Truckers! You do a great job and are appreciated - if not by everyone, certainly by a lot of us.
Anonymous

Editor's Comment: 
If FleetWatch gave out a prize for the best letter received, this one would win it hands down. As a matter of interest, I stated in a previous edition that we would not publish anonymous letters. This letter arrived via email with a note urging that the writer's name and company be kept anonymous. I replied with an email stating that I would not publish the letter unless she revealed, to me at least, her identity. She did so and I checked out the authenticity of the writer. The whole thing is genuine and I am therefore happy to publish her letter while also respecting her need for anonymity. What a wonderful tribute to truck drivers. If more people would take the time to get out of their offices and go out there on the road with the truck drivers there would be a lot more understanding of and appreciation for these 'unsung heroes' of our economy. Good on you Mrs Anonymous!


Your comment

The closed gates of the former three-star NOSA-rated Mooi River Textiles where some 2 000 locals were previously employed. The driveway beyond the gates leading to the offices is deserted and grass now grows in the swimming pool where children used to play. The facility is up for sale. Spread the word. Mooi River is dying. It needs a revival plan.

Proposal is flawed I refer to the article about road verses rail in your June edition and wish to comment as follows. While we are all aware of the damage been done to our national roads by the overloading of trucks; the congestion on some routes due to the number of trucks; and the need for rail to play a bigger role in the transporting of goods in this country, particularly bulk commodities; the rail authorities are going to have to vastly improve service levels in order to encourage patronage of their facilities. While road transport is literally able to move most goods between centres overnight, rail traffic normally takes days - and sometimes even weeks. While truck highjacking is a significant problem, so too is the criminal activity along our rail networks where trains are often stopped illegally and rifled. At a recent conference in Mooi River, businessmen of the Natal Midlands were presented with a proposal for building an inland container port in the Mooi River/Estcourt area. I listened to this proposal and found it to be flawed in a number of areas. Firstly, the presentation itself was of extremely poor quality and the research that had been undertaken by a private consultancy (most probably at the taxpayers' expense) had definitely not been conducted thoroughly. The proposal was that all goods between Durban and the interior would be railed to the inland container port where it would be cleared and transferred to road transport for the rest of it's journey. Likewise, Durban-bound goods for export would be road-freighted to the inland port from where it would be put on a train bound for Durban harbour.

No trucker in his right mind transporting goods between Durban and Johannesburg (or visa versa) is going to switch between road and rail at this inland container terminal when he could go all the way with his own vehicle. While I do appreciate the attempt at moving traffic off our busy roads onto the under-utilised rail system, all that this proposal will do is cause goods to be unnecessarily delayed and costs to be increased due to the increased handling of such goods. This won't please transporters, suppliers or consumers.

Before any other such hair-brain schemes are proposed, any consultant worth his salt should consider the good of the overall national economy before that of his own pocket.

One interesting proposal that has, however, recently come to light is that of the rail-roader, whereby truck-trailers are loaded directly onto rail flatbeds for overnight long-distance removal. The whole idea of any such new proposals is to keep costs to a minimum, handling to a minimum and delays to a minimum.
Nick McConnell
The Kendal Group
Hubers (Pty) Ltd.

Editor's Comment: 
Yes, FleetWatch knows of the proposal to establish an inland container port in the Mooi River area. In fact, we heard of it over a year ago and at the time, traced one of the local businessmen in the Mooi River area for comment. He was surprised we had heard of the project then but said he couldn't give any details at that stage as it was still early days.

From what I recall, the idea was spurred by the high unemployment rate in the area following the closure of Mooi River Textiles which resulted in 2 000 jobs lost. Although it was not envisaged that the container port would replace all the jobs, it was seen as going some way towards alleviating the high unemployment in the area and providing some form of economic input for the area. That was the idea - and I'm sure there's more to it than that.

While the merits and demerits of such a scheme would take hours of debate, one has to admire the vision of the locals in trying to revive Mooi River, which is truly a town in extreme distress. All it has are a few stores, a couple of garages including an Engen truck stop, and a great big toll plaza stuck in the middle of it.

The toll plaza itself has brought with it a number of problems not least of which is the spread of HIV/AIDS in Bruntville, the township that straddles the highway. It is well know that commercial sex workers ply their trade among the truck drivers and that most of these ladies reside in Bruntville. The results of their actions, however, has been an horrific increase in the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the area.

"People are dying like flies here from AIDS. Our cemetery is now at the capacity it should only have reached in about five years time. We are burying so often that we are going to have to find another cemetery soon," is what Hayden Soobramoney, local DA councillor for Mooi River, tells FleetWatch.

Against the background, does an inland container port at Mooi River have merit? Certainly it terms of providing economic stimulus to an area which desperately needs it, it does. However, to Durban-based operators such as Sentinel Transport, who would be loath to end their current Durban-Johannesburg runs at Mooi River, it doesn't.

Whatever the outcome, the locals deserve full marks for applying lateral thought into trying to inject some form of survival mechanism into a town which everyone else seems to have forgotten.

And here's a thought. Since the spread of HIV/AIDS in the area has been directly linked to the trucking industry via commercial sex workers servicing the truck drivers at the toll plaza, what about ideas from the industry to revive Mooi River?

The people of this town need help - and they need hope. While an inland container terminal may not be the answer, there's got to be something that can be done. That town is dying - in more ways than one - and the locals need a helping hand. How can we help? Let's have your ideas.

The former premises of Mooi River Textiles are still in place - and it up for sale. Perhaps there's some overseas - or local - concern that needs to set up a manufacturing facility. There is a hands-on labour pool from which to draw; the town has ideal access to both road and rail. There are a lot of attractive positives here

Hey look, I might be showing an idealistic view here but what the heck: If you don't have your line in the water, you ain't gonna catch no fish. Volkswagen South Africa threw it's line into the global waters and is today manufacturing Golf 4s for the world. Daimler Chrysler South Africa puts its line out and is today manufacturing C Class Mercs for the world. Can something great not come out of Mooi River?

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