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Rail/Road debate

HEATED ISSUE In response to the article run in our June edition titled "Road vs Rail - Let's learn from history" FleetWatch received the following missive from Allen Jorgensen of the RailRoad Association of SA. He makes some interesting and thought provoking points and we invite readers to submit their thoughts on the subject - and to agree or disagree with him if they feel the need to do so. Here's what he wrote:

The issue of rail and road competition is a heated one, as it was when I was associated with South African Transport Magazine (1973 - 1986). The late Bill and Grace Bolton ran that excellent monthly which was, incidentally, subtitled "Road-Rail-Sea-Air".

Coming from a railway interest background, I found the arguments made by road industry manufacturers and operators against rail at the time to be enlightening. This led me to a belief that rail and road must, ultimately, understand where they are coming from and work together for the benefit of one another and growth in our region.

To compare rail transport of a 100 kg parcel to road is, I believe, not relevant or helpful, as rail is not in that business these days. Yes, in the past "the railways" tried to be all things to all people and they developed the PX system, which was conceptually an excellent idea. Large sums of money were spent on the auto-sort system which was a failure due to being ahead of its time in practical technology. The rest is history. 

Employment of current e-commerce systems and consolidation of loads along carefully planned multi-modal corridor systems, with strategic hubs for final delivery or pick-up, is ideal for small and medium size consignments including container loads.

Rail is the logical long-haul mode in this system but to ask it to transport a small parcel would be like asking a road operator to move export coal to Richards Bay. Over 5 000 (36 ton) truck loads would be required each day, 365 days per year. Could we put this traffic on a normal public road? I believe not! So let us now construct a dedicated road (as was suggested by one road operator at a CSIR transport symposium in Durban) for export coal, or other corridors such as traffic between Durban and Gauteng.

Operating Costs
Now let us compare "apples with apples" in respect of operating costs, by including the full cost of infrastructure provision and maintenance. This is the very point we must examine if we are serious about putting rail and road on an equal footing. Only then can we compare service quality.

The fact is that rail has been underfunded for over 20 years and is now suffering from these years of neglect. Herman Evert, Spoornet Strategy and Systems GM, recently stated in an interview that Spoornet was "painfully aware of its shortcomings, particularly the quality of its services."

Please do not blame the transport mode; blame past operators driven by political considerations and give the present operators time to pick up the pieces! 

Deregulation of transport (by the government, e.g. as a political consideration) in the late 1980s and early 1990s was premature since clearly defined lines for fair-competition and infrastructure cost responsibility were not established and implemented. Nor were road industry safety standards. This has led to uncontrolled entry into road transport (both freight and passengers), endemic overloading, unroadworthy vehicles and excessive hours at the wheel for many truck drivers. 

Rail has had to compete in this environment and in particular, with 56 ton rigs, having a 9-ton maximum axle load (+ 5% overloading tolerance for GCM and individual axle load - now seen as a "right" and not a concession).

These rigs operate countrywide and on roads never designed for the volume of traffic and axle loads of such vehicles. The resulting pavement damage speaks for itself. Government is also guilty of not implementing a dedicated road tax (as has been done in Namibia) or presented a transparent plan for re-investing funds gained by taxing road users.

The level of fuel taxation for different classes of vehicles is another area that requires careful scrutiny as a number of studies has found that light vehicles subsidise heavy vehicles. 

Maintenance funding
In comparison, rail must directly and accountably fund the maintenance of its infrastructure from operating revenues - rather different from road operators. This is a subject I believe your readers would do well to acquaint themselves with since there have been claims over the years that the railway industry was subsidised by the taxpayer. This is not true and history can prove this. This matter must finally be put to rest and I would only be too pleased to start the wheel rolling.

I believe the time is right for us to initiate an in-depth analysis of the history of transport policy, funding and operations in South Africa. We should also take cognisance of transport policy developments in other countries such as the United States, Sweden and New Zealand. This includes infrastructure funding and privatisation endeavours.

We of the RailRoad Association of South Africa, represent many major companies providing transport services - both to road and rail. Our association believes that all transport role-players must come together and examine ways to develop a sustainable intermodal transport policy which will be to the long-term benefit of our country. But we must first learn from our history and not try to once-again, re-invent the wheel.

Editor's Note: I must point out that we merely used the 100kg parcel as an example to highlight the inefficiencies of service that exist across a broad range of rail offerings. (See FleetWatch June 2001). We could have been wanting to haul 100 tons of coal instead of a 100 kg parcel but the point made was that we were unable to get anyone to talk to for either commodity. We even admitted in the article that the 100 kg was not the ideal example but that - and I quote - "given the sorry saga of even trying to contact the office of Spoornet Marketing for general freight, it is obvious that the Railways will have to jack up its service levels before it is able to attract customers". We were not trying to compare 'apples with apples'. What we were doing was bringing in the question of 'service' as opposed to just 'price' as a prime consideration in any debate around moving goods from road to rail.

On this point, I recently spoke to a manager of a company who regularly uses rail - and he would love to switch to road. He books say 20 rail wagons, gets a confirmation of the booking and then, when the day arrives, he only gets say 12 - with no prior warning, explanation or alternate plan in place to offset the total disruption of his delivery. He just has to take what he gets - and that's it! He reckons the price might be right but the service is the pits.

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Stress reliever

Just to say thank you for all the fun truck models you have sent us to build. Now that's a stress reliever let me tell you.
Leon Kruger 
Warehouse & Logistics Manager 
Alvern Cables (PTY) Ltd.

Editor's Note: What a pleasure. And here's some really good news. Volvo in Sweden recently ordered from us a further 70 000 of the models of the FH12 hauling a yacht on a lowbed for distribution to various countries around the world. Volvo used this initiative as a means of publicising the Volvo Ocean race via FleetWatch in South Africa - and the models are now going round the world. These cut-out trucks are really winners all the way and are serving to not only provide light relief to readers like yourself, but also to the companies which have partnered us on the different models as they are proving an exciting and different way of getting products and brand names highlighted in the market. We've received numerous phone calls from readers complimenting us the models - and asking if we have extras for their kids - which we do. I hope you enjoy this month's model. It's a real 'lekker' one.

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Suggestion for Mooi River

Regarding your August 2001 magazine referring to the former NOSA-rated Mooi River Textiles. Is it not possible that the above can be turned into a Community Training Centre where pottery, art, wood work, sewing, candle making, bead work, etc. can be taught. The goods made can then be put on sale to the public which would turn the centre into an active part of Mooi River. I'm sure overseas visitors would love to spend time going to the centre watching the goods being made.

There is also a very large overseas market for African made products. As Mooi River is part of - or could be part of - the Midlands Meander, I'm sure such a centre would be very popular.

I don't have money to buy this company but I do know people who will run it for you. It is just a thought.
Colleen
Durban

Editor's Note: Hey there Colleen. It may be 'just a thought' but it's a very noble one. Anyone out there interested in taking this further, give us a ring and we'll put you in touch with Colleen. C'mon. Let's make it happen. The town is dying.

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Kia Pregio sold out
I have noted your comments on the Kia Pregio (FleetWatch August 2001 edition) with interest but gladly I can inform you that the demand from our dealers has exceeded all our expectations. We are not looking for big volumes in this sector and placed a relatively conservative initial order for the launch on the local market.

This allocation was sold out within the matter of a week and we have had to place a new order with Kia in Korea sooner than we thought. This order has now also already been largely committed and unfortunately, due to their international commitment for the Pregio, we are not going to be able to obtain as many as we believe the market would like to absorb in the short to medium term.
Ray Levin
CEO, Kia South Africa.

Editor's Note: It looks like I may just have to eat my words. And congratulations on this success.

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