February 2009

  More Moegoes!  

Manie Roux, sales and technical manager of JOST Transport Equipment, was driving in traffic on the N3 north on February 3rd when he spotted this truck with its tyres missing on the left rear axle. He sent it in to us as a contender for ‘Moegoe of the Month’ for, as he says in his email to FleetWatch: “I am becoming more amazed on a daily basis at what is happening in our beloved tran(e)sport industry!” 

Coming from a man who has been around the trucking industry for many years, his comment is a terrible indictment against the standards being applied by some operators today. It seems anything goes and taking shortcuts in solving problems has become the norm. While this guy’s tyres might have been stolen, punctured or whatever, that is no way to get to the depot for repairs. The vehicle is unroadworthy and should not have been operating on the road in this state. 

Manie wins a bottle of the finest Chateau Collapso from FleetWatch for taking the trouble to highlight this Moegoe for all to see.

STAYING within the Moegoe arena, Steven Norris, who has got to be the most avid spotter of Moegoes out there, sent us the accompanying pics of the leaning load and the bakkie. 

The straps holding the load on that flatdeck from a neighbouring country are taking real strain but apart from the numerous dangers inherent in this situation, we thought Norris’ comment was a classic: “Just in case you’re feeling wonky this morning, remember there is always going to be somebody else in the world who is having a slightly more wonky day than you.” 

How on earth though, did the cops not spot this truck which had travelled hundreds of miles on our roads from the border? It should have been taken off the road long before it reached Johannesburg where Norris spotted it. 

As a result of the genuine concern we have regarding the visual acuity of our traffic officials, FleetWatch is thinking of introducing a ‘spot the lousy truck’ course for our traffic officials who seem to be getting blinder by the day. The big challenge, though, is doing it in braille. 

And how’s that bakkie? As Norris comments: “You gotta love the pre-planning that goes into loading a pre- Noah’s Arc South African cross-border bakkie. The spare wheel is clearly visible and easily available in case of a flat tyre along the route. The ‘dikwiel bike’ is also available just in case they run out of petrol driving through the neighbouring countries north of our border.” 

Looks like we’re going to have to include a chapter in our braille course on bakkie spotting. 

For his enthusiastic ability to highlight such miscreants on our roads, Norris once again wins a bottle of the finest Chateau Collapso compliments of FleetWatch. 

Now if only the cops would emulate him, we’d get somewhere in cleaning up our roads. 

Readers who spot any malpractice out there on the roads to which they take exception and regard as dangerous can send their digital pictures and comment to the Editor at email fleetwatch@pixie.co.za 

Please ensure the digital pictures are above 350kb or quality in the print process will be lost.