Truck ban could brake the economy
Oct 21 2009
Retail Wrap >>

A ban on certain trucks using the country's roads is coming.

A new government freight strategy plans to prohibit certain commodities from being transported by road as it seeks to revitalise the branch rail lines and reduce damage to the road infrastructure.

Sharmini Naidoo, the chief executive of the Road Freight Association (RFA), said this legislation, if implemented, could have a serious impact on the road freight industry.

"It will affect operators, suppliers, manufacturers, as well as customers," she said. "Possible effects include higher pricing, lower gross vehicle mass and reduced payloads, doubling of logistics costs, more vehicles on our roads and changed vehicle specifications."

Frank Beeton, a consultant at Econometrix, said the intention of the planned reduction in axle limits on secondary roads was to bring rail back into contention as a mode of transport, but had the potential to do severe damage to the economy and create confusion and grey areas if the government prescribed what goods could travel on roads.

Notice of the planned prohibition plus a reduction in axle load limits on secondary roads from 9 000kg to 8 000kg was contained in a letter sent to transport stakeholders - including the RFA - by the Transport Department's acting chief director for road traffic regulations, John Motsatsing.

In the letter, Motsatsing indicated the intention of the prohibition was to save "adjacent or surrounding road networks through the revitalisation of those (rail) branch lines". It did not specify what commodities would be prohibited. Attempts to obtain further comment from the department were unsuccessful.

Beeton said it was impossible at this stage to quantify the potential damage to the economy because it would depend on how strategic the commodities were and the volumes that were moved to rail. But he said the volumes moved to rail would have to be fairly substantial "or else there is no point".

Adapted from Source: www.busrep.co.za, 20 October 2009