CEO
of the Road Freight Association (RFA), Sharmini Naidoo, succinctly described
the challenges faced by the road transport sector at the RFA Convention.
Opening
the association’s annual convention at the Legend Golf & Safari Resort in
Limpopo,
Naidoo said that excessive taxes, unnecessary tariffs, exorbitant fees and fines, truck bans, the re-introduction of the permit system, congestion taxes, emission taxes linked to licensing renewals in addition to carbon taxes on fuel, rising costs, uncertainty about the wage agreement, threats of another downgrade, tighter budgets, more expensive financing, less investment in South Africa and dwindling profit margins; is the reality faced by the trucking industry [today].
The draft Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes for the road freight industry have been published for comment and is of critical importance. Operators could see themselves in severe difficulties if measures to meet targets are not taken, particularly in terms of ownership and preferential procurement. Once implemented, your BEE scoring will also impact your customers rating.
Naidoo
provided context to the trucking industry saying that 1 450 million tonnes of
bulk commodities were moved by trucks in 2015 in South Africa. 20 million
tonnes of which were moved due to a lack of rail services. A hundred and thirty
thousand people are employed and registered with the National Bargaining
Council. The trucking industry makes a contribution around 7 – 8% of the
country’s GDP in deliveries by operators transporting for gain, financing from
banks and fuel purchases, all of which amounts to a staggering R130 billion.
This is the contribution made by the trucking industry to the South African
economy.
Despite
the impressive figures, the industry was not acknowledged for its contribution
and true worth. Instead, steps are being taken to move trucks from the road.
Policy statements to shift freight from road to rail have found their way to
the draft National Freight Logistics Strategy and the Green Transport Strategy
and artificial measures to make road freight less attractive and more expensive
are on the cards.
She added
that penalising the industry was an injustice. It has taken many years for the
industry to fine-tune its processes, not to mention the investment it has made
in the latest technologies to deliver quick and efficient services to its
customers.
Naidoo said that truck accidents contributed 4.8% of the total number of accidents over the December holidays, but conceded that they have a much bigger impact. Truck accidents most often claim lives, create major backlogs and inefficiency on our roads and impact both operators and other road users. Every new truck accident reported further damages the credibility of the trucking industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re an operator that plays by the rules, trains its drivers or regularly maintains its fleet; you are seen as just another unscrupulous trucker that skims profits, exploits drivers and disregards the rules of the road. The introduction of AARTO is seen as a way to curb all of this.
Naidoo
added that the 2016 convention had been specially structured to address these
issues.
“I urge
you to participate fully in all the discussions, as your views will feed into
our future lobbying strategies. It’s worth remembering and acknowledging that
the trucking industry delivers every item on the shelves of every shopping
centre. Your food, your clothes, and even your tablet and iPhone are delivered
by truck. Ladies and Gentlemen, without trucks, South Africa stops,” she
concluded.
Article first appeared in Transport
World Africa: 
