Abnormal hauliers demand clarity on draft regulations

The abnormal loads industry is fed up with a draft government document regulating the industry that can be interpreted differently depending on whom one speaks to. The TRH 11 that acts as a guideline to the abnormal industry has been in circulation for more than ten years but remains a draft due to various provincial disputes over some of the content. According to the industry the document, while in essence is sound and reasonable, is being interpreted differently resulting in not just major misunderstandings but also heavy fines. One crane owner who preferred to remain anonymous told FTW that in one instance he was fined after the crane had been weighed 12 times by officials at the weighbridge. This, he said, was due to the officers not being able to reach consensus on what the weight and the subsequent fine was to be. In another case a company was charged R4 500 for a permit, while the same permit a week later came in at a whopping R45 000. “There is no consistency in the interpretation of the document,” said Gavin Kelly, spokesman for the Road Freight Association. “So what is legal in one province is no longer legal in another and that is dependent on the interpretation of the TRH11 by the individual stopping the truck. He said this happened because the document remained a draft. One of the issues in the TRH 11, which is resulting in huge fines being imposed, is the clause stating that no faxed or copied permits are allowed in trucks and that only the original documentation is acceptable. “We have engaged with officials and there is huge resistance against changing this regulation. We have also now taken it up with the Deputy Minister of Transport as it is impossible to always have the original permit in the truck.” At a meeting in Johannesburg last week, the abnormal loads industry said the document was starting to have serious impact on business as regulations were changed according to interpretations of the document. “We build and buy equipment around their regulations according to this document, only to be fined astronomical amounts because someone at a weighbridge understands it differently. And to make matters worse there is no recourse. We just have to pay up. Enough really is enough.”