Arbitrary cross-border ‘transgressions’ defy logic

It was several years ago in Zambia in the parking zone of a local transporter’s office where someone told me to put down pen and paper, kiss journalism goodbye and buy a truck and head into Africa. “You won’t be sorry, just rich,” he said pointing to the dusty vehicles parked row upon row in front of us. “This continent is booming. There is work to be done.” I can’t say I was tempted. Rich I could do, but trucking? “There are far more reasons why you should not buy a truck and head into Africa than why you should,” says one transporter, putting down the phone after a brief conversation with one of his truck drivers. “We just got fined at Dondo in Mozambique for ‘making dust’ with the truck. And if you saw the road you would understand it’s not exactly a hard surface.” The absurdity of cross-border infringements often leaves one baffled. In February a transport company had its vehicles detained because their exhaust pipes were pointing in the wrong direction. The six vehicles, stopped at the Vic Falls in Zimbabwe, had exhausts pointing to the ground and not into the air. The fact that the Mercedes Benz-manufactured vehicles were designed this way was really of no concern to the officials. In fact, most cross-border transporters, when told of this incident, will not blink an eye. “I would not be surprised if the official told the truck driver to go tell Mercedes Benz ‘to fix’ their trucks,” says another trucker. “The fact that there is nothing wrong with the trucks and that the infringement is absurd is beyond them.” Another trucker tells of how he was stopped, also in Zimbabwe, and handed a hefty fine for not having a reverse light on the front of the truck. “When I asked why I needed a reverse light on the front I was given a very clear answer,” he recalls. “For when I reverse forward. What can you say? I paid the fine.” The reasons why trucks are stopped cross border (and locally) often range from ludicrous to absurd to sometimes downright stupid, truckers told FTW. “The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is left hand drive and we have been fined there for having a steering wheel on the wrong side of the vehicle,” says another trucker. It’s also a country where the speed limit is 40km per hour and being fined for driving over or under the limit is a common occurrence. One has to drive exactly 40km per hour. Another trucker tells of how in Mozambique an officer checked if the fire extinguishers were working by setting them all off. That meant they were now expired for the remainder of the trip. “It was also in Mozambique where I was stopped for a speeding fine,” recalls the same trucker. “When I asked for the camera the officer told me he started counting when I passed that tree and when I got to the next tree he had not yet reached 10. So obviously I was speeding.” There is nothing for which trucks can’t be stopped. In Zambia trucks are fined when the air dryer drips water onto the road (much like an aircon does) as this is considered spillage, while South African authorities stop trucks for being fire hazards by just looking at them or for parking in any area not deemed a truck parking area, no matter what the reason. One trucker recalls how in Zimbabwe he had gone out for some drinks and, when it came to driving home, he handed the keys of the GP-registered vehicle to a friend who had not had any alcohol. “We were stopped at a road block where the officer insisted that since my name was on the Temporary Import Permit, I must drive, even though I confessed to having had a few drinks. Eventually I got in the driver’s seat and drove the car 100m from the road block before we swopped over again.” INSERTS Vehicles detained because their exhaust pipes were pointing in the wrong direction. Hefty fine handed out in Zimbabwe for not having a reverse light on the front of the truck. ‘In Dondo in Mozambique we were fined for ‘making dust’ with the truck.’ ‘When I asked for the camera the officer told me he started counting when I passed that tree and when I got to the next tree he had not yet reached 10. So obviously I was speeding.’