Axle mass reduction looks unlikely

While the Road Freight Association (RFA) continues to engage with consultants appointed by the Department of Transport (DoT) about its intention to reduce the permissible single rear axle mass for freight vehicles from the current 9 tons to 8 tons, the battle is just about over. According to RFA spokesman Gavin Kelly, the matter is not the major issue it was some months ago. “I think everyone is in agreement that this proposal is not going to see implementation in the near future. We know that the consultants appointed by the DoT have done a baseline study on the proposal and that has been forwarded to the DoT for a conclusion on the axle mass debate. We don’t foresee the current tonnage being changed though.” He said while the debate had been highly emotive and led to a huge industry outcry, it had highlighted an important issue. “This entire saga has raised the important issue of the condition of our roads and brought focus on why our roads are in the current condition. Maintenance of roads has become the focus and that is something that must be addressed. If this is what has been achieved by the axle mass proposal, then something positive has come out of it.” Kelly said there was no doubt that South Africa’s rural roads were not built to take axle loads of nine tons. “If they can handle six tons, we are lucky. This is something that must be addressed by the DoT and our industry. Another important outcome has been the realisation of the lack of an effective policing system for those operators who are not sticking to the rules and are moving extremely heavy loads onto secondary roads to avoid weigh bridges for instance. We need to find a way of dealing with the problem children in our industry.” But, said Kelly, bringing to the forefront the fact that trucks are not to blame for the state of the roads, but rather the lack of maintenance has been an extremely positive outcome for the industry. “The infrastructure itself is a problem along with the maintenance of it and that is something the DoT cannot ignore for much longer.”