Battle continues over CT’s abnormal ruling headache

The abnormal truckers are
still stalled in the Western
Cape by an arbitrary decision
by a member of the province’s
transport department to
lay down a completely
impractical ruling that only
allows trucks a 12-tonne per
axle limit in the province.
The hauliers are now totally
dependent on the efforts of
the Road Freight Association
(RFA) to overcome a ruling
which is putting most of the
trailers and trucks in the
abnormal loads industry
off the roads in the Cape,
according to Carl Webb, MD
of abnormal load specialists,
Project Logistics Management
– who pointed out that the
bulk of the heavyweight
vehicles were built to carry
anything from 20-to-32-
tonnes per axle.
And the RFA’s efforts
have so far been thwarted, as
pinning down the official(s)
who initiated the 12-t limit
to have it removed has been
to no avail, according to
Gavin Kelly, technical and
operations manager at the
RFA.
“We have been led to
believe that the limit is on
hold,” he said, “but we have
been able to get no official
confirmation of this.
“We were told that the
reason for the limit was the
‘lawlessness of abnormal
operators’,” he told FTW. “But
exactly what this means was
not clarified – and operators
pay a premium anyway, that is
supposed to cover any damage
done by their vehicles.
“We also heard that the
instruction had come down
from the department of
transport in Pretoria. But
enquiries at the DoT revealed
nothing.
“One thing is for sure. If
things don’t fall into line,
we’ll take legal action on
the issue.”