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.”