Case study raises alarm bells for SA’s crumbling road network

Bad roads are increasingly impacting negatively on the cost of transporting freight in South Africa. Findings of the recently released Fifth State of Logistics Survey for South Africa found that driving on an uneven road surface affects the speeds at which any vehicle can travel safely. This immediately affects the logistics of delivering goods at optimum times to a customer while also increasing the fuel consumption of the vehicle. And as the cost of transported cargo increases it affects the economy negatively, said Hans Ittman, executive director of CSIR Built Environment, who delivered the results of the survey in Johannesburg earlier this month. “South Africa’s roads will not last with the continuous large volumes of freight being transported on them.” He said a case study involving a fleet of 577 trucks transporting cargo over a range of different road conditions was undertaken to determine the exact effects of roads over a nine-month period. The roads on which the cargo was transported were also qualified according to their type, with one being an excellent road and five very bad. “The riding quality of a road is the primary indication of the condition of a road. The decrease in the riding quality leads to increased vibrations that subsequently leads to the structural damage in vehicles,” said Ittman. “This increases the transportation costs of any company greatly.” According to Ittman the case study found that trucks travelling with worse riding conditions experienced an increase in cost between 684% and 1 560% respectively. “The increase in cost was mostly due to breakages of suspension and trailer components.” He said findings also indicated that vibrations of the road affected the transported cargo often resulting in damage to goods.