Co-operation minimises rolling stock shortage

LEONARD NEILL
SPOORNET HAS its problems in the provision of rolling stock, but working in partnership with the rail utility is the only way forward, says Don Swart, Eastern Cape regional manager for the country’s largest private rail container client company, RailRoad Africa (RRA).
“We may not always experience the same scale of difficulties as the more heavily industrialised Gauteng region, but getting rolling stock is a problem wherever you are in the country.
“For that reason we linked with the local Spoornet authorities as closely as possible, worked out schedules and provided them with our requirements. The result is a smooth operation in and out of Botswana and Lesotho and a considerable reduction in our delivery times.”
Volvo trucks in broken down form arrive in Port Elizabeth from Scandinavia and are railed to Botswana, where they are built up and then re-exported to South African and overseas clients.
“There was a long delay initially in getting the trucks for loading at the port,” says Swart. “Negotiations with Spoornet enabled us to save four days on this service, and it is now a four or five day discharge-to-arrival time in Botswana.”
Both rail and road transportation convey large incoming consignments of textiles from the Far East to Maseru, where the completed garments are then sent down to PE for export, mainly to the US, with Lesotho enjoying the benefits of the AGOA agreement.
“We also monitor the company’s movement of textiles through Durban and Cape Town from our Port Elizabeth base,” says Swart.