exorbitant toll fees enrage haulage industry

Exorbitant fees on some 40 new toll roads planned for Gauteng will have a dire impact on the economy of not just the province, but the entire country, the road freight industry has warned. Initial reports have indicated that the new toll roads coming into effect on the Gauteng freeways in April 2011 will charge light motor vehicles some 50 cents a kilometre, while trucks and other heavy vehicles will have to fork out a whopping R3.50 per kilometre. “We are staring down the barrel of a gun,” says Road Freight Association (RFA) spokesman Gavin Kelly. “There is the perception that trucks cause more harm to the road and should therefore be paying more towards the tolls that will be used for the maintenance and upkeep of the newly renovated Gauteng freeway system. The fact is this is more than seven times the rate of cars and as industry we are already contributing due to various levies and payments. It will be unaffordable for some operators.” Having launched a forum for comment the RFA is set to take the matter to the Department of Transport in coming weeks. “We want to know what the bigger picture is. The rate of R3.50 per km works out at double the fuel price for a heavy vehicle at present.” South African National Road Agency (Sanral) CEO Nazir Alli, however, told FTW the toll road fees and subsequent prices were nothing new. “We have been talking to the road freight industry since 2006 – they have known that this is on the cards for years.” He said it was important to remove emotion from the argument and understand that the ultimate effect of the toll road fees would be cost savings. “We understand their argument, but the bigger picture is that they will be saving in terms of fuel, vehicle operating cost and time.” The cost of tolls between the Johannesburg CBD and the Pretoria CBD for a light vehicle at current estimations will be in the region of R1020 per month. This cost is calculated as the distance between the two cities multiplied by the estimated cost per km multiplied by two for a round trip multiplied by an estimated 20 working days. For a truck this figure will be in the region of R7000 if they only travel the route twice per day. “In same cases there are hauliers travelling a route five or six times a day,” says Kelly. Garth Bolton of Cargo Carriers agreed, describing the fees as “exorbitant and ridiculous”. Alli maintains that while there would be an initial cost, tolling Gauteng’s roads would benefit more than it would harm.