Industry and the Department of Transport (DoT) have returned to the drawing board over the terms of reference guiding the work of an inclusive task team focused on the height restriction of ISO containers.
This comes after industry rejected the terms drafted after the first meeting of the task team, appointed by Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande, at the end of last year.
According to Mike Walwyn, a representative on the industry committee, the first set of terms was not in accordance with the specific concerns around high cubes, but after a second meeting in Pretoria in January there was consensus about what was required going forward.
“We have yet to see the new terms, but it was a very fruitful meeting and I do believe we will be able to move forward from here,” he told FTW. “There is real understanding and some sympathy in the DoT for industry’s situation and much effort is being made to work with us to find the best solution for all involved. There are very good cooperation levels.”
He said industry was represented by various organisations including the fruit, harbour carriers and road freight sectors. “It is by no means a restricted meeting and is open to organisations that want to give input on the high cube issue,” said Walwyn.
A moratorium is currently in place exempting compliance with regulation 224(b) of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) until 1 January 2020. This regulation states that ISO containers cannot exceed a height of 4.3m on South African roads. The moratorium allows for movement at a height of 4.6m for the next year.
The moratorium also suspends the application of punitive measures and calls on law enforcement agencies to collect data of vehicles transporting ISO containers during the coming months. It is understood that once the terms of reference have been finalised the task team will appoint a contractor to compile a research report on the transport of high cubes.
Nzimande has given the task team until June to conclude its research findings and draw up a report.
http://storage.news.nowmedia.co.za/medialibrary/Feature/6976/FTW-8-February-2019.pdf
