... but bulk is also
finding its
way onto the highways
WHERE IS all this business that road is supposed to be snatching from the railways, you might ask as you look at the figures for 1986-1997 prepared by Statistics South Africa and supplied to FTW by the RFA (Road Freight Association).
While the total cargo carried for reward by Transnet road and rail and by the private sector road transporters (who also transport goods for reward) has grown from
489 916 000 tons in 1986 to 621 301 000t in 1997 - the percentage market shares of this tonnage have been stable at about: Transnet - 30%; and private carriers - 70%; throughout the 12-year period.
But to answer that first question you asked, the RFA's Mike Alistoun will tell you that the private road haulage sector has been grabbing value not tonnage in its quest to beat rail transport. And these money figures are not included in the Statistics SA analysis.
Low-rated bulk products, Alistoun told FTW. That's what the railways are cost-efficient at carrying.
But products like computers, for example, they don't touch - because they are so easily damaged.
And it's these high-rated products that road has been snatching from rail.
But, Alistoun added, the figures for 1998 (the latest available are until August last year) might be a hint of an indicator that even bulk products are no longer a preserve of rail transport.
Although the eight months of last year for which figures are available still total that 70%-30% ratio, the last three months of the period show a distinct shift in tonnage from Transnet to private road haulage.
Transnet (road and rail)
carried 123 776 000t for
the January-August period
(a 29.9% share) while
private road carriers hauled 414 607 000t (70.1%).
But the analysis for the June-August period - approved by Dr F M Orkin, head of Statistics SA - could be that indicator talked of by Alistoun.
The total tonnage of goods transported by private undertakings in August 1998, reads the report, increased by 3.4% (1.3-million tons) compared with August 1997. Transnet recorded an increase of 1.7% (0.3-m tons) during the same period.
The total tonnage of goods carried by private undertakings during the three months ended August increased by 9.1% compared to the corresponding period of 1997. However, the total tonnage of goods carried by Transnet decreased by 1.6% during the same period.
A cyclical fluctuation? It's possible, according to Alistoun. But it could also be an indicator of a feeling within the industry - that road is
now gaining bulk cargo
volumes from rail.
It's because of the door-to-door nature of the road mode, said Alistoun. That's as opposed to the double handling - road-to-rail at the terminal, then rail-to-road at the destination terminal for final delivery - that the rail mode demands in most cases.
