The unofficial moratorium on prosecution of standard container trucks carrying high-cube containers still stands, according to deputy minister of transport, Jeremy Cronin. Last week he held a meeting in Cape Town with the Road Freight Association (RFA) and the SA Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa) and told them that the department of transport intended to get something officially written to this effect, according to Gavin Kelly, RFA technical and operations manager. “It was a very good meeting,” he said, “and confirms that the moratorium will continue until the whole issue is legislatively sorted out.” The legality of transporting high-cube containers with a travel height of 4.5-4.6 metres on normal rather than lowbed truck trailers has been in the news since a threatened ban in December last year. Business Unity South Africa recently sent a letter to the Department of Transport calling for an urgent lifting of the selective ban, pointing out that the total height was below that of a doubledecker bus or a standard car carrier, both of which are exempt from the height restriction and are therefore legally allowed to use public roads.
