Industry bodies prepare for next round in hi-cube moratorium talks

Two freight industry
representative bodies are
gearing up to meet with the
department of transport
(DoT) about the contentious
40-foot hi-cube (HC) container
transport issue.
The SA Association of
Freight Forwarders (Saaff)
and its KwaZulu Natal road
transport division, the Durban
Harbour Carriers’ Association
(DHCA), are girding their loins
for a follow-up meeting with
John Motsatsing, the DoT’s
director of road transport
regulation about the current
moratorium on the carriage of
hi-cube containers exceeding
the present height regulation of
4.3 metres.
This after the heartening
news from last year’s June 30
meeting about which Dave
Watts, maritime consultant to
Saaff, said: “We have at least
got some movement on the
matter, which has not been
the case over the last couple of
years.”
Watts and Sue Moodley,
chairman of the DHCA, are
hoping that similar progress
can be achieved at this next
proposed meeting with
Motsatsing, on a subject that
has remained virtually in
deadlock since the moratorium
was introduced in 2011.
Gavin Cooper of TRG
International Transport &
Shipping, a prominent voice
for many years in the freight
industry in the Western Cape,
told FTW that this matter also
significantly affected the Cape’s
economy, as most fruit was now
exported in 40ft HCs
“The DoT is intransigent and
will not change legislation to
accommodate the transport
of 40ft hi-cubes on normal
trailers,” he added. “This in
a world where the norm is to
use HCs, and general-purpose
(GP) containers are becoming
extinct.”
At the same time the SA road
transport industry is adamant
that it just plain can’t afford to
replace its whole fleet of what
will become illegal trailers.
As Kevin Martin, MD
of Freightliner Transport,
pointed out, these new units
are approximately R300 000-
R350 000 in price. So even a
small transport company with
about 50 trailers is going to be
faced with a whopping bill of
about R15-R17.5 million.
“It’s also a double-edged
sword,” he added. “Who are you
going to sell your old trailers to,
which only have a very limited
number of uses?
“And there is just no valid
reason to do this change. We’ve
answered every one of the
points raised by the DoT. Added
to that is the country just can’t
afford it.”
Watts was of the same
opinion. “We have safely
transported many thousands
of hi-cubes on standard
trailers over the period since
their introduction in the 90s
and during the moratorium
since 2011,” he told FTW.
“This has effectively proved
that the fears that existed
regarding stability, roll
over, infrastructure damage
etc, have not
materialised.
Our position is
that carrying
hi-cubes as
we do adds
no material
danger.
“The major
concern of
virtually
all trucking
companies in
the container
carriage arena
is that they
would simply
not be able to finance the
replacement of a material
proportion of their trailer
fleets in the short- or
medium-term and that,
should there be no relief
post 2018, we could well
see company failures and
consequent job losses apart
from the impact on container
transportation generally.”
Cooper agreed. “The
road freight industry will
be faced with having to
finance and build trailers
to accommodate HCs to
enable them to be conveyed
at less than 4.3m laden
height, exporters will have
to ensure that pack sheds
can accommodate such
containers,
and importers
and exporters
will have to
find a way to
accommodate
the costs.”
The hope
now is that
the DoT
will finally
take these
points into
consideration
– and Watts
is mildly
optimistic
about the relationship
they have established with
Motsatsing.
“He committed to
contacting other stakeholders
and responding to us once
he has concluded whatever
investigations he requires,”
Watts said. “The connection
with Motsatsing established
by Moodley will hopefully
prove to be of real value going
forward.”
INSERT & CAPTION
Even a small
transport company
with about 50 trailers
is going to be faced
with a whopping bill
of about R15-R17.5m.
– Kevin Martin