The freight industry has slammed a Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry decision to back a government regulation restricting the height of ISO containers to 4.3m.
Described as naïve, uninformed and myopic, the Chamber’s submission to the Department of Transport (DoT) on the contentious high cube issue has been met with outrage and concern considering the position it has taken and the emphasis it places on distancing itself from other submissions by industry bodies.
In a letter to John Motsatsing, chief director of road regulation at the department of transport, the Chamber’s executive director, Sid Peimer, writes that “the height limit of 4.3 metres can and should be achieved, but it will be necessary to phase this in over a period”. The Chamber suggests that government, working with industry over an 18-month period, design a process whereby existing trailers used for the conveyance of high cube containers can be phased out as they become obsolete and unserviceable.
At the same time it suggests gradually increasing licence and registration fees for such equipment, with incremental charges being levied each year. This would accelerate the transformation of the current fleet to the new design. The Chamber also suggested that regulation of the trailer manufacturing industry be such that no new skeletal trailers designed specifically for the carriage of containers may be produced if they do not allow high cube containers to be carried at a maximum height of 4.3 m.
This comes in the wake of a crisis meeting organised by the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) (see page 1) where industry has called for intervention from the Presidency on the matter – or for industry to move towards a legal solution. According to Quintus van der Merwe, a partner at Shepstone and Wylie, industry is best advised to seek redress from a court.
“They should simply formally apply for exemption under the relevant legislation and if the minister refuses, take the matter on review. I hope they are not leaving this too late,” he said. According to the Chamber, its submission on the issue was the outcome of a meeting with Motsatsing earlier this year and collaboration with a working group that included the Port Liaison Forum, the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum and Fruit South Africa. It is believed that the working group was the driver of the submission. Gavin Kelly, acting CEO of the Road Freight Association, said the organisation disagreed with the content and sentiments voiced by the Cape Chamber.
“There have been copious amounts of communication, meetings, correspondence and discourse between the DoT and various parties in the container freight industry since 2006 – with heightened levels of correspondence since 2010,” he said. “The view of the Association is quite clear: amend Regulation 224(b) to allow ISO containers to move by road to a maximum height of 4.65m. Simple. Effective.” Mitchell Brooke, logistics development manager of the CGA, said personally he believed that enforcement of regulation 224 (b) on the transportation of high cube containers would be extremely dire to the import and export industry. In Cape Town, several transporters told FTW the Chamber’s letter was naïve and uninformed.
“It will result in financial ruin of transport companies,” said one transporter. “The people who made this decision are not fleet owners so I guess it is easy for them to suggest this. The cost of changing trailers will have a huge impact on our company and what do we do with the obsolete trailers? Just dump them? Some of our fleet is still under financing.” Transport analyst and freight expert Nick Porée said he would be surprised if any carriers would be prepared to change their fleets.
“Trying to revert to the 1980 standard height is like telling shipping lines to redesign their cellular vessels to an 8 metres draught because South Africa’s legal goon has decided,” he said, describing the submission as a pusillanimous attempt at appeasement.
Industry should simply formally apply for exemption under the relevant legislation and if the minister refuses, take the matter on review. – Quintus van der Merwe
