New permit law impacts driver skills shortage

For logistics firms, mid-year
proved a time of proverbial
feast and famine, if not in that
order. A rush to make up for down
shipping time during the Transnet
strike corresponded with the feverish
activity surrounding the Fifa World
Cup games and festivities.
“Business has certainly picked
up since last year, though this past
couple of months I suppose it’s been
an artificial upswing. When the
strike ended everything that had been
sitting around had to go out and come
in. We’re double busy now,” said
Arnold Reddy of Reddy Cargo in
Johannesburg.
“If it continues the whole year
like this we’ll be smiling, and
it just may. There’s a lot more
determination in the market place,
and a lot of shipping both import and
export,” Reddy said.
Despite the ups and downs of
shipping activity, the logistics industry
still offers an indispensable service.
“Basically every manufactured item
has to move at some time in its life.
If there is no shipping it’s a sign the
economy is in trouble,” said Reddy,
who this year opened an office in
Lusaka. Previously Zambia business
was conducted out of the company’s
Jo’burg headquarters.
But the firm’s overborder work
confirmed the impact that this year’s
labour rules changes have had on road
freight logistics.
“The most challenging part
concerning logistics in South Africa
is drivers, a huge shortage of quality
drivers. We used to have a lot of
foreign drivers doing cross border.
They were allowed three months here
on their passports. Now they need
a work permit, and there is a huge
application backlog. Government
departments never run at optimum
level, anyway. We have our HR
department trying to assist, but the
law change has really hit driver
availability,” Reddy said.