New roadfreight legislation a race against time

Long-awaited amendments to the South African road traffic regulations, which have just been published by the National Department of Transport, leave shippers and transport operators with little time in which to put new systems in place and to retrofit vehicles in order to be compliant. The Twenty Second Regulation Amendment (previously referred to as the Twenty First Amendment) to the National Road Traffic Regulations was published in Government Gazette No 38142 on October 31, 2014. “It will be a difficult two months,” predicts Gavin Kelly, technical and operations manager of the Road Freight Association (RFA). One of the first challenges will be for consignors to invest in the equipment required to accurately weigh loads as they are being packed onto vehicles. In terms of the Act the consignor will be held responsible for the overloading of a vehicle from February 1, 2015. They have to have a means of “establishing the mass of a vehicle and any axle or axle unit of such vehicle so as to ensure that such vehicle axle or axles are not overloaded,” and have to keep a record of every load. According to Kelly there is a potential clash where the weighbridge operated by the traffic authorities may give a different reading to that of the consignor. The definition of a “consignor” covers most shippers: “the consignor of goods in the goods declaration relating to the transportation of more than 500 000 kilograms of goods in a month by road or engages an operator of a vehicle, either directly or indirectly or through an agent or other intermediary, to transport the goods by road or has possession of, or control over, the goods immediately before the goods are transported by road or loads a vehicle with the goods, for transport by road, at a place where goods are stored in bulk or temporarily held but excludes a driver of the vehicle, or any person responsible for the normal operation of the vehicle during loading”. The vehicle operator, in turn, has to provide written details of the payload and load distribution of a vehicle. Freight companies have until April 30 to install speed governors on all vehicles with a gross vehicle mass in excess of 3 500 kilograms. This will add to costs and put pressure on workshops, according to Alta Swanepoel of Alta Swanepoel and Associates based in Pretoria. In a note prepared for the South African Shippers’ Council she points out that the other changes affecting the industry include “various provisions” relating to licences, roadworthiness and loading of truck tractors, as well as the compulsory fitting of an 80 sign on the back of a goods vehicle over 9000 kg GVM. Provisions that still have to be implemented include new requirements governing driving hours – including the keeping of a logbook by every driver. Vehicles older than 10 years will also have to undergo a roadworthy test every 24 months “from a date to be determined by the Minister”. A copy of the regulations and documentation can be downloaded off the FTW website on www.ftwonline.co.za CAPTION An overloaded truck overturned and lost its load recently on the Rivonia Road off-ramp near the N1 highway, Johannesburg … new legislation will hold consignors responsible for overloading.