Permit fees sometimes exceed transport rate

THE BULK of Frits Kroon Transport’s (FKT’s) business, both literally and figuratively, involves the transport of earthmoving and mining equipment to Zambia. For nine years this owner-manager company has been in the business of transporting abnormal wide, long, high and heavy loads from small TLBs to payloads of 97 tons from South Africa to Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the DRC, Malawi and Mozambique. FKT ships mainly from the ports of Durban and sometimes from Richards Bay on big equipment for faster release. According to managing director Frits Kroon, the biggest problem they experience in Zambia is the permit costs at weighbridges – they are charged a hefty US$37 500.00 for 50 tons and upwards. “The clients gets a heart attack when they see the permit fee is sometimes more than the transport rate,” says Kroon. Since the beginning of the year it has also become very expensive to use the company’s own bakkies to escort the abnormal loads through Zambia. The vehicles are considered to be used for business purposes and a certain percentage of the value of the vehicle is levied upon entry into the country, which constitutes an additional cost per bakkie of R7 000 to R12 000 per annum. The only alternative is to use the vehicles supplied in Zambia, at a cost of course. Kroon says his personal feeling about Zambia is that the country is booming – as long as the copper price remains high the economy will continue to grow. He is very optimistic about the future but cautions that the diesel price could put a dampener on it. Good service and fast turnaround times is the company mission, he added.