Plans afoot to offer tremcard facility at Durban terminal

JOY ORLEK
FAILURE TO adhere to dangerous goods requirements recently resulted in a local exporter of a flammable liquid substance paying out major penalties and almost losing the account.
It’s the kind of incident that dangerous goods specialist Eddie Crane of EC Logistics is constantly called upon to remedy, and it’s generally caused by ignorance on the part of the shipper or forwarder.
“In this case the exporter dispatched the product in isotainers to Europe where they were detained in the port because they were incorrectly labelled and did not have a Transport Emergency Card (tremcard).
“We were called in to send the correct labels and tremcard to Europe so that the goods could be released. It was a typical example of freight forwarder ignorance of the requirements at source and destination and resulted in hefty penalties and a threat from the importer to look for alternative suppliers.”
EC Logistics is one of only three operators in South Africa licensed to supply the tremcard , which must be carried in the cab of any vehicle transporting dangerous goods by road.
It contains instructions and information to which the driver can refer in the event of an incident involving the hazardous load and gives recommendations on what actions should be taken in case of an incident. “Spillage of hazardous substances can have grave consequences for the people involved and the environment if the right action is not taken,” says Crane.
There has been positive response from the industry to the idea of setting up a facility within the Durban terminal from which tremcards would be available, and Crane is currently examining its feasibility.
Meetings with the appropriate parties will be set up shortly.
“There are good practical reasons for the legislation,” says Crane. “Not everyone is trained to know how to react in case something goes wrong. Everyone needs to be able to do something about it when it happens, which is why the tremcard is so crucial.”