Poor roads imp0act fruit quality

The impact of bad roads on logistics costs from the point of view of truck wear and tear has been well documented. But apart from the additional vehicle damage caused by bad roads, increased vibrations experienced by trucks travelling on bad roads could potentially have negative effects on transported cargo. A recent study undertaken by researchers from the University of Pretoria and the CSIR and published in the 8th Annual State of Logistics Survey, investigates and quantifies the additional damage to and losses of transported cargo on poor roads. In the agricultural sector, where trucks are the preferred transport option, they travel on a variety of road types – starting with gravel from the farms where the fresh produce is harvested to the paved national and provincial roads. While the details of the study are too extensive to publish in this article, the researchers concluded that the increased roughness on deteriorating roads significantly increased the risk of damage to fresh produce during transit.