It is believed the Department
of Transport visited
international environments
where trucks are banned
from city centres prior to
proposing similar legislation
for South Africa.
“This kind of legislation
has been implemented in
other parts of the world,”
said Terry Bantock, executive
chairman of Diesel Power
Open Cast Mining. “We fear
the minister has travelled
to cities like Paris and
Dubai and seen a regulated
environment where similar
legislation has been
implemented successfully
– but the reality is that the
impact of these regulations
has already been established
and so it is not taking into
account what the real impact
will be if replicated locally.”
At the same time the South
African environment is also
very different from Europe,
the Middle East or America.
“There is not a container
depot in the middle of
Paris as is the case in South
Africa – think Johannesburg,
Durban and Cape Town. Our
depots are just about in the
middle of our cities and so
freight comes to a complete
standstill with this ban. We
are also still a developing
nation – unlike those
countries that have adopted
this kind of legislation,” said
one operator to whom FTW
spoke.
Experts agree it is far
more complex than just
implementing similar
regulations in South Africa.
“They have defined public
areas as those where a local
authority has surveyed the
land. In other words it may
not necessarily be built
up as yet,” said Bantock.
“Just knowing which areas
are and are not subject
to the legislation is going
to be complex enough.
Essentially it would seem
it is only the areas between
cities and towns where no
measurements have been
done that will not be subject
to the legislation. It will
obviously have far-reaching
impact.”
Many operators are
not quite sure why the
government is pushing for the
banning of trucks, as it would
not address road carnage.
“In fact one of the options
available to truck operators
is to exchange their existing
fleet of 9-ton trucks for a
range of smaller vehicles. This
will see more smaller trucks
on the road than ever before,”
said RFA spokesman Gavin
Kelly. “Surely if trucks are the
cause of accidents then one
would not want to institute
legislation and regulations
that increase the number of
trucks on the road. At the
same time the legislation is
going to increase the amount
of truck activity at night.
Again if trucks are the root
cause of accidents then
surely having more trucks
operational at night – which
is by far more dangerous
than them operating in the
day – one is going to increase
truck accidents rather than
decrease them?”
It was agreed at the
conference that it was
essential South Africans
understood that unless rail
sidings were brought into
place behind just about
every shop in the country,
trucks would be required
for last mile deliveries at all
times. “But it will become
uncompetitive if we are using
smaller and smaller vehicles,”
said one operator, who
preferred to not be named.
INSERT & CAPTION
There is not a
container depot in
the middle of Paris as
is the case in South
Africa.
– Terry Bantock
