Proposals based on international practice

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