Rail can never deliver what roadfreight can

The road transport industry will continue play a major role in the SA landside movement of freight in the next decade, according to Paul Botha, owner of Freight Haul. “This has been a challenging year for most industries,” he told FTW, “and this has probably affected the transporters the most. “We have had huge deviations in our cost structures, with the diesel pricing changing the way it has through the year. The weakening of the rand has made replacing fleets exorbitant, and the steel price increasing in the manner it has also doubles the cost of replacing the equipment required to run a business like ours.” His company records show that the year started with huge export volumes, but very little import work. “This created a challenge for transporters because they could not run their fleets efficiently,” Botha said. “Then, with the latest global economic crisis, we have seen a total slowdown in exports, and a lot of transporters are parking off fleets in the hope that this will come right very soon.” But Freight Haul’s view is slightly different. Said Botha: “We will not see a recovery in the short-term. And now, more than ever, transport companies need to be very astute and disciplined if they are to survive.” Entering the rail-versus-road debate, Botha is adamant that the advantage will remain with road. “No matter what plans are put in place over the next two years,” he said, “in reality they will not offer the industry a solution for the next 10 years – and therefore there will always be a need for roadhaul. “The primary factor that drives the road haulage of containers is that all businesses are trying to work to model stock that gives them the best returns for their investment. That means that they need to get in the stock at the right time at the right place, and rail cannot guarantee this.”