RFA working on submission to DoT over axle mass restriction

It’s all quiet on the axle mass front, according to Gavin Kelly, technical and operations manager of truckers body, the Road Freight Association (RFA), as the association sits in limbo, with no further word on the issue from the department of transport (DoT). Since the original memorandum detailing the proposed reduction of rear axle mass permissible limits on SA’s secondary road network, and the truckers’ and vehicle manufacturer’s loud rejections of the scheme, nothing else has happened to add clarification to an already confused situation. But one thing the RFA is certain about is that the proposed mass reduction would mean 15% more trucks on the road to compensate for the accompanying payload reduction and an immediate increase in transport costs of at least 15%. Apart from this, it would make a number of other official axle mass dispensations or agreements null and void. Truck-makers are upset – seeing the adjustment of design specs and axlebuilding to comply with the reduced limit as a costly and time-consuming exercise that actually makes their vehicles less unit-cost effective. Lesser payloads make per tonne costs higher. Truckers are also financially fretting, with the loss of income from each load weighing heavily on their minds. The department’s offending letter of notification was badly expressed and full of unsupported generalities, and left the truckers full of uncertainties and unanswered questions, according to Kelly. It was only a coincidental visit to a get together about the DoT ‘transport masterplan’ that revealed that an RFA response was expected to the departmental notification. “We met some officials at the conference, and a senior one of them told us we had to submit our comments by November 23,” Kelly said. “That wasn’t in the original letter, was it?” The RFA fully intends to comply, and is currently working out its wording. Kelly thinks they will then wait again – with the forthcoming festive season an immediate barrier to continued deliberations. “The DoT has to digest the contents of our submission,” he said, “and any response from the authorities will take time. “Just how much time depends on how optimistic you are.”