Self-regulation project gains momentum

The North-South Corridor pilot self-regulation project is on track with draft standards recently tabled and adopted. At a meeting held late last year and attended by delegates representing the South African and Zimbabwean revenue services, the Road Transport Management System, Trademark Southern Africa (RTMS) and the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), it was agreed that a workshop would follow early this year to allow the updated draft and resolutions from the meeting to be circulated to a wider selection of stakeholders. According to Barney Curtis, executive director of Fesarta, the regional standard would then be finalised and it would herald the completion of the first phase of the project. The RTMS self-regulation pilot project is an industryled scheme that encourages consignees, consignors and transport operators engaged in the road logistics value chain to implement a vehicle management system that preserves road infrastructure, improves road safety and increases the productivity of the logistics value chain through self-regulation. Curtis said there were several benefits to transporters taking part in the pilot project of which the main one was preferential treatment to get through the borders more quickly. This is because if the load is inspected on one side of the border and not on the other as the RTMS pilot is a regional project with its standard effective across several countries. Curtis said it was essential that the system was seen to be professional and effective and to ensure that only the right standard of transporter was accredited. INSERT & CAPTION Transporters taking part in the pilot project are given preferential treatment to get through the borders more quickly. – Barney Curtis