SASC gets its answers ALAN PEAT THE CONFLICT between the SA Shippers’ Council (SASC) and Spoornet over the railways’ recent 1.5% tariff hike to cover fuel costs has been settled, with answers given to serious queries raised by the shippers. While there still remain a couple of grey areas, the recent reply from Spoornet management has satisfied association members for the time being, according to SASC executive director, Nolene Lossau. According to a letter from Ravi Nair, Spoornet GM for strategy and marketing, the railways have undertaken to reduce the tariffs which have gone up by 1.5% as soon as the oil price drops below US$43 per barrel for three consecutive months (it was US$57/bl at time of writing). “They haven’t said which price,” said Lossau, “Brent crude, US price, whatever. But we’re still happy that at least they have made us the promise to drop their price.” In answer to the question: “Will the 1.5% increase be reflected as a separate item on all invoices from Spoornet?” the answer from them is no – it will be part of the gross invoice price. The final query was from those who had negotiated long-term contracts with Spoornet for up to five or ten years. The railways management was asked to confirm that the future escalations built in to the contracts would be based on the previous tariffs and not on the new tariffs including the 1.5%. The answer here was that there would be “one-on-one negotiations” between customers and Spoornet. “Maybe not as transparent as it could be, but at least a step in the right direction,” Lossau added.
