Spoornet has been levying a R58 fee against any container whose weight is found to be either under- or over-declared. According to an FTW source in the forwarding industry, many container trains are apparently overloaded, something which Spoornet warns will both damage the infrastructure and compromise safety. So the railways' answer - when a train is found to be overloaded in transit - is that the offending wagons will be shunted off the train. "This could result in consignments being delayed or part delivered even where those particular consignments have not contributed to the problem," said the FTW forwarder. "It is imperative that everything is accurately and correctly documented."
