Overloaded vehicles to be impounded, writes Alan Peat
IF IMPORTERS, exporters and transporters don't get their houses into order, there could be costly times ahead, according to Paul Rayner, m.d. of DTB Cartage, and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers section of SAAFF (SA Association of Freight Forwarders).
It could be a real shambles, he said.
This warning relates to the new weighbridge in Bayhead Road - the sole access to Durban's container terminal - which is due to go totally on-line by next February.
It's a trap for all, according to the Durban road transport industry - with electronic checks of every vehicle that passes over the road pads, automatically testing them for vehicle and axle overloading as they pass by.
Added to this is now a vehicle brake-testing system - due to come on-line next week.
Lightweight offences are also going to cost more, according to Kevin Martin of Durban-based Freightliner
Transport. Tickets issued for minor offences have also rocketed, he told FTW. For example: number plate light not working - R400; tail-light/indicators not working - R300 each per side.
But there's going to be a new penalty at the weighbridge, one which will really throw the cat amongst the transport pigeons. Although Durban traffic
authorities have ignored it in the past, the Bayhead Road weighbridge is now going to adopt the national norm - and impound any guilty vehicles until the overloading (or other) fault is rectified.
This is the normal practice implemented throughout the country, said Martin. Local transport has been given a honeymoon to date by the authorities to get their house into order.
This impounding of vehicles (for any reason) is going to have major implications for the clearing and forwarding industry and shipping lines, he added - as urgent cargoes miss the boat, or other delivery timing; and big costs (can be thousands of rands per box) are faced in rectifying the overload problem.
But the message is that proactive management is the way to sort out the problem before it arises, according to Rayner, and enough notice has already been given of what lies ahead if you don't.
There have already been enough warnings and fines for everybody to get their houses into order, he told FTW. The last few months have been a breathing space for industry to sort things out - but they're just not doing it.
It's now time for a wake-up call.
Martin comments: There is a perception of foot-dragging and tacit approval of overloading by a large percentage of all the role players, he said. It has become a numbers game, with the risk of being caught - and the amount of the ticket issued - being weighed up against the savings of not being strictly legal.
But, he added, the authorities have picked-up on this trend. And they have decided to up the ante, he said. To a level where it will make this a very expensive attitude.
For importers/exporters who have too long enjoyed uneven or overloaded boxes getting through the road traffic authority net, the message is that this is no more. As of next February all the expenses attached to this overloading will be a client's expense - and not absorbed by the transporter.
Now is the time for overseas suppliers and local warehouses to be informed of exactly how containers should be loaded for the SA market, said Martin. It's the only way to avoid horrendous problems and additional costs.
If you value your business, get proactive now - as tomorrow will soon be yesterday.
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