Days numbered for trucks

Some trucks and the transport of specific commodities may be banned from SA roads if government gets its way.Should the Department of Transport gets its way, certain trucks will be banned from roads and some commodities no longer allowed to be transported by road.

According to the Road Freight Association (RFA), the proposed amendments to regulations in the Road Traffic Act would have a devastating effect on the economy if approved.

Last week the department sent the written proposals to players in the transport industry.

According to the document, one of the proposals is to lower the permissible axle load on provincial and municipal roads from 9 000kg to 8 000kg so as to reduce damage to the road network. "Most of our secondary road networks have reached a state of disrepair that necessitates the introduction of measures to preserve them."

The department also wants to ban "certain commodities" from all roads (primary and secondary). These commodities, which have not been specified, will have to be transported by rail.

On Sunday RFA spokesperson Gavin Kelly said that a lower permissible axle load will not guarantee a better road network. He reckons less will be loaded on the trucks and more of them will therefore be used.

This would moreover lead to price increases, prejudicing consumers, he explained.

Jeremy Cronin, Deputy Minister of Transport, told Sake24 that there was a huge road maintenance backlog, a great deal of traffic congestion and roads that were in no condition to carry all the heavy trucks. But he admitted that the rail network needs improvement.

Cronin did not disclose the commodities to which the proposals referred, although coal is considered a possibility.

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