Cape Town - Consumers will “pay dearly” for the proposed peak-hour ban on heavy commercial and freight vehicles which – if implemented – will force operators to put more vehicles on the road at triple the cost, the Cape Town Harbour Carriers’ Association has warned.
Derek Morillion, of Container Domestic Cargo, said instead of making roads safer, the proposed restriction on heavy commercial vehicles, proposed in amendments to the National Road Traffic Act, would see even more trucks on the freeways.
“We will have to increase the fleet by about 35 percent because we will still have to do the same work,” said Morillion.
This was echoed by the Road Freight Association’s chief executive officer, Sharmini Naidoo, who said the transport industry would effectively lose six hours or 25 percent capacity every day.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has proposed that goods vehicles of more than 9 000kg may not operate on urban roads from 6am to 9am and from 5pm to 8pm from Mondays to Fridays.
The restriction does not apply to emergency vehicles. Other amendments on the table include speed limit reductions and retesting for drivers’ licences.
Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for Transport for Cape Town, said the city would be cautious about implementing such restrictions in the absence of a proper freight rail network.
He said that while it would appear ideal to have fewer freight vehicles on the roads at certain times, these restrictions would have an economic impact, and would have practical implications for truck operations and the enforcement of regulations.
The city was therefore developing a freight management strategy that would deal with how and when goods should be moved.
“It is fairly obvious that the best solution must rest in moving freight from using our roads to using rail. We will have to work with Transnet to ensure that freight rail secures a larger modal share for the transportation of goods in the future. This will only happen if goods can be moved efficiently and affordably. Reducing freight from our major roads, especially in the peak, will reduce the risk of incidents that cause our roads to come to a standstill.”
But he said the proposed ban on peak period travel for freight companies could in fact encourage dangerous driving or overloading as companies sought to compensate for the loss in productivity.
Freight terminals would also become congested, and the increase in terminal capacity would mean an additional financial burden on the logistics industry, Herron said.
He said trucking companies and freight movers needed to make sure that their vehicles were roadworthy, their freight was well secured and that their drivers were trained, especially with regard to using abnormal load routes.
According to Transport for Cape Town’s Transport Development Index, released last week, freight costs the city R731 million a year in infrastructure and maintenance costs. In terms of accidents, the impact of freight transporters on Capetonians is R930m a year.
Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber, said: “The key to reducing the carnage on our roads is better enforcement of existing regulations rather than adding new regulations which may not be enforced effectively.”
She said transport managers already went to “great lengths” to keep their heavy vehicles out of rush-hour traffic.
The Cape Town Harbour Carriers’ Association’s members deliver export containers to the port, sometimes from as far as Upington. With shorter operating hours, freight companies would have to expand their fleet to do additional trips during the permitted period, said Morillion.
The proposed legislative amendments would have a significant impact not only on the hauliers, but also the port, the shipping lines and the importers and exporters, said the association.
Morillion said the costs of goods could triple for deliveries within Cape Town, and double for goods transported beyond the city’s borders.
Another concern was the impact on productivity. “We will only be able to service one client a day, which will definitely mean a drop in our service levels as well as productivity,” said one of the members of the association.
The restrictions have also been slammed by the Road Freight Association (RFA). In its comments on the draft amendments, the RFA said the restricted operating hours would push up truckers’ rates by between 12.5 percent and 25 percent. “These costs will be passed onto customers and on to the end user as operators will not absorb these costs.”
The RFA added that road freight movement was scheduled as much as possible to avoid peak congestion time.
“Heavy vehicles are only on the roads when it is unavoidable due to customer delivery requirements.”
Furthermore, the restriction would mean that the ports would stand idle for six hours every day, at considerable cost to the national economy.
The RFA noted that the proposed restrictions were in part a reaction to the 2013 Pinetown Fields Hill accident, in which 22 people died, that highlighted the dangers of heavy vehicles on busy roads.
But it pointed out in its comments to the national department that the accident occurred during off-peak hours. A stop-go system at sites such as Fields Hill would be more effective, said the RFA.
Furthermore, the new hours would force drivers to travel during the “death hours” between 11pm and 4.30am, instead of being parked off. The RFA has asked the department to consider the increased operational costs and lack of safe designated parking areas for heavy vehicles forced off the road during peak hours. “The association does not support the amendment of the regulation and suggests that the proposed legislation is shelved,” Naidoo said.
Cape Argus