Hauliers must share the blame

KwaZulu-Natal MEC Willies Mchunu

SPEAKERS at a truckers’ conference held at the recent Shongweni Expo supported a suggestion that truck operators should be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of their duties before being allowed to buy a truck.

The event was hosted by outspoken Fleetwatch magazine editor Patrick O’Leary. The Irishman again pulled no punches in addressing the issues that make South Africa’s roads among the world’s most deadly.

He mooted that apart from changes to professional driver training, South Africa’s industry should consider a hauliers’ certificate, suggesting that dealers should not sell trucks to operators who did not have a certificate to show they knew their duties in terms of section 49 of the National Road Traffic Act (number 93 of 1996).

The aim is to make truck owners aware that they can be held criminally accountable if
they submit their drivers to long hours of driving without rest or use less-than-optimal trucks.

O’Leary’s suggestion followed in the wake of the Fields Hills tragedy that saw 23 people die after a young driver careened down the steep Fields Hill in fifth gear in a Volvo, a marque known for its very effective engine compression brake systems that, linked to the right gear use, will enable a driver to stop a loaded truck without using a retarder or even the service brakes.

The court has since heard how the inexperienced driver — who got his job with Sagekal Logistics in Durban, despite having a fake driver’s permit and illegal working permit — desperately tried to stop his truck by standing on his service brake, the pads of which had quickly faded due to overheating.

After the tragedy, the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said owners of buses and trucks “must be severely punished in the event of an accident if they are at fault”.

KwaZulu-Natal’s Minister of Transport Willies Mchunu showed his mettle when he faced more than 300 very critical fleet operators and truckers at the conference.

Con Roux, commercial manager of the N3TC that operates South Africa’s busiest road, said he simply does not bother to attend any new launches of “yet another government road safety campaign”, while in the Free State traffic safety officials only worked office hours, despite most accidents happening at night.

Mchunu told the truckers fierce competition among their numbers often saw some hauliers not only overloading their trucks, but also over working their drivers.

Asked what his department thought of a certificate that would prove a haulier’s competence to operate trucks, the head of communications at KZN’s Department of Transport Nathi Sukazi replied was supportive.

“Our view is that the urgency of reducing road fatalities on our roads demands that we take drastic and feasible actions to ensure road safety.

“The question on driver experience, highlighted by the recent bus and truck accidents in KwaZulu Natal specifically, necessitates the adoption of global best practice,” he said.

Sukazi added that the Department of Transport hoped that a focus on driver professional competence would feature highly on the national agenda as well.