Durban - The looting and torching of trucks, hijackings and steep fuel prices are among the pressures facing the country’s freight industry.
The challenges facing the sector were discussed at the weekend when the Road Freight Association (RFA) held its annual convention in Ballito.
Gavin Kelly, RFA CEO, said: “One of the purposes of the convention was to look at new technologies and processes to address the rising cost of fuel. Buying fuel is expensive for many transporters. Many of our members are small business operators and being able to afford fuel is important.”
Kelly said that apart from the crime and protests which were affecting the sector, the recent floods, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, had put financial pressure on transport operators.
He added that the cumulative effect of these issues had seen some transport operators close down.
“Some operators just didn’t have the financial resources to pull themselves through the pandemic. There are added challenges with the number of blockades, protests and destruction of trucks and these have had a huge impact on transporters and many of them had to close down. There are also labour issues and (protests against) the employment of foreign truck drivers where we have seen disruptions to operations.
“That is why we have conventions where we can discuss these issues and ensure that foreign truck drivers are properly employed under the laws of South Africa.”
The latest crime statistics for the period between January and March this year saw a large spike in truck hijackings reported in the country, with an increase of 31.4% compared with the same period last year.
Eugene Herbert, CEO of MasterDrive, a training company, said: “While this increase is unlikely to have caused trucking companies to source the services of security companies, it can be said that more onus is placed on drivers to be aware of their surroundings and be ready to respond well before it becomes a problem.
“The sooner a driver becomes immediately aware of a suspicious vehicle following them, the sooner they can let security providers know about their risky situation and the better the chances of avoiding a hijack situation.”
Professor Bonke Dumisa, an independent economic analyst, said that the road freight industry played a major role in the economy and the rising fuel price was putting pressure on the sector.
“We relied heavily on the rail industry in the past. However, now we can say at least 80% of goods are being transported by road. Whenever the fuel price goes up, whether it is petrol or diesel, it adds to the cost of goods and that increase in turn is passed to the consumer.”
Dumisa added that the blockading of trucks during protests was a major concern and was “pure criminality”.
There have been several attacks and blockades of trucks over the past few years, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, which have allegedly been linked to the employment of foreign nationals in the industry.
“When trucks are stopped from delivering goods timeously, we can estimate that millions of rand are lost per hour. The issue of truck blockades should not be tolerated as there are other forums to address labour issues, whether it is employment of foreign truck drivers or the employment of more local truck drivers. This needs to be addressed through the proper channels and not by protesting, costing the economy millions of rand.”
In his keynote address at the convention, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula acknowledged that the freight industry was facing a number of challenges.
“The pressures of increasing costs of fuel, labour, vehicle finance and lower turnover are forcing transport operators to embark on all possible actions to contain costs and increase efficiency.
“For the past couple of years, there have been a number of incidents of torching of trucks, particularly on the N3, the corridor that carries an estimated 80% of the country’s cargo primarily from the Port of Durban to the rest of the country. This corridor also caters for cargo destined for other SADC countries. The major point of contention is the purported illegal employment of foreign drivers, (in) the place of equally skilled South African drivers, by the road freight industry.”
Commenting on the truck attacks related to the hiring of foreign nationals, Mbalula said effective regulation of the road industry would ensure truck owners complied with the law by registering their workers and drivers to ensure compliance with labour laws.
“Working with industry associations like the RFA and Tasa (the Truckers Association of SA) ensure efforts to transform the trucking industry receive the necessary support. Violence is never an answer, as it leads to economic setbacks that we cannot afford as a country.”