Repairs, not loads, at fault
Sanral, freight body blame road maintenance backlog
October 26, 2009
By Roy Cokayne
The SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has agreed with the Road Freight Association's contention that the country's deteriorating road network is a result of poor maintenance rather than the current permissible axle load.
The association is opposing plans to prohibit certain as yet unspecified commodities from using both the country's primary and secondary road networks and to reduce maximum axle load limits on secondary roads from 9 tons to 8 tons.
Gavin Kelly, a spokesman of the association, said last week that the Department of Transport's plan was the latest in a series of attempts to shift the movement of goods from road to rail, but he pointed out that the end result would have a "devastating impact" on the economy and ultimately result in increased prices of goods to consumers.
"Without trucks, South Africa stops. Few seem to understand the critical role that trucks play in the country's economy," he said.
Kelly said initial investigations undertaken by the association revealed that the proposal to reduce single rear axle mass loads was driven by an urgent need from National Treasury to look into the deteriorating road network.
Funds were not available to continually sustain and repair roads and data showed the network had a five-year life span before it began to collapse.
The association blamed the deterioration of roads on poor maintenance, including the low standard of maintenance work and inappropriate, delayed or nonexistent maintenance.
Nazir Alli, Sanral's chief executive, said on Friday that "technically" the association was correct.
"We need to acknowledge that we have an aging road network and the secondary roads were never designed to carry modern loads. Even if the roads had been maintained 100 percent, these roads were not designed for the loads they carry," he said.
Kelly said the spokesperson from Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele's office appeared to be unaware of the proposed legislation when contacted for comment.
Kelly said his association had requested an urgent meeting with Ndebele but to date had not received a response.
In response to a parliamentary question from the DA, Ndebele confirmed last week that the country was facing an R18.4 billion maintenance backlog for the country's core national road network as well as a further R19.9bn provincial road maintenance backlog.
Kelly said goods were only transported by road due to rail's inability to deliver loads door to door, on time, safely and reliably and the onus was on rail to offer a comprehensive competitive service.
"Market forces in a free market economy should dictate the mode of transport and not artificial manipulation in the form of legislation.
"Ultimately it is the customer's constitutional right to choose the mode of transport for delivery of their products," he said.
Kelly said reductions in axle masses could result in a 12 percent decrease in payloads and a proportional 12 percent reduction in revenue to operators, who might in some cases lose up to 5 tons payload.
These costs would have to be passed onto the customer and ultimately the end consumer, he said.
Kelly stressed that contrary to what some believed, the proposed legislation would actually result in an increase in the number of trucks on the roads, in the short term or for however long it took for rail to see a pick-up in volumes.
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