Axle mass reduction ‘on ice’

The proposal to reduce
the permissible maximum
rear axle mass for heavy
freight vehicles from
9 000-kilograms to 8 000-kgs
has now “been put on ice”,
according to Gavin Kelly,
technical and operations
manager of the Road Freight
Association (RFA).
He told FTW that, from
a frustrating procession
of discussions with the
Department of Transport
(DoT), the RFA had
eventually engaged with
Taemane Blue – the
consultants conducting the
freight strategy investigation
for the department.
“We built up a good
relationship with them and
feel that they actually listened
to what we had to tell them,”
he added.
The truckers’ main
complaint was that this axle
mass shift would lead to an
average payload reduction of
15.72% – varying between
2.45-tonnes and 5.62-t
depending on the size of the
road rig. At the same time it
would do nothing to cure the
continued disintegration of
the secondary road network
– which was the DoT’s
reasoning behind the mass
reduction.
This deterioration, said
the RFA, was due to no
periodic maintenance, repair
or development having been
done over the past few years,
and budget allocations for
road works and road-user
revenue streams having
been appropriated for other
programmes.
A third reason cited was a
lack of foresight and forward
planning at departmental
level – with the RFA pointing
out that many roads were not
originally built for either the weight or the traffic volumes
now experienced.
It also contradicted a
regional agreement signed
last year. South Africa’s
Minister of Transport
signed an agreement with
neighbouring countries in
May 2009 that 10-t would
be the regional norm, even
though at the time the
country noted that it would
not be adopting the 10-t at
the time.
“SA definitely accepted
the recommendation for the
region that was 10-t on a
single axle,” says Barney
Curtis, executive director
of the Federation of East
and Southern African Road
Transport Associations
(Fesarta). “And not even six
months later the Department
of Transport announced its
intention to reduce axle mass
from 9-t to 8-t.”
But the DoT has now
received the report from the
consultancy, which Kelly said
he believed advised against
the drop in axle mass.
“It would now appear
to have been put on ice
indefinitely,” he added. “In
other words, no legislation is
being planned, and certainly
not intended to be imposed.”