COMPETITIVE FORCES are encouraging several transport companies operating in southern Africa to load vehicles over the maximum vehicle manufacturer's capacity in contravention of the Road Traffic Act.
The policy pays because of the relatively low fines for overloading and the low level of enforcement in many parts of the country.
Thus a situation exists where some hauliers have been forced out of the business because of the policies of their competitors.
As an example, on a 250km route, a five-ton overload would put an additional
R4 500 per month in the haulier's pocket. A 20-ton overload would add R18 000 a month to his pocket. Companies running a few hundred vehicles are scoring millions of rands.
Currently, one of the major deterrents to vehicle overloading is the vehicle being prevented from proceeding until it complies with regulations.
This may involve a significant time loss to the haulier because the load must either be redistributed on the same vehicle in cases where the load is incorrectly distributed or transferred to another vehicle. In both cases, the haulier may have to hire a crane to shift the load and another vehicle must be sent to the weighbridge site to carry the excess load.
Depending on the distance this may prove to be expensive.
The Gauteng province has found that in many cases it is not a simple case of 10% to 15% overloading but 50 to 100 %.
It is estimated that overloaded trucks cost the country between R600 and R700 million in damage to roads.
Gautrans recently launched Operation Boima which will see a significant increase in the number of trucks being weighed. In addition, the province has purchased seven additional highway patrol/reaction vehicles and trained 150 officers, with another 150 in training at present, who will focus on overloading.
By Anna Cox
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