Industry remains hopeful that the Department of Transport (DoT) will see the light and change regulations to allow containers higher than 4.3m to be transported across the country.The issue around the movement of high cube containers, which come in 30cm higher than average containers at 4.6m, has been a sore point for years.
A moratorium granting blanket exemption to regulation 224 (b) of the National Road Traffic Regulations that curbs the height of a vehicle transporting a high cube container at 4.3m, terminated on January 1 this year.
Although the DoT indicated in its discussions with industry representatives at the time that this moratorium would be extended for a further 18 months to June 2021, it has to date not officially been extended.
According to Mike Walwyn, consultant for the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff ) who has been working closely on the high cube matter, there has been no change in the situation – and while government has verbally given its assurance that it will not prosecute anyone transporting high cube containers, transporters moving these containers are doing so completely at their own risk.“There has been no gazette on the extension of the moratorium,” he told Freight News.
“We were informed that these containers can keep moving on the roads at 4.6m and that transporters will not be prosecuted. That, however, has never been given to us in writing.”
He said while government had kept to its word and there had been no reports of any high cube containers being pulled off the road or transporters prosecuted, it was essential to have the matter resolved.“We remain in discussion with the Department of Transport (DoT) in moving this matter forward,” he said.
According to Walwyn, industry had also engaged with the Department of Trade Industr y and Competition (DTIC) to find a solution to the high cube issue.
“We remain hopeful that the DoT will change the regulation and allow the movement of containers at 4.6m. We have had millions of these containers move safely and without incident on the roads over the past few years. Our position continues to be that it is safe to transport high cubes at 4.6m.”
The position of the DoT on the matter is unclear at present. In the past officials have maintained that regulation 224(b) will not be amended and that the moratorium was instituted to allow industry to purchase or convert existing trailers to meet the 4.3m height restriction. Officials also said the moratorium had been in place for eight years and this was ample time for industry to make the necessary changes to fleets. Industry, on the other hand, has maintained this was never on the table as it was as unaffordable an endeavour in 2011 as it is now.
“We hope to see some movement on the high cube matter in the next few months as it is imperative we come to a solution,” said Walwyn
