RFA gets its voice heard on new overload ruling

JOY ORLEK
THE ROAD Freight Association has won its battle for a hearing with the Department of Transport’s National Overload Control Technical Committee (NOCTC) over its decision to reduce the permissible overloading tolerance from 5% to 2% over the legal limit for the gross vehicle mass on all trucks. The new ruling was recommended by the NOCTC last year. But while the RFA fully supports all efforts to discourage overloading, it protested the lack of consultation which gave its members no prior warning and therefore no time to ensure compliance. “The DoT has now invited us to make representation to them on the impact on operators of the legislation,” said RFA CEO Sharmini Naidoo. She has voiced extreme concern at the “new business opportunities” that have sprung up alongside weighbridges as a result of the ruling such as contracted forklift drivers. “This has opened up a whole new avenue for bribery and corruption,” she added. The Association was due to meet this week to set up a task team to work on the way forward. Naidoo stressed that the RFA was totally opposed to overloading or loading for the extra 5% tolerance. A survey undertaken in 2003 – sponsored by the private sector – revealed inconsistencies at weighbridges around the country. In addition to weighbridge inaccuracies, the RFA requested that allowances be granted for factors such as extreme climatic conditions; variation in fuel quantity in vehicles' tanks; variation in the mass of cargo, referring for example to sealed shipping containers, timber and the like; rainwater affecting the specific gravity (SG) of the cargo; positioning of the vehicle on the weighbridge; and human error when securing the readings. “There was an undertaking from the DoT that they would not implement changes without consulting the RFA,” says Naidoo. “The many discrepancies illustrated that it was necessary to maintain the tolerance at the 5% level as a security to guard against these inconsistencies,” she said. “Underloading on the drive axles is of particular concern to furniture distribution companies who are faced with exorbitant fines, delays at weighbridges and impounding of their vehicles. For obvious reasons, furniture removal companies cannot offload some of their cargoes en route. “This is being investigated by the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, the technical arm of the RFA.” When a ruling of this nature is implemented without consultation, the impact on RFA members is significant, says Naidoo. Once a task team is assembled and the impact assessed and documented, the RFA will present its case to the NOCTC, outlining the impact on the operator in terms of increased cost and inconvenience to the operator.