Company Announcement - At Agbiz’s Grain Logistics Workshop, which took place outside Johannesburg on 11 February 2015, participants discussed solutions for complying with the amendments to the National Road Traffic Regulations. Matters such as the condition of South Africa’s roads, the many unroadworthy vehicles on the country’s roads, the impact of the high number of truck accidents on the economy, as well as self-regulation as a possible solution, were also placed in the spotlight. The following are highlights of the workshop.

New regulations good news for SA roads but will make life difficult for truck owners

The new regulations pertaining to the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996), which came into effect on 31 October 2014 (definition of consignors and consignees) and on 31 January 2015 (Regulations 330A to 330D), are not good news for both consignors and consignees. The regulations are, however, certainly good news for South Africa’s depleted roads – especially those in rural South Africa, said Alta Swanepoel of Alta Swanepoel & Associates at the workshop.

Section 74A of the Act requires a consignor, as well as a consignee, to take all reasonable steps to avoid overloading a vehicle. Furthermore, in the event of prosecution, the consignor or consignee must be able to indicate what steps were taken to avoid the overloading of vehicles.

Section 74B requires accurate documentation, as it may be used as evidence in a court cases. Regulations 330A and 330B explain in detail the responsibilities of a consignor or consignee.

Overloaded trucks are the main reason for damaged roads and the new regulations will ensure that the weight that trucks carry will be calculated more fairly and scientifically. The new regulations also endeavour to place the responsibility where it belongs, she said. The new regulations apply to consignors and consignees that transport 500 000 kg and more per month.

New in the regulations is the fact that consignees could now also be held accountable for ensuring that trucks carry the correct weight as stipulated by law. “Consignees are often the only players who can be identified as the party in the chain (consignor/operator/driver/consignee) who should know what the weight on a truck is and that this is in accordance with the law,” Swanepoel said.       

The other bad news is that trucks must now carry documents stipulating, inter alia, the mass they carry, to whom the truck belongs and to where it is destined. This will place a huge administrative burden on consigners.

In practice, the new regulations mean that an overloaded truck could now not be driven for 200 km before a traffic officer at a weighing bridge could check the load and order a correction of the weight. “At that stage, the truck has already damaged the 200 km of road it travelled on,” according to Swanepoel.     

The distribution of weight on a truck is the important factor that determines the load’s potential to damage roads, she explained. “In the past, most consignors only checked the total mass of the vehicle and not the axle masses. The new regulations stipulate that the weight that each axle carries must be calculated, as well as other factors, such as the weight of the diesel or petrol it carries. A “one-tonner”, for instance, does not mean that the truck can carry one ton of weight. “Others factors also add to the one ton and these have to be calculated as well,” Swanepoel said. This means that consignors will in most instances need scales that can weigh individual axles and axle-units to calculate a truck’s weight. These scales are expensive.      

Another new regulation that will add to the escalating bill is the compulsory liability insurance that consignors now will have to take out to ensure that there is no loss to government’s coffers when, for instance, a truck runs into a bridge on the N1.      

“And you are living in dreamland if you think that policing the system is impractical and will not happen due to a lack of expertise or manpower. “The expert eyes of an experienced traffic officer will quickly detect if a vehicle carries more weight than it should. The documentation that has to accompany a vehicle will be a give-away if the truck is overloaded. And, if the officer has his or her doubts, the vehicle will be directed to the nearest weighing bridge (this is compulsory), albeit 100 km away.”    

If found guilty, a fine of up to R240 000 and even a term in prison of up to six years may await you.      

The bottom line: Know what is expected of you and comply, Swanepoel recommended. If not, you could be in serious trouble.