Trucking the Freight Industry

Trucks with valuable freight travel South Africa as well and neighboring countries continuously. Across South Africa truck hijackings and cargo theft is being reported on the daily – as much as 90% of these hijackings involve an inside source tipping off criminals with crucial information.

Over the last decade, the freight industry reported 11,112 truck heists, an average of 1,110 within a year. 

The top commodities being stolen during 2018/19 included soybeans, diesel, yellow maize, and biscuits – costing the economy R10 billion a year.

Trucks carrying alcohol also see a large number of hijackings and attacks, especially over the Easter and festive months when sales spike and prices rise. The truck robberies have become more violent with many criminals presenting themselves as police or traffic officers bringing vehicles to a standstill, and once criminals have stopped a truck it is at their mercy. Small arms and high calibre weapons are being used by these criminals – making these syndicates “sophisticated” and able to strike with an unprecedented level of precision and force.

Apart from the freight on board, criminals also target trucks to strip the parts. The freight industry incurs major financial losses on top of COVID-19 and drivers become reluctant to drive unsafe routes or times.

 

 

Fast Tracking Cross-Border Flows in a Crisis

The challenges that countries in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region faced prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to alter the manner in which crossborder business takes place in the region. 

This matter was the focus of the World Customs Organization (WCO) ESA Regional Private Sector Consultative Group (RPSG) webinar — the 6th of its kind — held online on 21 May.

The meeting deliberated on some of the most pertinent customs- and trade- related matters, with specific focus on how the pandemic has influenced the situation.

The webinar was chaired by Juanita Maree, (WCO ESA-RPSG and SAAFF Director). She was joined by four leading customs panellists:

• Larry Liza – Director – World Customs Organization: East & Southern Africa,
• Regional Office for Capacity Building
• Patrick Gyan – Regional Development Manager, East and Southern Africa Region
• Fermin Cuza – International President – World Business Alliance for Secure
• Commerce Organization (World BASC, a member of WCO-PSCG)
• Kazem Asayesh – Senior Advisor – TIR and Transit Services, World Road Transport Organisation (member of WCO-PSCG)
• The session explored the following:
• Lessons learned from COVID-19
• Authoised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme: New developments during and after COVID-19 and
• Cross-border road freight and in transit cargo movements

Patrick Gyan highlighted the ongoing need for continued communication and collaboration – beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. He also stressed the need for innovation and for the industry to be bold and venture out.

“From a customs background, based on our nature, we hesitate to become more innovative,”

said Gyan.

“Now is the time to really take up some of the programmes that we have hesitated on. We are looking at paperless customs for example. Now is the time to really appreciate that customs’ work is to operate on that model or in that environment”.

Larry Liza shared some the key lessons learned:

There is a very strong need for investment in ICT infrastructure. We only have about 50% efficiency in IT infrastructure in the ESA region, when compared to Western Europe. Revenue administrations need to put more emphasis on ICT infrastructure.

The need for innovation in the domestic industry,especially in light of a weakening domestic industry.

The importance of e-commerce and emerging technologies, which we are going toneed more than ever. Blockchain is going to be used more and more. The use of drones and customs robotics will also grow, as it will decrease the intrusion on people and personnel.

AARTO Implementation a Big Concern says The Road Freight Association

 

The Road Freight Association (RFA) is working with all relevant role-players to ensure that the proposed Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) regulations are properly considered before implementation and that AARTO will achieve its main purpose of ensuring road safety – if implemented at all. 

This is according to the Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Kelly.

When the latest set of proposed regulations were published for public comment in October 2019, the RFA once again highlighted the pitfalls, weaknesses, severe risk to sustained business and nonsensical proposals that were being made, all in the name of ‘road safety’. Says Kelly: “The proposed regulations had vehicles being held ‘accountable’ for the behaviour of drivers (in some cases) or operator/owners in other cases. How do you change the behaviour of a vehicle?”

In its efforts to ensure that AARTO achieve its main objective ie. road safety, the RFA has been working closely with a number of organisations including the Department of Transport (DoT), the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) and Justice Project South Africa (JPSA).

The AARTO Act was promulgated in 1998 with the sole aim of addressing bad (unsafe) behaviour on our roads, by implementing a demerit point system for drivers, vehicles and operators resulting in licences, permits and operator cards being suspended or cancelled.

“Fast forward to 2020 and, notwithstanding much interaction between the various government authorities tasked with implementing AARTO (DoT, the RTIA and the RTMC) and we are no closer to a reasonable and effective implementation of any kind,” says Kelly.

Kelly says that the RFA continues to advocate for a properly focused, resourced and pro-active road traffic policing strategy by all authorities concerned – not the currently proposed cumbersome and questionable point demerit system and all the costs linked to operating it. Proof of achieving better behaviour on the roads was loudly proclaimed by the Minister of Transport regarding the recent successes achieved in the December 2019 festive season traffic safety strategy.

“The RFA does not see how issuing points to vehicles will change the behaviour of people, but it will definitely go a long way to destroying both the resale value of vehicles, as well as the capex value within various businesses,” he continues. “The authorities need to focus on changing driver behaviour, rather than on a system aimed at collecting revenue to support an administrative system. The RFA supports interventions which serve to improve the safety of the country’s roads and reduce incidents, injuries and fatalities. One of the key priorities of the RFA is the safety of all drivers on our roads and we have no objection in principle to a demerit system applied to South African drivers.”

Many countries have successful driver systems with demerit points; However, these are all easy to use, fair, effective and not based on generating revenue at every point in the process. “The system must assist in improving driving standards, and thereby contribute to reducing accidents, injuries and fatalities,” adds Kelly.

He concludes: “The RFA believes that AARTO could be very effective if the proposed regulations were amended to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and costs. Demerit access systems have been successfully implemented in other countries. These systems have a fair fine re-direction process and no vehicle demerit points.”

The RFA will be offering a series of workshops on AARTO over the coming months.