Roads

Roads

GENERAL
 
The Council supports the concept of a Road Board with full representation from Government, Industry and specifically the Cargo Owners to oversee the macro development of road infrastructure.

POLICY STATEMENTS

The Council subscribes to the following principles and/or general statements: 

• Road infrastructure provision, maintenance and regulation is a state function.
• The principle of payment for usage.
• Commercial road transport is an integral and critical part of the economy and a healthy competitive industry is required for South Africa to be a world-class competitor.
• Overloading of trucks to the extent that more than the usual wear and tear is inflicted on the roads is unacceptable.
• Legal/acceptable load restrictions need to be established in a transparent and acceptable manner in consultation with representatives from the road freight industry.
• Once the above has been completed, overloading has to be dealt with effectively through law enforcement.
• Payment for usage through a "Toll" system is supported.
• Financing of new toll roads on a concessionary basis by the private sector is encouraged.
• Overloading is often caused by extreme competition between Transnet Freight Rail and road hauliers. If road hauliers had the option of operating rail carriage businesses, overloading as a means of staying in business could be curbed.
• Transnet Freight Rail is able to compete at any price to take a competitor out due to cross subsidisation by other commodities/routes where transport is not feasible. This leads to overloading by road hauliers to stay in business at non-viable rates.
• In a truly open transport environment, various multi modal operations would emerge leading to "Modal optimisation" by multi-modal operators. This would reduce long haul transport, resulting in increased road life and improved road safety.