Tempers frayed over trucking congestion
TRANSNET must 'sort out' its handling of trucks delivering product to the Port of Richards Bay, as poor communication and a lack of systems are fuelling congestion on the city's roads.
This was the sentiment of Zululand Chamber of Business Foundation (ZCBF) CEO and Business Against Crime manager Mike Patterson who spoke at a truck congestion meeting hosted by City of uMhlathuze Traffic Services Management on Tuesday.
"If you want stock, you need to utilise it immediately or ensure systems to pack it away immediately," said Patterson.
"Our roads are being used like stockpiles and it is unacceptable that those truckers are sitting there with stock for such long periods of time.
"Transnet must take ownership of this problem and sort themselves out. A staging area is not even necessary as trucks should have a permit to go straight through to the port, and [the port] should be ready to receive them."
He said Transnet should have breakdown services on standby to attend to trucks that break down to allow traffic flow.
"Transnet needs to communicate with the mines to get [trucks] straight into the port," continued Patterson.
"We know what the cause of the problem is, but now our law enforcement and members of the public are left to deal with the challenges. Solutions must come from them now," he said.
City of uMhlathuze head of section: public safety and security Zolile Poswa welcomed the contributions and encouraged stakeholders to continue sharing recommendations.
"As a city, we intend on having a weighbridge, which all trucks will be subjected to, near the banana sellers on the John Ross highway," said Poswa.
"There are already weight restrictions for trucks on the R619 from eNseleni; only normal trucks can go through, while all heavy trucks use the N2 [R34] off-ramp. Á future staging area is planned before the weighbridge, and locals will also be directed to use that route."
Our roads are being used like stockpiles, and it is unacceptable that those truckers are sitting there with stock for such long periods of time