Author:mike-fitzmaurice

As 2019 gains momentum, unworkable transport legislation still hangs thick in the air After 20 years of continual transport of high-cube containers on all the roads in the region without any evidence of problems, South Africa is still debating this non-issue. The looming national and regional logistics disaster has been averted again, in the same way as it was in 2011: by obfuscation instead of simple logic. The eighth minister of transport to be involved in the issue, Blade Nzimande, […]

Attacked and threatened by the people who should be protecting them, truck drivers in southern Africa are fearing for their lives Truck drivers in southern Africa fear for their lives at some border posts, as they have become sitting ducks in the long queues and informal truck parks created to accommodate severe congestion at these border crossings. In most cases, the congestion is a direct result of inefficiency at the border and complicated procedures implemented by border authorities to create […]

A horrific accident in Tanzania once again reminds us of the importance of properly designed border posts when it comes to dangerous-goods vehicles On the morning of Sunday August 22, the brake system failed on a Lake Oil fuel tanker while it was on the downhill approach to the Rusumo one-stop border post (OSBP), on the Tanzanian side. The driver steered the tanker through the exit gate and into the truck park – colliding with vehicles in the parking area. […]

Is South Africa the “Gateway to Africa” or the “Gateway to Nowhere”? Way back in the 1990s I attended a business seminar hosted by scenario planner Clem Sunter. In his talk he made the statement that South Africa had the potential to become the “Gateway to Africa” given its location, economic strength and its well-established infrastructure. Sadly, however, South Africa is fast becoming the “Gateway to Nowhere”. Twenty-four years have lapsed since democracy in South Africa, but there has been […]

It is with great sadness that we report the loss of Barney Curtis. It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Barney Curtis whose wisdom, courage and personal commitment created Fesarta and guided the Federation for so many years. The trucking industry owes him a debt of gratitude for his persistent and determined contributions to improving the standards of interstate transport in the southern African region. The tributes and condolences received from Dar es Salaam, Lusaka, Gaborone, […]

Methods of controlling the condition of vehicles vary greatly around the world. Which is the best for our region? It has been estimated that the condition of vehicles is a factor in about ten percent of road accidents. In the absence of any reliable monitoring system, it is difficult to establish whether the efforts to mitigate this are successful. It is apparent from the current appalling accident experience of most countries in the southern and eastern region of Africa that […]

The continuing chaos at several of the most important borders in the South African Development Community (SADC) region is significantly raising the cost of transport and reducing the potential for trade and industrial growth. The reports from members of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), on site at several borders, tell of delays of five days or more, with hundreds of vehicles parked haphazardly around borders and along the approach roads. The borders are blocked […]

Fesarta has big plans in place for 2018 and beyond Much has happened at the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) since Barney Curtis’s tenure at the helm came to an end in February 2015, after nearly two decades, and I took over the reins as executive director in May 2015. Despite many challenges, Fesarta has made great strides and some major successes have been achieved. As I am also the owner-director of Transport Logistics Consultants […]

Transport policies tend to change in 30 to 40-year cycles, and that time is on the horizon for southern Africa. The South African Road Freight Strategy, approved by Cabinet in 2017, and the Tripartite Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme (TTTFP), approved by all 27 countries in this region, both aim to improve the quality of road-freight operations by introducing fundamental changes to the regulatory systems. The regulations, instruments, systems and standards proposed by both the Road Freight Strategy and the […]