Author:nick-poree

Road freight regulations in SA: change desperately needed August 19, 2021 Some road freight regulations in South Africa are in desperate need of change! So says NICK PORÉE, who also has some suggestions about how these rules can be fixed. There are several aspects of the road freight regulations in South Africa that are either anomalous or illogical and pose limitations on optimum productivity. Unfortunately there has been no single dedicated competent body to address these issues since the demise […]

South African freight logistics in crisis July 19, 2021 Want to know how healthy South Africa’s economy is? Then look no further than its freight logistics performance. However, as NICK PORÉE warns, it’s not a pretty picture. Freight logistics performance is the “barometer” of the economy. This is true for all modes of transport as well as for countries, regions or global trade. In South Africa, the current levels of economic activity are reflected in the corporate results of the […]

Commercial road freight regulation in SA: what a mess! June 17, 2021 The rules and regulations governing the movement of road freight in South Africa are decidedly messy, writes NICK PORÉE. Internationally, various regulations are issued that provide standards for commercial transport operators. These are defined by multinational bodies, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA), in regions such as the European Union, or national organisations such as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency […]

Road to rail: a “Holy Grail” May 14, 2021 The often-stated but somewhat nebulous objective of the South African government was to reverse the dramatic shift of long haul freight transport from rail to road in the period 1985 to 2000. What happened? NICK PORÉE reports. During that period, the railways – having a total monopoly on rail freight transport – withdrew all breakbulk services by closing stations and sidings and reducing locos, wagons and staff. Why? So as to […]

Border Trade in Danger at Beitbridge March 22, 2021 In the wake of all the damage caused by the border authorities trying to block Covid-19, the freight transport industry faces yet another series of administrative crossed wires in the development of a One-Stop Border Post Policy (OSBP) focused on Beitbridge, warns NICK PORÉE. The Border Management Act 2 of 2020 (BMA) (Gazette No. 43536) was a dubious policy measure to shift the control of borders to the Department of Home […]

Transport costs strangle economic growth February 19, 2021 The administered costs of input factors to road freight transport (and many industries) are contributing to the poor economic performance of the countries using South African transport services. So says NICK PORÉE, who warns that consequences of these excessive costs can be dire. These transport costs will have an obstructive influence on the various treaties to increase the current proportions of interstate trade in Africa. Within the ambit of South African road […]

Anarchy and control in commercial road transport December 16, 2020 It hasn’t been a good year for road transport in southern Africa, writes NICK PORÉE… In South Africa, there are 380 000 registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) operating within the country, of which about 70% are operated by businesses for own account, or by owner-drivers, which are not subject to the industry Bargaining Council. This partially explains why the Bargaining Council only records 44 021 local and 6 756 foreign […]

Can regional trade recover post-Covid? October 20, 2020 There is much that needs to be done to facilitate smooth regional trade post-Covid The African Continental Free Trade Area is scheduled to go into operation in January 2021, thereby theoretically providing a historic opportunity to deepen trade and economic integration. A recent IMF Working Paper on competition, competitiveness and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa gives empirical evidence that, compared to other policy actions, trade liberalisation appears to be a particularly potent tool […]

Obstacles and solutions for regional trade September 21, 2020 The current method of moving goods in intraregional and interregional trade in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region is inefficient and expensive in comparison with international best practice The significant improvements that have been achieved in East Africa reflect the potential for coordination between countries, but the changes have been largely implemented by the authorities, not the transport industry. Interstate trade throughout the ESA region has not yet benefited from […]

Covid-19 and the transport industry: complete chaos! July 9, 2020 Covid-19 has had a massive impact on the transport industry! It has also revealed the total unpreparedness of the authorities and the industry to contain disastrous trade disruptions. The responses of authorities in the region have been varied and generally based on the World Health Organization’s recommendations to lock down the populations in order to suppress the spread of the virus. This has included total closure of industrial production apart […]