Let’s talk, man to man

There’s a certain mythology around trucking – long hours on the open road; grit, grind, and a kind of toughman endurance. However, behind the wheel of that romanticised image, writes JIM WARD, lies a darker reality. A recent video clip circulating on trucking forums and social media has peeled back the curtain on just how strained – and dangerous – this world can become.

There is a video clip on one of the trucking sites currently circulating on social media. It is a disturbing conversation between a vehicle owner and a driver, recorded while the latter is driving an extra-heavy truck with an exhaust brake in urban traffic. The conversation quickly becomes heated and accusatory, ending with the driver telling the employer to prepare his paperwork so that he can leave as soon as he completes the load he is delivering. They sound like old protagonists; it’s clearly not their first conflict.

Driver: “Let’s talk, man to man, Boss.”

Boss: “From the time you left [place name removed], which was at six minutes past four…”

“The traffic was very bad.”

“…Until half past seven this morning, I can’t make money. I can’t make money, but you don’t want to listen to me.”

“You keep on pushing me, pushing me. No boss, you are very unappreciative. It means I must find another job.”

“You’re very disrespectful”

“Okay, you can fire me because I sleep more than four hours. You can write it there.”

The issue revolves around sleeping. The driver in question was expected to sleep for four hours, but he was tired, so he overslept by two hours, meaning that he drove for 18 hours, instead of the 20 expected of him. I will repeat that: the two men were arguing because when the driver explained that he was feeling very tired and had to rest – admitting that he had overslept and taken a six-hour break from driving – the owner was unhappy that during this time he couldn’t make any money with the truck. That means he had factored into his rates the truck being driven 20 out of 24 hours, using one driver. 

During the argument the driver becomes increasingly upset, claiming that his boss has no idea what it’s like to drive for 20 hours and then only rest for four. The owner rebukes him, demanding to know why he extended his rest, and reprimands him, because the two hours of extra sleep mean he cannot make any money with the truck.

I have so many problems with this conversation. At the most basic level, is it ever acceptable to conduct a disciplinary enquiry on the phone with a driver while he is driving in traffic on busy suburban streets? Is that wise?

This is before even considering the crux of the issue: South African truck drivers are subject to specific legal limits on driving hours. We all know the guidelines:

• Maximum continuous driving time: five hours without a break.
• Total driving time in a 24-hour period: up to 15 hours.
• Rest requirements: at least 15 minutes of rest, with a minimum of 30 minutes accumulated during any 5.5-hour driving period.
• Minimum continuous rest: nine hours within every 24-hour cycle – definitely not only four, as even six hours are still inadequate.

Drivers who are part of the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI) agreement should further not exceed 95 hours per week or 15 hours per day. This driver was being grilled by his boss because he was expected to keep driving for 20 hours before resting.

The driver mentions having already driven from Richards Bay and repeats several times that he feels very tired and needs sleep. This is recorded. The owner, however, continues to needle him, going on about how the driver’s attitude is making him lose profit, and asking why the driver took an extra two hours when he knew he wasn’t supposed to stop for longer than four hours.

The owner knew – to the minute – how long he had stopped, from the tracking. If this driver were in an accident, the enquiry would surely determine how many hours had been driven. He had far exceeded his allowed driving time, but the comments on the clip were equally depressing.  For each person sympathising with the driver, advising him to leave and go and work somewhere else, there would be some macho man bragging. 

“You think that’s tough, that’s f*** all, come work here by us, we drive for 22 hours every day and if we complain about being tired the supervisors tell us we can rest on Sunday,” or, “That’s nothing, I often drive from Cape Town to Pongola and back without stopping,” and similar boasts. Then there were the drivers recommending pills, mixing energy drinks and medication, and other dubious concoctions reputed to keep you awake for abnormal hours. Drivers were mentioning hallucinations, ghost vehicles, and imaginary tunnels.

The social media echo chamber message was loud and clear: this was no isolated case. Driving while dangerously fatigued was commonplace, and frequently, if you complained, you’d be asked to leave, or coerced into resigning. Many comments took the driver’s side, but others leapt to conclusions based entirely on the video clip: “We had drivers like that – always complaining, always causing trouble. They don’t want to work, that’s why we mostly employ foreigners…” and worse.

If the rate an operator is paid forces them to pressure drivers to work 20 hours in a 24-hour period, then there is a huge problem with the rate. They might be operating under the radar, surviving on broker work, but throughout that supply chain, from despatch to receiving, they are all breaking the law. When this driver eventually does fall asleep and crashes into another vehicle (as they surely will), travelling at a state-determined 80km/h, the uproar will be about how useless truck drivers are, how they all buy their licences, and how they don’t know how to drive… Not about how many hours they had driven prior to the accident. 

Preventable, fatigue-related accidents happen when rest is treated like a luxury, instead of an absolute necessity. When profits overtake concern for drivers’ well-being, it creates the perfect environment for accidents. Operators might genuinely believe they are focused on efficiency, when they are really gambling with lives. If you were about to undergo surgery and the surgeon mentioned, as they administered the anaesthetic, that they were desperately tired, having completed 11 major operations in the past 19 hours, their hands were shaking and they could barely keep their eyes open, how would you feel? What about if it was the pilot of a commercial aircraft?

Until we are all replaced by robots and AI, trucks that are driven by humans will be subject to human needs and foibles. These drivers deserve to be treated like humans, not like pack animals or machines. Otherwise, every other effort we strive for in terms of road safety will be lost.