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CONDITIONS for many truck and bus drivers today are no better - and sometimes worse - than they were 25 years ago, says Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap. And this realisation comes at a time when the carnage on our roads reached ghastly proportions at the Easter weekend, with 235 deaths and more than 1 000 people injured.
Bell says this again raises an issue first brought to public attention 20 years ago: “fake licences”. He notes that in 1997 the transport ministry estimated that more than 1 million drivers' licences had been “improperly issued”, with drivers not having undergone the required tests.
At that time the most prominent case of a “fake licence” to come to light was the one issued to Baleka Mbete, now the Speaker of Parliament. According to truck drivers interviewed, little has since changed. The going rate for an upgrade to a code 14 licence to drive a heavy motor vehicle of more than 16 tons, towing a trailer of more than 750 kg, is between R4 000 and R5 000.
While he was unable to verify this claim, Bell says there is plenty of evidence that drivers of these juggernauts often suffer from levels of fatigue that would make them as incapable and dangerous as anyone well over the drunk driving limit.
He quotes the “trip sheet” of one driver, Donovan Leibrandt, who in 55 hours with a non-driving assistant travelled 3 333km, doing 27 deliveries. His first rest or sleep period came after 24 hours.
Bell also points out that employers complain that profit margins are being squeezed; that a return of little more than 3% is all that most can hope for. What this means, he says, is that companies adhering to decent labour practices are under constant pressure to give way.
Rogue operators, labour brokers and increasingly intense competition among owner-drivers encouraged by various companies drive this effective “race to the bottom”. Added to this is a lack of enforcement of existing rules and corruption at all levels.
This, says Bell, is an extremely complex matter, but one that should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
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