Self regulation initiative to address the heavy vehicle overloading problem in South Africa

Heavy vehicle overloading continues to be a major problem in South Africa notwithstanding efforts at more effective overload control by the authorities. Overloading causes premature road deterioration and, together with poor vehicle maintenance and driver fatigue, contributes significantly to South Africa’s poor road safety record. Overloading also results in unfair competition between transport operators and transport modes, leading to unrealistically low transport rates. One of the tasks of the Department of Transport’s National Overload Control Strategy was to investigate the possibility of implementing some form of self-regulation in the heavy vehicle transport industry to complement the enforcement efforts of the roads authorities to address the problem of overloading. The strategy recognises that the ability to monitor vehicle loads at origin and/or destination based on operator supplied data is very attractive, strategic and feasible, and could greatly assist in addressing the problem of vehicle overloading (and under-loading). This could save the trucking industry significant time and costs, and improve the logistics of transporting goods by road.