Timber iQ August - September 2017 // Issue: 33 | Page 46

FEATURES
Double-stacking must be avoided. Image: Pixabay
offence – which causes extensive damage to roads
and infrastructure.
The Road Transport Management System (RTMS) has
been brought in by the transport industry (and supported
by government) to ensure operators adhere to
loading compliance.
“We face many challenges in timber transport. One of
the biggest relates to transport rates, which are influenced
by the fuel price, toll fees, tyre costs and myriad of rising
maintenance costs,” he says.
Creditors usually send letters informing transport
operators of increases, but this does not mean customers
are willing to pay more for the transport.
“We can overcome this by working more innovatively.
You must consolidate and provide more outsourced
services yourself. You can then buy wholesale and try to
absorb some of these rising costs. However, this runs the
risk of putting other people out of work, as you no longer
make use of their services,” says Griebenow.
Another challenge is working at night. “Most customers
insist that you work a 24-hour shift to bring costs down. In
their minds, we pay for one vehicle but get twice as much
use out of it. This is not the case, and it is extremely
difficult and dangerous to work during the night,”
he cautions.
Statistics show that most accidents happen between
02:00 and 05:00 in the morning, when people work full
shifts. Overcoming this means trying to work extended
shifts, where one driver starts working at 04:00 to 12:00
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and the other driver starts at 13:00 and ends at 21:00,
for example.
Griebenow says not many innovations are happening in
timber transport. “Improvements are being made to on-
board weighing systems. These are a great help and enable
transporters to get the best payload without overloading
their vehicles.”
Performance Based Standards (PBS) trucks and the
CSIR’s Smart Truck Project, are also being phased in, which
enables transporters to move greater volumes with
fewer trucks.
He says timber transport customers should know that
transport contractors are ultimately human beings with
families to feed and employees and bills to pay.
“We cannot subsidise their operations with low
transport rates. We also cannot simply go to banks and ask
that our debit orders be put on hold. This has unfortunately
become a trend, in which the timber transporter is seen as
someone who is at the bottom of the food chain.
“It is assumed that the transporter will make a plan and,
when customers want to save, they try to save on transport
costs. Timber transport contractors rather