Top Drivers Wanted
Drivers seen reading The Driver at Manline's Mkondeni depot. This company is always hiring, manje, they set high standards here so don't bother calling this number if you cannot reverse your link like a pro, call them on 083333-3339 to hear where the next tests take place. Sinkhole on N3
This sinkhole on the N3 outside Pietermaritzburg near the Peter Brown offramp on the N3 was quickly fixed, but now there is a deep dip in the slow lane to shake up the load. The best vehicle on earth is not, on earth, but on the red planet Mars. More on page 4
News to inspire professional drivers of all size vehicles in southern Africa
Nr 30, March 201 5
Bus operators worried about taxi wars NATIONAL bus operators last week repeated the message they give each year at the annual Southern African Bus Operators Association conference, but for 2015 they added service delivery protests into the mix. Addressing the operators on transformation in the bus industry, costing expert Philip van Ryneveld warned if bus operators did not get the increased subsidies they need to continue supplying cheap and safe transport, the current average of three service delivery protest a month in Gauteng could treble to nine — a pattern that he warned could repeat along bus routes everywhere in South Africa. Earlier deputy Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga told the assembled operators South Africa’s public transport challenges are compounded by serious service backlogs “as a result of years of neglect and underinvestment” in public transport. He warned just throwing more money at the problem will not solve the backlogs as South Africa already
Freda Cooper (second from left) with the Sekalis, who transport shoppers from the Eastern Free State to Gauteng, (from left) Joyce, Matshidiso, Lerato Sekali and Thabang Sekali.
subsidised about 60% of a bus ticket compared to 30% or less in Europe and zero percent in most African states. He said the solution for SA’s public transport challenges goes beyond funding and includes issues such as spatial development planning, proper management and proper planning. Several bus operators complained during forum discussions illegal taxi operators
were “stealing” their clients away, while the ongoing planning showed no signs of coming to an end. Van Ryneveld however told bus operators their view that rapid bus transport programmes will erode their business, must shift. He said bus rapid transport with its gross contracting payment model are not feasible on South Africa’s traditionally long bus routes, on which all the passengers typically travel to the
same destination on return journeys. Similarly, these long route operators would not survive in the shorter routes of cities, which has a business model that require passengers to constantly get on and off the bus. Lisa Seftel, former director of transport in the City of Johannesburg, said lack of clear leaders in the taxi industrylack of input from the taxi industry can still take the whole bus sector down. .
Shot left! No, jigga right, aah sh*t!
TWO drivers pulling this container were lucky to escape with only bruises after the driver somehow missed the entire bridge on the N1 leading to the M5 highway in Cape Town and plunged
down to the bottom. ER24 paramedics found the guys out of the truck and holding their heads under the bridge. They were taken to the Vincent Palotti
How not to pick a lane when driving in Cape Town's dense traffic. Two drivers were injured in this crash, but luckily not seriously. Many more drivers who saw the photo almost ruptured themselves laughing.
Hospital. The highway had to be closed to remove the truck that was blocking two lanes, delaying the Cape Town traffic by hours. - Driver Reporter.
Drunk and disordery man thanks police for the bed by stealing cop car! A man who was detained at the George police station overnight for being drunk and disordely stole a cop car and drove off when he was released the next morning. Romantha Botha reports for Die Burger Police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said officers traced
Page 2, March 2015
the vehicle to the N2 near Mosselbay and set up a roadblock. The suspect first tried to swerve aroudn then tried crashing through two police vehicles and a truck parked. “The stolen police vehicle left the road and ended up in a ditch,” said
Pojie. The man crawled from the wreck and did not try to run any further. He was treated for minor injuries at the Riversdale Hospital and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, and reckless and negligent driving. - Driver Reporter
Stolen trucks for stolen steel
A JEALOUS business rival may have alerted Gau-teng police to arrest a Johannesburg millionaire businessman and 10 drivers at a factory in Leondale. The factory was filled with were loads of hijacked steel and petrol while the yard was full of stolen trucks. “They were arrested after a tip-off about a truck hijacked with steel,” police spokesperson Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela told Sapa. He said police found the steel when they arrived at the factory as well as a number trucks in the yard which had been stolen. One had been hijacked in Welkom and another in Durban. Speaking from the scene, Makhubela said it appeared that there was also a facility to drain stolen petrol. The millionaire businessman owns a trailer and transporting company that moves goods around the country and on the continent. Yesterday morning police were trying to verify the ownership of the vehicles on the properly and taking an inventory of the goods. The 10 drivers and their boss will appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Alberton on Monday 16 March and the case was postponed. With a ready market for processes metals, the theft of especially metals such as steel and copper happens around the world, with the stolen goods shipped in containers to China. Transporting containers filled with this loot is as dangerous as stealing it, as hi-jackers await en route. — Sapa-Driver.
“There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep. ” – Desmond Tutu
The best car on earth is on Mars The lights of an oncoming car is circled... typical mist along the N4 and N3 escarpment, when hot, moist air from the Indian ocean condenses overnight against cold air from the Highveld on the way to Jo'burg.
New toll fees
DRIVING on the N3 will from Saturday cost motorists R11 more while truckers will have to pay up to R44,47 extra. The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) yesterday announced the toll fees the national roads, including the N2 and N3 in KwaZulu-Natal, will increase on Saturday. The adjustments to the tariffs are based on the preceding twelve months CPI. The average CPI adjustment for Sanral managed toll tariffs is 6,017%. Sanral CEO Nazir Alli said the increase were linked to the inflation rate to, “as we do not want to increase road usage costs beyond what is reasonable.” The Driver iziZulu editor Samuel Makhathini said a super link on the N3, which currently pays R739 one way, will pay close to R45 more over the weekend. Makhathini said bikers on the N3 will pay or total of R193 in tolls— the same as motorists or a Siyaya taxi pulling a trailer. - Driver Reporter.
FAR above our heads, on a star that looks a little bit red, three of the finest vehicles made by humans are roving in temperatures that range from −127 to 40 °C. Apart from lasting much longer than its builders planned, these robot cars also use power sources that are every fleet manager wants. The latest of these rovers is a 6x6 probe named Curiosity. It weighs 899 kg. Standing a bit talled than a man at 2.2 metres, Curiosity is loaded with the latest scientific instruments to analyse what it finds on the red planet, including a lazer camera. But it is the drivetrains in these Martian rovers that fascinates drivers. Like like the successful Viking 1 and Viking 2 Mars landers in 1976, Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). Wikipedia explains that radioisotope power systems (RPSs) are generators that produce electricity from the decay
of radioactive isotopes, such as plutonium-238, which is a non-fissile isotope of plutonium. Heat given off by the decay of this isotope is converted into electric voltage by thermocouples, providing constant power during all seasons and through the day and night. Waste heat can be used via pipes to warm systems, freeing electrical power for the operation of the vehicle and instruments. Curiosity 's RTG is fueled by 4.8 kg of plutonium-238 dioxide supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy. Curiosity 's power generator is the latest RTG generation built by Boeing and Idaho National Laboratory. Based on legacy RTG technology. It is designed to produce 125 watts of electrical power from about 2,000 watts of thermal power at the start of the mission. Its plutonium fuel will last at least 14 years. - Driver Reporter.
Standing a bit taller than a man, Mars explorer Curiosity has a nuclear power source to drive its motors and prevent freezing on the red planet.
Nissan confident in new Quester, but no prices yet UD Trucks has launched 1 3 models of the Quester range. On hand to drive several of the trucks was the vice president of product strategy at UD Trucks, Nobuhiko Kishi. He told us the Quester was designed according to the needs expressed by fleet operators in "modernising markets" in Africa, and will probably not be sold in Japan. He pointed out the Quester range
comes with the bare minimum of on board computers controlling the two engines from the Volvo Group, and these computers controlled only the most basic functions to ensure their durability in dusty, shaking conditions. Asked if the Quester won't cannibalise the UD Quon's sales, Rory Schulz, managing director of UD Trucks Southern Africa said the Quester range will “simply
“Amabhulu azizinja” - Steve Biko”
If priced right, the 8x4 Qeuster tipper may prove very popular against the trucks from Powerstar and FAW.
enhance our offering to the market”. - Driver Reporter
Page 3, March 2015
Small trench stops abnormal load
TRUCKS with an urgent abnormal load were stopped in their tracks by a shallow trench and a few rocks across the R74 between Greytown and Muden in KwaZulu-Natal. JeffWicks for The Witness reports the Mercor trucks are carrying components vital for the construction of the Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga, which is already five years behind schedule, have been standing at the roadside for over a week, victims of a bitter service delivery dispute. Residents on the outskirts of Greytown, who have been fighting for land and services in the area for nearly four years, have dug deep trenches across the R74, making it impossible for the six trucks carrying the Kusile parts to pass. With no traffic having moved through the area in weeks, the operations of local farmers and lodge owners have also been affected. The dispute, which has at times turned violent, is now hamstringing pivotal electricity grid infrastructure as the country deals with a nationwide power crisis. Kusile, one of Eskom’s flagship power generation projects, has been plagued by delays. These delays are expected to be exacerbated by the marooning of key boiler components in Greytown. When completed, Kusile and Medupi coal-fired plants will provide nearly 25% of the country’s electricity. The blockaded and badly damaged R74 is a major freight route for abnormal loads because of the width of the road, relatively low traffic volumes and absence of low bridges. A line of six special interlink trucks, carrying large
Page 4, March 2015
Sibongile nonke!
To all the drivers who help to deliver The Driver to truckstops and taxi ranks, a big thank you again. Below are just some of guys who helped us get editions 28 and 29 out there.
Douglas, to Mooi River, KZN.
Special, to Gaborone, Botswana.
Abnormal drivers Johan Roos (left) and Vincent Cele seen at the back of the giant boiler, in which they set up chairs to wait out the latest delay on their route. Drivers of abnormal loads often wait weeks for police escorts.
steelworks which are set to form part of boiler infrastructure at the Kusile Power Project, now stands idle at the roadside. The trucks, which each run at a rental cost of R25 000 each per day, have been stranded for a week while alternate routes are considered. The service delivery demands at the centre of the conflict stretch back over several years, with the community regularly blockading the road and looting and burning several freight vehicles. In April 2012, 135 people were arrested on charges of public violence after the community blockaded the R74 with trees, rocks, tyres and debris. This was
not the first delay for an abnormal load travelling from Durban harbour. Abnormal drivers are used to delays, as the rigs must have police escourts through each municipal area. But the police often have more urgent matters to attend to and often do not have vehicles spare to accompany the slow load as the drivers carefully steer along the B-roads. The delays can be a few days or a few weeks, which is very frustratging to the factories waiting for giant parts, but not so much for the drivers who have learned to treat the wait as part of this specialised job. The one thing that get most drivers down is being far from home for so long.
“Ifyou want to increase your success, double your failures. ” – Thomas Watson.
Enzo, to Mmbabane, Swaziland. Ndabase and Ncombe, to Bloemfontein
Victor, to Jozini in north KZN. Jeanot to the Easten Cape.
Ricardo to Jo'burg.
Johan even had an old copy of The Driver, he delivered a new MAN and copies to Mpu.