Robo Freightliner
Nevada governor Brian Sandoval reads while the Freighliner drives itself. More on page 3.
News to inspire professional drivers of all size vehicles in southern Africa
Tricks to cope with coast to inland driving. More on page 2.
TRUCK hijackings have increased by 54,5% in 2014/to date, with 689 cases reported. In 2013/2014 truck hijackings had increased by only 4,4% and in 2012/2013 by 18,3%. The thieves are informed, picking their loads for themost value and each hijacked load typically involves millions of rands. Low economy, high crime At one tracking company, Cartrack, the global chief finanical officer John Edmeston, the South African Road Freight Association had reported 1150 truck hijackings across the industry during the same period – “a rapid and significant escalation”. More reports, he added, are showing a direct correlation between the crime rate and economic and social conditions. “Car and truck hijackings are generally perpetrated by organised crime syndicates, thus the hijacking increases also suggest that organised crime is on the rise in South Africa.” Using data recorded by police
Four seasons a day Last rides
Weird wheels: Hearses from around the world. More on page 4.
Siesa, ngcolile!
Ikuphi indawo ezingcolile endawni yokugezela? Waar is die vuilste badkamers? Where are the dirtiest bathrooms? The Driver will help dirty stops to clean up. Tell us where they are: SMS us on 0730624674 The Driver subscribes to the SA Press Code that prescribes news that is truthful, accurate, fair and balanced. If we don’t live up to the code please contact the Press Ombudsman on 011-484 3512/8 or on ombudsman@presscouncil.org.za.
Nr 32, May 201 5
The ticking crime bomb of jobless youth
Western Cape. “Exacerbating this, the perceived or real high levels of corruption, instability in our law enforcement agencies and perceived low criminal prosecution rates also play a role in bolstering crime. “Criminals believe they can act with impunity,” Edmeston said. There was, he said, “a ticking time bomb” forecast of 10unemployed young John Edmeston, global CFO for Cartrack, predicts truck hijackings million South Africans by 2020. He will go up as the economy goes down. cited the World Employment in 15 countries, Edmeston economics in an environment and Social Outlook Trends pointed out robbery, murder and where controls and consequen- 2015 report, which –puts South hi-jackings go hand in hand ces are inadequate.” Africa as having the world’s with economic stress. Beyond the economic link to unemployment crime rates, Edmeston pointed eighth-highest rate and among the youth the Just like the bad old days out, various studies stated that figure is 52.5% the sixth highest Edmeston remined how truck many factors were driving this in the world. hijackings in SA had soared by trend, among them youth gangs, “Tackling youth 61% during the financial crisis drugs, alcohol and the unemployment has to of 2008/9, but then dropped by availability of firearms. 42% during the recovery years be South Africa’s single of 2011/12. Poor pockets, most important focus; “Nevertheless we have to rich pickings come to terms with the fact that Edmeston said gangs operating business and government must find common crime, particularly organised drug and vehicle theft ground to defuse that crime, is an industry in itself syndicates were particularly and will thrive regardless of active in Gauteng and the bomb.”
Driving four seasons a day From the warm beaches of Durban to the N3tc toll gate near Ladysmith is the first to turn icy when snow falls on the Drakensberg.
Photo: Ladysmith Gazette
Driving from ports to Jo'burg, drivers in South Africa may easily experience four different climatic conditions in a single day. eThekwini Municipality's crash statistics for 2013 averaged out at 174 crashes each of the 365 days, with one person dead, six seriously injured and nine less-seriously injured in each crash. This average does not show what happens in “peak crash periods” following bad weather that can top 350 crashes in a single, hectically rainy day. The wet season has got to act as an alarm bell for fleets on the road, but ice and snow on the Van Reenen’s even more so. Drivers must be prepared for seasonal changes at both an attitudinal and operational level. Operators must train drivers before a wet season begins and ensure maintenance staff, drivers and crew understand what
Page 2, May 2015
is expected of them in bad weather. Some hardware help, like aircon, mudflaps and fog lights. These are not luxuries, but life savers and should be fitted on any commericial vehicle, from midi-buses to trucks, that driving from the coast to inland areas. Luxuries that saves lives in winter: • Clean the lights at every stop. • Check the fog lights work for mist. • Use the air-conditioning to de-mist the windscreen. • Fit mud-flaps and mudguards to make it easier for cars to overtaking your truck on wet roads and keep your truck cleaner. • Wet the wind screen and check the wiper motors, arms and blades all working at all speeds. • Fill the windscreen washer bottle . Dave Scott is an expert in road transport industry fleet management and can be reached on dave@davedscott. co. za.
Stop daai Translux bus!
DIE ontstoke seun van ’n 60-jarige vrou wat Donderdag in die stikdonker nag langs die pad by ’n vulstasie honderde kilometers van haar bestemming deur die bus waarmee sy gereis het, agterlaat is, sê hy gaan beslis stappe teen die busdiens doen. Dr. Dawid van den Bergh van Bloemfontein sê dit is verregaande dat die busbestuurder nie eens die moeite gedoen het om seker te maak al die passasiers is op die bus voordat hy vertrek het nie. “Dit is onaanvaarbaar en ek gaan beslis my afkeer hiervan met stappe wys.” Sy ma, Anso ten Have, het per bus van Worcester na Bloemfontein gereis toe sy die nag by die Engen-vulstasie in Colesberg agterlaat is toe die bus sonder haar na Bloemfontein vertrek het. Haar nagmerrie het omstreeks 03:00 begin toe sy en nog ’n passasier, Wake Vinathi, by die Engen-vulstasie in Colesberg koffie gaan koop het. Met hul terugkeer na die stilhouplek van die Translux-bus het hulle geskok besef die bus het reeds vertrek. Volgens Ten Have was hulle maar net agt minute weg om die koffie te koop. “My grootste vrees het ’n werklikheid geword toe ek in die middel van die nag daar agtergelaat is. Allerhande dinge het deur my kop gemaal. Ek het nie geweet wat om te dink en hoe om te voel nie. Ek was heeltemal histeries.” Om dinge te vererger het haar selfoon se battery ook pap geword. Die benoude Ten Have het haar seun toe van ’n openbare telefoon gebel en
“Great anger is more destructive than a sword. ” ~ Tamil proverb
hom oor die voorval ingelig. Gelukkig het ’n barmhartige samaritaan wat op pad Johannesburg toe was, vir Ten Have en Vinathi ’n saamrygeleentheid na Bloemfontein aangebied. Ten Have sê hoewel die behulpsame motoris teen ’n aansienlike spoed gery het in ’n poging om die bus in te haal, was dit vergeefs, aangesien die bus ook vinnig gery het. “Toe ons eindelik naby Edenburg die bus ingehaal het, wou die busbestuurder nie van die pad aftrek nie en het hy net versnel. Ons het die bus toe maar tot in Bloemfontein gevolg.” Van den Bergh sê teen Donderdagmiddag laat het hy die busdiens reeds verskeie kere gebel op soek na antwoorde. “Ek is van die een mens na ’n ander deurgeskakel. Die een meer onbeholpe as die ander.” Vinathi, wat van Kaapstad na Johanesburg gereis het, sê dit was een van sy onaangenaamste ervarings nog, maar teen Donderdagmiddag was hy darem oor die ergste skok. Vusi Nhlapo, woordvoerder van Translux, het gesê hy betreur die voorval en dat dit ondersoek word. - News24. Translation:
The driver ofa Translux bus who left two passengers behind at 3 am was disciplined. The passengers, a grandmother Anso ten Have and a young man from Cape Town, Wake Vinathi, say they were not even eight minutes out ofthe bus. A motorist helped the two, but the bus was driving too fast for them to catch it.
Rubber that does not stick too much
Continental strengthened its partnership with MAN by developing thethird generation Conti EcoPlus tyre. This low rolling resistance rubber is designed to save diesel. "We have had a long-standing partnership with MAN for many years now. Thus, we are very proud that our Conti EcoPlus tires are contributing positively to the fuel economy of the new TGX EfficientLine 2," said Peter Matzke, Head of OE Truck Tires at Continental. He adds: "We are also very excited that MAN has adopted our Conti Hybrid and Conti Scandinavia product lines for original fitment on their vehicles." The strong partnership of both companies was also demonstrated in late March, when Continental took part in the MAN Trucknology Days with an information booth. With more than 230 vehicles and participants from all over the world, the international event proved to be an ideal platform for customer engagemen t and in order to present the advantages of the Conti Hybrid product line. -Supplied.
Inspiration only does highways, for now
DAIMLER on 5 May showed off its leading autonomous truck technology in Neveda, when the concept Freightliner Inspiration Truck drove itself with Nevada governor Brian Sandoval behind the wheel along a highway near Las Vegas. The Inspiration follows on the MercedesBenz Future Truck 2025 that was unveiled late last year, and which we reported under the headline "this truck wants your job". The Daimler umbrella covers Freightliner, Fuso, Mercedes-Benz and Western Star. Nevada has granted Daimler the first autonomous truck license to test selfdriving trucks. (Google car and VW has received licenses to test car.) The Highway Pilot system comprises radar and stereo camera monitoring systems that look ahead up to 820 feet, and also relies on existing cruise control, lane-keeping and collision-prevention technologies—and right now it can only drive on highways. This truck does not want your job, yet, but it can make the rush hour drive As long as it sticks to the lane, the system easier. Photos: Daimler can drive the truck in the stop-start traffic during rush hour. However, the driver must take the steering wheel to overtake any Naaais: vehicle or change lanes. If the vehicle is no Nevada encounters road construction or bad governor weather, the driver is prompted to retake Brian control well in advance. Sandoval This means that the driver needs to remain checks his alert and can’t go to sleep. tablet as Another aspect of the Highway Pilot system the is a feature that allows multiple Freightliner Freighliner Inspiration Trucks to communicate with Inspiration each other using radio waves. This way they can link up in ‘platoon’ steers itself fashion, allowing them to drive much closer along a to each other. Such platoon formations highway allow fuel-efficiency gains thanks to lower near Las drag on each of the vehicles plus a more Vegas constant flow. Additionally, road capacity will also be able to be utilized more efficiently. - DR. “We all boil at different degrees. ” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Page 3, May 2015
We all die the same, but our hearses are all different HUMAN bodies do three things exactly the same, no matter in which culture we copulate, defecate or die, but our courtship rituals, toilets and final rides differ almost from city to city. Africa, where the ancestors tend to linger longer, have the longest hearses, with "eight-wheelers" so fashionable that one driver even tells of a dead body that refused to be taken to the grave in anything less. Senzo Ndlovu (36) of Khayelihle Funeral Services in Pietermaritzburg tells of a funeral where he suspected the ghost of one dearly departed “had done something” to stop their cheaper but always reliable “four-wheeler” Toyota hearse in its tracks. “Nothing we did could get that [Toyota] hearse to start again, so we moved the casket to the eightwheeler and the Toyota suddenly started,” he told The Driver.
England, isle of all things droll and world capital of sardonic, sports a hearse converted by Nick Mead from an FV432 armored personnel carrier into an old European-style hearse, with a glass display box to give his former tank intructor a fitting last ride.
Fit British undertakers Kate Bouckley and Tim Bartlett can lay to rest green activists in coffins of carboard, bamboo, wool or willow for the last word in envirofriendliness. in India any vehicle that can fit a coffin can do service as a hearse. Left is the double-cab Tata bakkie converted into a hearse by a bling load bin to make it fit for a famous cricketer.
Page 4, May 2015
In Africa, the dead linger longer as ancestor and they tend to get the longest hearses in the world.
“Ifwe do the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves. ” – Thomas E
A hot rod hearse in Quezon in the Phillipines combines a Merc grill, beach buggy fairings, a Mahindra Bolero cabin and someone's pagado roofs in on the load bin.
The giant floats, that made up the funeral proces-sion of King Sihanouk of Cambodia in 201 2 could each have won a prize in the Rio Carnival.