Driver license card backlog
THE South Africa's Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) said on 24 October the printing backlog of 50,000 drivers licence will be cleared by 31 October. It was not, and drivers are meanwhile being fined for not having new licenes. The backlog started on 2 September after 1 5 senior workers, who were responsible for the printing licences, were dismissed by DLCA when they refused to sign a new short-term labour contract. The General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council has set a hearing for January. Meanwhile, transport minister Blade Nzimande asked drivers who need licenses to pay the R90 for a 6-month paper license. -- DR.
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News to inspire professional drivers of all size vehicles in southern Africa
November 201 8
300 'dagga drivers' fired unfairly?
THE summarily dismissal of 300 drivers by a Pretoriabased outsourcing company, who said the drivers all tested positive for cannabis, raised a lot of questions among fleet managers. The former drivers's hero now turned zero, Arnoux Maré, managing director of Innovative Staffing Solutions, fired the 300 drivers when they allegedly tested positive for having cannabis in their blood. Maré's outsourcing company is one of those rags-to-riches stories and he currently subcontracts 1000s of drivers, security guards and cleaning staff. While the unions are not happy with the lack of job security that comes with such outsourcing, the bottom line is Maré shouldered the risks and gave many people jobs, even if such jobs paid "slave wages" according to the EFF. He also runs an apprentice driver training programme
now a legally protected, constitutional right. The second problem, as good labour lawyers are currently pointing out in the U.S. and Canada, is that there is as yet no reliable test to show if a person is “under the influence” of cannabis. Which is why fleet managers are all wondering, does Maré have such a test? Or are did his staff use the same subjective approach as is used by police in U.S. states and in Canada, where officers have been trained to check for balance and coherence by asking drivers to walk on a line and recite the alphabet? When people do walk the line and recite their ABCs, the cops report that, while such persons test positive for cannabis, they are not Two problems with zero under any influence that tolerance for dagga But this ignores that two big detract from their driving. problems all HR managers Their observations are supported by numerous now face with this zero tolerance policy. The first is driving tests of drivers who that cannabis use at home is were asked to smoke by having junior drivers in the cab with senior drivers, a learning process this newsletter deems a very effective way to give drivers experience. If this innovative company had dismissed their drivers for testing positive for dagga three months ago, it would have been business as normal. Mines and fleets all have zero tolerance policies for staff who try to operate heavy machines while under the influence of drink of drugs. For as Maré explained in a media statement a truck driver “under the influence of cannabis can be likened to a non-coherent person barrelling a 60-tonne missile down the road at 80 to 100km per hour”.
cannabis before and during the tests, from Australia to the U.S. These smoke-and-drive tests consistently delivered mixed results, with regular users showing no or very little impaired driving. One lawyer advised DriverNews that if the mass dismissal took took place as reported, it is unconstitutional and could go straight to the Labour Court without first stopping at to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, (CCMA). Drivers must call Satawu
Meanwhile, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) called on any of the drivers that were dismissed to call the driver's union. Satawu's spokesperson Zanele Sabela said the union would take the matter further if any of the 300 drivers that were reportedly fired contacted them, but despite an appeal for this,
Arnoux Maré, the innovater whose zero tolerance stance on cannabis highlights the dillemma South Africa's fleet managers and mines now face after the Constitional Court declared people have the right to use cannabis at home.
the drivers are silent. Right now all she has to work with are claims in a media statement.
“Please call Satawu on 011-403-2077, or contact Satawu on Facebook, so that we can take the matter further.”
Drivers' jobs are safe, for now
ALASTAIR Hayfield is a research director with international provider of market research for the Intelligent Automation sector, Interact Analysis, and a fundi on vehicle automation and transport as a service, (TaaS). He lists three reasons why truck drivers' jobs are save from robot trucks until 2023 in developed markets and even 10 years hence (2028) for markets with developing infrastructure. First The uptake of
platooning and higher levels of automation will be relatively slow through 2030. Platooning, which is unlikely to create driver replacement, will be the technology of choice out to 2030. This means that there will be very few situations where drivers can be replaced in the short- to mid-term. Second Platooning is being
positioned as a safety and efficiency solution, not a driver-replacement technology. The technical requirements for platooning – air brakes, lane-keep assist and
page 2, November 2018
cliff edge, Interact Analysis believes there will be a gradual reduction in employment within the trucking industry. In many ways, the development of self-driving cars and trucks will happen hand-in-hand. Much of the technology and legislation needed to deploy selfdriving vehicles effectively and safely does not differ between a car and a truck. However, the impetus to deploy trucks sooner rather than later is greater because of the benefits associated with off-highway operation and financial savings Truck drivers Justice Maliba, Solly le Roux and Bongane Shabangu wait through reducing driver outside town on the R56 for a police escort to take them through the city with costs. It is going to take a two massive tanks to brew beer in, destined for a brewery in Zambia. They long time for this to hope to from Pietermaritzburg to Lusaka in four weeks over November. happen, and even when it Photo: Ian Carbutt, The Witness does, not every driving role delivering abormal loads, are driven by someone who will be at risk. -- DR. adaptive cruise control – for example. Highway trips is not a driver by will on their own help to are often viewed as make trucks safer. employment – think of monotonous, and removing utility or emergency This will improve conditions for drivers but, this stage of driving could vehicles. allow drivers to focus on more importantly, mean Freed from driving, the that they are not replaced. more challenging time drivers spend in the operations. vehicles headed to a As the industry moves Third Several of the destination will likely be beyond 2030, it is likely higher-level automation used to increase their solutions being developed that a growing number of productivity. require driver replacement trucks will be operated There are new roles, such for highway driving only. without drivers. as teleoperator, emerging However, this still won’t that will likely support Drivers would still be required for more complex lead to mass unemployment some driver roles. of drivers. Many vehicles routes in cities, or Rather than falling over a Alastair Hayfield. How is the alphabet different on Christmas from every other day? There is NOEL!
Selfdriving van doubles as a locker UDELV, the company that builts a robot van that drives itself, claims it can cut last-mile delivery costs by half by eliminating the driver's wage. The first two Udelv all electric delivery vans have made more than 1 ,000 deliveries in several San Francisco Bay Area communities without a single incident over the last nine months. Adriel Lubarsky, Udelv’s business development director, told Trucks.com the vans have avoided collisions on the area’s often-crowded streets. They have not run out of power halfway through a trip, no packages have been stolen from the vans’ electroni-cally locked storage compartments ans no deliveries were missed for any of the companies Udelv has signed up, which range from flower shops to auto parts and pharmacies. In several large complexes, a Udelv van packed with Draeger’s grocery orders parks for an hour a week and serves as a “mobile locker” for customers, Lubarsky said the most deliveries to date is 1 3 in one stop, --DR
REPRIEVE FOR 2,9m HIGH CONTAINERS
Bakkies in the news
BAKKIES continued to make news, with Merc listing the asking price for the much anticipated V6 X-Class X350d; GWM announcing plans to sell the Steed 7 in six key markets outside China, and half-ton fans being intrigued by Renault’s Duster bakkie.
In China, every third bakkie is a GWM, and the group has listed Australia, Middle East, South America and southern Africa as primary export markets, and will also be “exploring” markets in South Asia, and North Africa. The fashionable Steed 7 has all the latest in digital tech but should come with very competitive pricing, backed by its reputation as the best-selling bakkie in China for 20 consecutive years. Then there is much speculation on social media about a half-ton bakkie to compete with the Nissan NP200. Romanian company Romturingia has done a neat job of cutting the back off a Duster and welding a load bin in place. Nissan, currently the only seller of a half-tonner in SA, averages over 1 500 units a month. In September, this number rose to a respectable 1 888 units of the NP200. While this sounds like a lot, the number crunchers at Ford and Toyota have repeatedly told Wheels there is no margin in half-tonners, not while they are running double shifts to export four times as many big bakkies. But who knows, there may just be a niche here for Renault to exploit. On the other end of the pricing spectrum, Mercedes-Benz wants R973 1 88 for the X350d. This includes VAT and CO2 tax but excludes any optional extras and any dealer associated costs, such as registration and delivery.The X350d will be available for delivery by the end of this month, and DriverNews will be there.
A metrocop pulls Van over and asks for his licence. Van says, ney bru, you guys must now make up your mind man, just yesterday you took my license. So how do you want me to show it to you now?
HIGH cube containers will continue to be transported on South African roads at a height of 4.6m in 201 9, after a last-minute announcement by transport minister Blade Nzimande following a short notice meeting in Cape Town on October 11 . With less than 24-hours’ notice for the meeting, several key role-players could not attend, but the chair of the Cape’s Port Liaison Forum (PLF), Mike Walwyn, was there. He said despite the late notice, the meeting resulted in a much-needed reprieve for industry. According to regulation 224 (b) of the National Road Traffic Regulation Act containers on the back of a trailer may not exceed a height of 4.3m. Standard containers are 2.6m high but high cubes stand 2.9m tall on the ground, and on the back of a standard trailer they exceed the 4.3m height limitation by 30cm. A moratorium was announced on 2007 to allow containers at 4.6m until January 1 , 201 9. Since then the industry have been lobbying the DoT to revoke the moratorium and amend the height legislation from 4.3m to 4.6m and Nzimande has now extended the moratorium for another year.-- DR.
November 2018 page 3
There IS monster in the can
HIV infections are down, but now drivers are killing themselves by eating grains and sugars
Cheapest data packages WHEN new Stellenboch-based company Rain launched their no contract, pay as you go R50 for 1 gig in June, we said this is too good to be true . So we decided to watch with scepticism. Five months later, they are still in the game, and many are happy with using SA's cheapest data. Manje, Rain sells only data, so you must call people using Whatsapp, but such data calls are anyways cheaper than cellphone to cellphone, prices, because of the daylight robbery prices Vodacom and MTN charge. Rain charges 5c per meg, which adds up to R50 per gig. No contract, no bundles no monthly fees. You pay for what you use and -- most honest of all -- your data doesn't expire.
Charges for 1 Gig in SA
R50: Rain R99: Telkom R1 49: Vodacom , Cell-C, MTN
November 2018 page 4
THERE is good news and not so good news from the Trucking Wellness clinics on SA's major routes. The good news is HIV is under control and infections are waning. From the bad old days when truckers were blamed for spreading Aids across Africa, long distance drivers now know their status and are taking retrovirals. The not so good news from the Welness Clinics is that diabetics is on the rise. Wellness HIV councillor Disebo Mkhabela told DriverNews. "Diabetics is the new battle, we are winning on HIV front, where the medication is working". The road to diabetics start with getting a bit of a boep, then not seeing so good anymore and gradually losing feeling in especially your toes. At first, this is so gradual, you think it is just old age. But the disease speeds up like a runaway truck and soon lead to amputation of toes that had developed 'wet gangrene' after a minor injury, such a turned toenail; blindness and tumours. Insulin resistance If you have boep, don't get a lot of exercise and eat a lot of carbs, you will develop insulin resistance (IR). This means you store more and more carbs as fat with each mouthful of high carb food you swallow, and WILL develop Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This is because you develop
worrying is to stop and smell the flowers. The volatile oils in Lavender, called turpines, are naturally calming and the hardy bushes grow everywhere. Crush a stem and shove it into the airvent so thatthe smell can wash through the cabin. And while you smell the flowers, remember the loved ones who died. This helps to put your little daily challenges in percpective. Laugh a lot. Seriously! Do 'laughter yoga' by faking a "ha ha", take a deep breath, an repeat. Continue until you are really laughing. Your body will not know the difference between thislaughter yoogaand real funnies, and secrete the feel-good chemicals regardless. Pulling the late shift at Warden Truck Stop were Trucking Welness councillors Solomon Nkabinde and Disebo Mkhabela. Bend those knees insulin resistance. (Type 1 meat I wanted to eat. This helps decrease insulin diabetics mainly occurs in children resistence by increasinng insulin and people under 20, due to viral Maximise gut health sensitivity, and also helps the body damage to pancreas). There are ten times more bacteria to recover from the stress This IR means your the body in your gut than there are cells in response. cannot metabolise carbs -- think your body. Do 20 squats followed by 60 low bread, chips, sweet things and Doctors now call these tiny jumps each day to get the heart energy drinks. There really is a goggas your First Brain because rate up, and then bend and stretch monster in that can, that WILL the latest discoveries show these to activate the lympoh system -cause a miserable death. goggas actually rule your mood. the body's garbage dispisal -Contrary to all the lies told by before going to the loo. Reverse diabetics Big Food, these goggas do not like The best exercise investment an There is a cure! As has now been a lot of fibre! For plants don't like adult can make is a small proven by 1000s of people, being eaten and they wage trampoline. Gently jumping for diabetics can be reversed simply chemical warfare on the eater. two minutes equates to a 4km jog, eating right. This author easily Instead, this gut bacteria like fat with none of the knee damage. lost 26 kg with the high fat low and meat. But don't be cheap like this carb, or Banting diet. No grains, author. Buy a trampoline that can no whites, no sugars and no Manage stress handle your weight. processed foods, but all the fatty The most natural way to stop -- AlwynViljoen, editor.
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