Newsletter

Dear IFRTT subscriber I’m sure that the highlight in terms of heavy vehicles in South Africa during July was the two “Smart Truck” courses that were held in Pretoria and Cape Town earlier in the month. Les Bruzsa, Chief Engineer at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) in Australia, and one of the PBS doyens in that country (and an IFRTT Board Member), was invited as a keynote speaker at the annual Southern Africa Transport Conference in Pretoria that was held from 4 – 7 July (www.satc.org.za). Initially it was decided to hold a half-day PBS seminar while he was in South Africa to facilitate the sharing of Les’ extensive knowledge and practical experience of PBS in Australia with a range of stakeholders in South Africa. After some interaction with Les, the proposed seminar was expanded to a 2-day PBS course with inputs from Les as well as local experts... Read More

Greetings from the almost wintery south, The weather here has been extraordinarily mild over autumn (fall for the North Americans).  The daytime highs in May have typically been 21-22 degrees C which is 3-4 degrees above the historical average.  Today is officially the start of winter  and it is noticeably cooler with a high of 13. The planning for HVTT14 is progressing well.  We have received a good number of papers across a wide range of topics and I am expecting a lively and interesting conference.  The conference web-site (www.hvttconference.com ) has recently been updated with details on paper submissions and on accommodation, travel and sightseeing options in Rotorua.  We are currently finalising the budget (and hence the conference fee) and we should have the conference registration page up and running in a few weeks. Road safety as always is still significant issue in New Zealand.  We have recently had... Read More

Dear All, Christmas is approaching fast. Last Saturday 19th, I and my family went back to Sweden for Christmas and New Year celebrations. It has been a very busy year with some very meaningful achievements. From a road transport efficiency point of view, the most rewarding result of the year is that after years of lobbying work, China in 2016 will launch a revised and modernized standard for masses and dimensions of heavy duty commercial vehicles, the so called GB1589. Such a standard has existed for decades, but it is first now that it is written in a truly meaningful way and finally now the government will ensure strict enforcement of this new standard. It may sound like a small matter, but it is almost a revolution for the Chinese transport and logistics industry as well as for the vehicle and trailer manufacturers. The two starting points when writing the... Read More

The regulations for the use of B-doubles in Argentina have finally been officially published!   Hi everybody, I am still jumping up and down of joy –which given the allegedly spring temperatures we are experiencing in Buenos Aires, is not a bad idea. This past Thursday, October 8th, we woke up to the big news. Two regulations, (918/2015 and 2/2015), will regulate the use of bi-trains nationally, their active and passive safety technical features, and their circulation on national roads. I can assure you it was a surprise, since it has been 18 months after the presidential decree (April 2014) which allowed the High Capacity Vehicles to circulate, and just 2 weeks before the presidential election. The regulations have come out with all the safety features the group I coordinate have been aiming for, so the endless meetings and discussions among the diverse stakeholders have paid off. I attended the... Read More

Greetings IFRTT members, This month’s newsletter comes to you from the deep south.  We are now in the middle of our winter and this year in Auckland it has been unusually cold over the last month or so.  Night-time temperatures have dropped to the low single digits (centigrade) and daytime temperatures have been around 12 degrees.  North American and European members can stop laughing now.  For us this feels cold. The dates for HVTT14 have now been set.  The conference will be held in Rotorua from Tuesday November 15th – Friday November 18th, 2016.  There was some discussion at HVTT13 about the potential clash with the ICWIM7 conference in Rio de Janeiro.  ICWIM7 is scheduled for Nov 7-10th.  Thus it is possible for delegates to attend both conferences as part of a single trip if they wish. We have arranged with the editor of the International Journal of Heavy Vehicle... Read More

Dear all, It is my great pleasure to write this, the first IFRTT Newsletter from Asia. The timing could not be better. I am right now in Sweden for meetings, but just the other day I received a phone message from Mr Feng Feng of ACEA China (The European Automotive Manufacturers’ Association) that the provincial government of Heilongjiang has just approved a pilot project to test long vehicle combinations in that province. In ACEA China we have for many years been working very hard together with the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) to get acceptance for longer, safer and more efficient vehicle combinations on the Chinese roads. As in many other countries this is not an easy task as it involves a number of different ministries and authorities. However, the MOT has committed fully to this work and is pushing for cross ministerial cooperation on this issue. Now, those who... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscribers! A Dutch author marked the start of spring by the day that women go out on the street wearing skirts. In Holland we start taking off our clothes as soon as temperatures pass 15 degrees Celsius. Warm days are scarce. He called it ‘rokjesdag’: (short) skirt day. Unfortunately we had a relatively cold month of May with an average temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. From skirts to the European Platooning Truck Challenge is just a small step. Autonomous driving is hot at the moment. Several European countries did already Field Operational Tests on public roads in real-time traffic with self-driving vehicles or are planning to have tests. All on a small scale and within the national borders. The Presidency of the European Commission moves every half year to another country. The Netherlands will be in charge in the first half of 2016. We took this opportunity to... Read More

Dear IFRTT Forum subscriber As I’ve been thinking about heavy vehicle road transport issues in South Africa and the African continent that are worth mentioning in this newsletter, all seem to pale in significance compared with current and recent global events, such as the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal, and violent conflicts in the Middle East, Nigeria and elsewhere, and, closer to home, the recent Xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the millions of people caught up in these and other similar situations. On 31 October 2014, regulations were promulgated in South Africa (Govt. Gazette No. 38142) that extend the responsibility of overloading of heavy vehicles to include not only the driver and operator, but also the consignor and/or consignee of the goods in certain circumstances. This so-called consignor/consignee or “chain of responsibility” legislation, which has been under consideration for more than 10 years, came... Read More

The theory of everything. Technology, legislation and politics. Hello everyone, and happy New Year (2015 and Year of the Goat). This is my first time to write a newsletter after the HVTT13 symposium. For those of you who made it to San Luis, I hope you have recovered from both the late nights and the travel! South of the equator, we are just coming back from holidays. It has been an extremely hot summer, with major storms, floods and fires. In Argentina, I am happy to inform that the team in charge of the B-double regulation has been actively working, and we hope to see the regulation operating before the bell rings on the 1st anniversary since the national decree signed by the Argentine President on the 23rd April 2014 allowing them. It also has to be borne in mind that this president shall be leaving office in the next... Read More

Greetings from the South, From next month we will be resuming the tradition of rotating the monthly newsletter around the regional vice-presidents to present a wider range of views.  However, because I was a bit slow in getting this organised, this month’s newsletter is again from me. Since December, the weather in New Zealand has been superb with warm sunny days (temperatures in the mid-20s) and almost no rain.  It is now getting to the stage where a week or so of rain would be welcome to “green” up the countryside and the city gardens.  Because of the cooler spring the pohutukawa trees (New Zealand’s Christmas tree) were a little late flowering but when they did they were spectacular.  Flowering starts in November and lasts through to mid to late January.  Those of you who will be attending HVTT14 in New Zealand next year should be able to see them... Read More