Newsletters

Dear IFRTT colleagues, I have two matters on which to report this month. Update on Australia’s Heavy Vehicle National Law Review I introduced the Heavy Vehicle National Law Review to the Forum in the November newsletter. The part of the review most interesting to me is easy access to suitable routes. This is because the ease with which road access is determined for restricted access vehicles will strongly influence the growth of the Performance Based Standards (PBS) fleet and, hence, the productivity and safety of road freight transport. The National Transport Commission (NTC) held an industry consultation workshop on Friday... Read More

Dear IFRTT Subscribers, As the new Vice-President Europe, please allow me to briefly introduce myself: I am a Senior Researcher in the Automotive Research Group at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem, the Netherlands. In the past 10 years, I have worked on numerous research projects on both national and international levels, in the fields of vehicle dynamics and control, related mainly to Heavy Goods Vehicles and driver support. In this issue of the newsletter you will find information about the evolving implementation of European Modular System (EMS) vehicles in Europe. High Capacity Vehicles in the form of EMS... Read More

Dear friends of the IFRTT As most of you are aware of by now the next HVTT16 will be held in China, organized by the Road Institute of Highways (RIOH), a policy institute under the Ministry of Transports (MOT). This event will be very meaningful as the impact of road transport on society is probably larger in China than anywhere else in the world (with the possible exception of India). If this symposium can contribute to China taking further steps in introducing efficient road transport solutions it will have global impact. The IFRTT President Loes Aarts and IFRTT Board Member... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber In my last newsletter, in March 2018, I referred to the protest action (including the burning of trucks and looting of payloads) on some of the national highways in South Africa. Many of these actions were a means of expressing dissatisfaction with the employment of foreign drivers by SA transport companies. Unfortunately this form of protest action has continued on and off during the past year. In most cases, particularly during the past number of weeks, the protest action has been related to the dissatisfaction with service delivery by some local municipalities. In terms of transport efficiency,... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber, It was a pleasure to attend HVTT15 in Rotterdam where I was appointed the new IFRTT Vice President, North America. I wish to extend my gratitude to John Woodrooffe for the leadership he provided to IFRTT in this role. I look forward to working with IFRTT more closely in the future! Being new to the IFRTT Board, please allow me a very brief introduction. I am an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering (Transportation) at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada. Over the last 15 years, I have worked on numerous truck-related research and consulting projects in... Read More

Dear IFRTT colleagues, This is my first message to you as the new IFRTT Vice President Australasia & Pacific.  I wish to thank Dr John de Pont for his service in this position and for nominating me as his replacement. As there is never a dull moment in Australian road freight transport, I would like to use this opportunity to inform you all of some recent developments that demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement of the road transport system. In February 2019 the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) will have been in operation for five years.  It was introduced to... Read More

Greetings from the wintry south, As I hear and see the news of European and Japanese heat waves and wild fires in North America and Scandinavia, in Auckland it is currently 15° C and cloudy which is reasonably typical for this time of the year. I am looking forward to HVTT15 in just under two months’ time.  The organising committee has put together a great programme. If you haven’t been getting the newsletters, you can get more information on the conference programme from the web-site  www.hvtt15.com .  Early bird registration at a discounted rate is still available until August 15th... Read More

Dear friends of IFRTT, China is at the center of world affairs. Firstly we have the looming trade war between the US and China (and now also Europe) and secondly we have the North Korea issue, where China has been playing an active, but low profile role to stabilize the situation on the Korean peninsula. We all now keep our fingers crossed that the meeting between president Trump and Kim Jung’un will be successful. At the center of the trade war issue is a China that has been dragging its feet in opening up markets and reforming its economy. That... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber, after rereading April’s newsletter about South Africa, and while I am writing the May one, feels that the volatile aura brought by the 50th anniversary of what was known as “the May 1968 events” has taken over South America too! While I write this newsletter, Brazil is trying to come out from an eight days truckers’ strike against high prices of fuel. The Oil Workers Unions reported that they will join the truckers’ Union strike as an action of solidarity and have called a 72hs strike. The blockade has forced the cancellation of flights at several airports.... Read More

Dear IFRTT subscriber I’m a little under the whip from the IFRTT President as this newsletter should have been sent out by end-March.  My apologies Mr President J South Africa has certainly been through some interesting times during the past few months: a new President, high profile court cases, ongoing critical droughts in some parts of the country, severe water shortages in Cape Town, cricket sagas and, most recently, the passing of Winnie Mandela, an ANC stalwart over many decades and ex-wife of the late Nelson Mandela. On the heavy vehicle front, fairly serious protests were experienced for most of... Read More