October 2011 Newsletter
Dear IFRTT Form subscriber
We are in the middle of spring and the African sun is already helping to us to prepare for another hot summer. Fortunately we have had good spring rains in many parts of the country. But many South African eyes are pointed further south – at the Rugby World Cup currently taking place in New Zealand. One of the critical matches takes place on Sunday when South Africa plays Australia in the semi-finals.
The South African government is currently proposing the introduction of a CO2 tax of somewhere between US$10 and US$25 per ton of CO2 emitted by road vehicles. Should this proposed regulation be implemented, there will be a renewed drive in the road freight industry to improve efficiency through obvious means such as better vehicle maintenance as well as less obvious approaches such as the Performance-Based Standards (PBS)/Smart Truck programme, which is in a demonstration phase, for higher productivity vehicles.
By far the most controversial transport-related debate in recent months has been with regards the introduction of an open road tolling (ORT) system, currently the largest worldwide, on Phase 1 of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, which comprises 200 km of upgraded freeways in the province of Gauteng (Johannesburg/Pretoria area). The initial proposed toll fees of approximately 6 US cents per km (cpk) for light motor vehicles and from 20 to 40 US cpk for heavy vehicles have, following a major public and industry outcry and subsequent recommendations of a Ministerial working group, been reduced to approximately 5 US cpk for light motor vehicles and from 12 to 25 US cpk for trucks. Besides servicing the US$ 2.3 billion loan for the project, the toll fees will no doubt encourage commuters to consider public transport or ride-sharing as alternative transport options. Consumers will ultimately pay for the toll fees charged to freight vehicles.
I trust that many of you are giving serious thought to submitting an extended abstract for the 2012 HVTT12 conference in Stockholm. The closing date for abstracts is 1 Dec
Please visit http://hvttconference.com for further details.
All the best and drive safely
Paul Nordengen
IFRTT President
