The global scramble for coal has led to truck drivers speeding, taking unnecessary risks and even taking stimulants to stay awake while on the road as they seek to cash in on incentives by owners to meet export deadlines.
Cracks in SA’s unregulated road-freight industry were exposed by a fatal accident in Pongola last week when an articulated truck carrying coal collided with a bakkie, killing 18 primary school pupils and two adults on the N2 in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The accident occurred between Mpumalanga and KZN, a vital route for transporting coal from mines for export to the port of Richards Bay — a distance of about 600km.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said a report shows the driver, Sibusiso Siyaya, 28, drove for 1.2km into oncoming traffic, overtaking multiple vehicles illegally.
Heavy-duty traffic on the N2 has surged as local coal producers ramp up output to meet additional demand from Europe where Russia’s war with Ukraine has drastically cut gas supplies that would normally be used to generate their power.
Acting KZN premier Nomagugu Simelane said on Tuesday the daily number of trucks on the road in the area had risen fivefold to 5,000 in recent months.
• R12,000 - the average basic salary of a coal truck driver
• 724,000km - the extent of tarred roads in SA
• 19,000 - the number of traffic officers in SA
— IN NUMBERS:
Three truck drivers told the Sunday Times this week that company owners paid an incentive of about R450 to R550 a load in addition to their R100 food allowance and a basic salary of R12,000 to meet delivery deadlines.
A leaked voice mail was widely circulated on social media this week of a truck owner reprimanding a driver for not meeting his estimated time of arrival (ETA).
The man emphasised that should the truckers not meet their ETA they would be face heavy penalties for late delivery.
Truck drivers and owners as well as stakeholders in the industry confirmed the pressure is twofold — in some instances the owners are pushing drivers to meet deadlines while drivers are also chasing incentives.
One truck owner, who did not want to be identified, told the Sunday Times they needed to move a set amount of tonnage to pay drivers at the end of the month.
“It’s a stressful industry. The late penalties we face in the export industry are huge, the stress filters down from all levels of management and unfortunately rests on the shoulders of our drivers, but that is the nature of transport.
"Drivers also push themselves to gain incentives and recognition in the company. If I call a driver and ask him if he’s OK to do another load, if he agrees I won’t dispute that.”
The second driver, who also didn’t want to be identified, said the pressure came from the need to make ends meet.
“We push because we want to earn our incentives. In the back of your mind you know you have to push otherwise your salary will be basically nothing. If companies paid by the hour it would mean less pressure on us,” he said.
Sabelo Perry Masinga, director of Baobao Projects, a company specialising in coal transportation that owns the truck involved in the fatal crash, said Siyaya, whom he hired in January, was under no duress to flout traffic rules.
“I don’t understand what happened there because there was no pressure. He earns a basic salary. Obviously there is an incentive because you get the lazy ones.
"But it would be unfair to say he was rushing for the incentive. I think he misjudged the downhill and never engaged the right gear.”
The coal-truck driver, who also wants to remain anonymous, said he was aware of certain companies providing prescription drugs to their drivers to ensure they remained focused on meeting deadlines.
“It’s mainly the smaller ‘fly-by-night’ companies in the industry that do that because they don’t pay their drivers a monthly wage.
"They are paid per load and so the owners as well as the employers want to push quantity. Drivers have told me they use stimulants to stay awake for longer.”
Truck driver Siphosihle Muthwa, of the National Truck Drivers Federation, confirmed this.
We push because we want to earn our incentives. In the back of your mind you know you have to push otherwise your salary will be basically nothing
— Truck driver
“I spoke to a driver last week in Pretoria; he told me he was fired because he refused to take some tablets his employer gave him to keep him awake,” Muthwa said. “He said the issue with the tablets was that if he took one today, tomorrow he would need two because he wouldn’t feel the effects.”
Road Freight Agency CEO Gavin Kelly said these practices were the result of poor and highly contentious policing and management services.
“Proper assessment and action needs to be taken where non-compliant operators are identified,” Kelly said.
Road Traffic Management Corporation CEO Makhosini Msibi said the organisation lacked the resources to adequately police SA’s roads.
“In SA you are sitting with 724,000km of paved [tarred] roads and you have only 19,000 law enforcers. By any stretch of imagination it will tell you that we don’t have the necessary resources to cover each and every stretch of the road.”
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