EDITOR – I like the idea of driving the trucks onto a flat bed on the trains and then once in Johannesburg or Cape Town, drive them off to their destinations.
One of the items I was thinking of, instead of drivers being away from home and family over night, rather have the drivers just do the local trips. Durban guys drive truck on. And Johannesburg or Cape Town guys drive it off. That means no more late night long haul driving, no more accidents caused by fatigue of drivers, no more truck stops on the side of the road. This is a breeding area for brothels as stats show that this is one of the industries with the highest mortality rate due to HIV/AIDS related illnesses.
Going off topic, there would be a lot of plus factors to this but the questions to ask are what are the current rail systems like? What would the cost be to go via the railway versus the road? What would the insurance for the goods be? Not to mention the salaries for drivers, the security on the trains to keep the cargo safe.
What would be the time turn around on goods for delivery and who could better utilize this form of transport?
I’m on the road every day for lengthy periods and it would be great to do these trips minus the very large heavy loads.
T
Durban
